Violence Against Women - What we in the US take for granted

[AtLast]

The thread is to promote global awareness of violense against women and to view sexism outside of our own little backyard.

http://www.ifeminists.net/introducti...104granju.html


Feminism's Fourth Wave
Women are doing nearly everything men do, but...
November 4, 2003
by Katie Allison Granju


Last year, during the U.S. assault on the Taliban in Afghanistan, my seven-year old daughter, Jane seemed truly puzzled by the photos of Afghani women that dominated the news. Why, she wanted to know, did those women want to wear clothing that covered them from head to toe? Weren't they hot? How could they run or even smile at other people? Why weren't there ever interviews on television with any Afghani women? What was meant when it was said that now, women and girls in that country could read and write again?

I explained to Jane about the cultural and religious restrictions faced by these particular mothers and daughters, and she listened, mouth hanging open in vivid disbelief. She peppered me with questions about every aspect of the lives of Afghanistan's female population, and seemed utterly astounded when I told her that there are actually many places and cultures around the world in which girls cannot go to school; choose what they will wear or whom they will marry; own property; or vote.

As sad as it made me to explain the state of so many of the world's women to the most important girl in my life, I realized that the fact that Jane found this information so incomprehensible represented something very positive. The environment in which my daughter is growing into adulthood is one in which she sees few, if any restrictions on what is possible for her. Her American girlhood is very different from the one in which I came of age only a few decades ago.

When I was Jane's age, my working, feminist mother was an anomaly among the women I knew, and my parents had to make a conscious effort to be sure I understood that, although most doctors, police officers, and engineers were men, this didn't mean that "only" men could hold these jobs. My parents had to be ever-vigilant to protect both their daughters from being held back by unfair and sexist limitations, and they worked to be sure that we were exposed to art, music, and great ideas by women. They ensured that we had "Free to Be You and Me" books and records around the house, and a lifetime subscription to Ms. Magazine in our mailbox.

Today, however, the world has changed enough that parents don't have to make these kinds of special efforts to promote a sense of equality and possibility in our young daughters. Basic feminist consciousness has become an organic part of our culture, and we are all the better for it.

My third grade girl gets her news and information from terrific female journalists, and she is personally acquainted with women lawyers, priests, doctors, firefighters, farmers, athletes, social workers, and artists. Jane is an aggressive and successful competitor in her own chosen sport, and she enjoys listening to music by everyone from 'tween queen Hilary Duff to riot-grrls Sleater-Kinney.

Unlike my own parents, I do not feel compelled to pontificate on the wrong-headedness of rigid gender roles every time I see Jane playing with her dolls. I'm confident that she understands clearly that motherhood is not incompatible with professional achievement or civic engagement.

Also different from my own childhood as the daughter of '70s "women's libbers," Jane and her friends don't seem to feel any conflict between their femininity and their power. When I was a little girl, equality often meant trying to act or look like the little boys. Jane, however, is growing up in a pop culture infused with grrl-power -- from the Powerpuff Girls to Jessica Lynch. I observe her and her little friends playing superheroes, but their superheroes proudly wear sparkly pink capes as they save the world.

While all of this progress is terrific, I also recognize that my daughter is growing up in a society where women still earn less money than men for performing the same work; where women continue to live in realistic, ever-present fear of sexual assault; and where girls are still too often discouraged from studying math or science. There is still work ahead for her generation of rising young feministas. But as I watch her playing things like "President Barbie solves the Mideast peace crisis" with her friends, I feel hopeful.


Katie Allison Granju lives in Knoxville and is the mother of three children. She is the author of Attachment Parenting (Simon and Schuster, 1999) and her website is www.locoparentis.blogspot.com. This article first appeared in Metro Pulse Online.

[Nat]

I find it interesting that when I typed "violence" into google's search engine, "violence against women" was the first choice in the auto-fill list.

[AtLast]

WHOOPS! That's violence below!! Thanks, Nat!

Originally Posted by AtLastHome

The thread is to promote global awareness of violense against women and to view sexism outside of our own little backyard.

http://www.ifeminists.net/introducti...104granju.html


Feminism's Fourth Wave
Women are doing nearly everything men do, but...
November 4, 2003
by Katie Allison Granju


Last year, during the U.S. assault on the Taliban in Afghanistan, my seven-year old daughter, Jane seemed truly puzzled by the photos of Afghani women that dominated the news. Why, she wanted to know, did those women want to wear clothing that covered them from head to toe? Weren't they hot? How could they run or even smile at other people? Why weren't there ever interviews on television with any Afghani women? What was meant when it was said that now, women and girls in that country could read and write again?

I explained to Jane about the cultural and religious restrictions faced by these particular mothers and daughters, and she listened, mouth hanging open in vivid disbelief. She peppered me with questions about every aspect of the lives of Afghanistan's female population, and seemed utterly astounded when I told her that there are actually many places and cultures around the world in which girls cannot go to school; choose what they will wear or whom they will marry; own property; or vote.

As sad as it made me to explain the state of so many of the world's women to the most important girl in my life, I realized that the fact that Jane found this information so incomprehensible represented something very positive. The environment in which my daughter is growing into adulthood is one in which she sees few, if any restrictions on what is possible for her. Her American girlhood is very different from the one in which I came of age only a few decades ago.

When I was Jane's age, my working, feminist mother was an anomaly among the women I knew, and my parents had to make a conscious effort to be sure I understood that, although most doctors, police officers, and engineers were men, this didn't mean that "only" men could hold these jobs. My parents had to be ever-vigilant to protect both their daughters from being held back by unfair and sexist limitations, and they worked to be sure that we were exposed to art, music, and great ideas by women. They ensured that we had "Free to Be You and Me" books and records around the house, and a lifetime subscription to Ms. Magazine in our mailbox.

Today, however, the world has changed enough that parents don't have to make these kinds of special efforts to promote a sense of equality and possibility in our young daughters. Basic feminist consciousness has become an organic part of our culture, and we are all the better for it.

My third grade girl gets her news and information from terrific female journalists, and she is personally acquainted with women lawyers, priests, doctors, firefighters, farmers, athletes, social workers, and artists. Jane is an aggressive and successful competitor in her own chosen sport, and she enjoys listening to music by everyone from 'tween queen Hilary Duff to riot-grrls Sleater-Kinney.

Unlike my own parents, I do not feel compelled to pontificate on the wrong-headedness of rigid gender roles every time I see Jane playing with her dolls. I'm confident that she understands clearly that motherhood is not incompatible with professional achievement or civic engagement.

Also different from my own childhood as the daughter of '70s "women's libbers," Jane and her friends don't seem to feel any conflict between their femininity and their power. When I was a little girl, equality often meant trying to act or look like the little boys. Jane, however, is growing up in a pop culture infused with grrl-power -- from the Powerpuff Girls to Jessica Lynch. I observe her and her little friends playing superheroes, but their superheroes proudly wear sparkly pink capes as they save the world.

While all of this progress is terrific, I also recognize that my daughter is growing up in a society where women still earn less money than men for performing the same work; where women continue to live in realistic, ever-present fear of sexual assault; and where girls are still too often discouraged from studying math or science. There is still work ahead for her generation of rising young feministas. But as I watch her playing things like "President Barbie solves the Mideast peace crisis" with her friends, I feel hopeful.


Katie Allison Granju lives in Knoxville and is the mother of three children. She is the author of Attachment Parenting (Simon and Schuster, 1999) and her website is www.locoparentis.blogspot.com. This article first appeared in Metro Pulse Online.

[AtLast]

Given what has been going on in places like Afghanistan and Eygpt concerning violence against women and extrememy brave women in these countries speaking out (attempting to become government officials, stonning, etc), I thought I'd bump this thread.

[Words]

Given the contents of the following article (amongst others), I'd say that your title is somewhat misleading AtLast. You might take a lot of things for granted, but what applies to you, doesn't necessarily apply to others, especially those from less privileged groups...and I'm not talking about those in Afghanistan, Egypt, or Syria, I'm talking about those in your own back yard.

http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html

Best,

Words

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Words

Given the contents of the following article (amongst others), I'd say that your title is somewhat misleading AtLast. You might take a lot of things for granted, but what applies to you, doesn't necessarily apply to others, especially those from less privileged groups...and I'm not talking about those in Afghanistan, Egypt, or Syria, I'm talking about those in your own back yard.

http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html

Best,

Words

I see what you are saying. I don't recall exactly what was going on when I first did this thread. Yes, my own back yard is a mess.

What I often have problems with here in the US is a US-centric outlook about violence against women- not much awareness of how globally, women are treated. That we need to look at all of the issues and cultural variables around the world that women face. That is what I was trying to get at. Believe me, I get what continues here in the US.

[Novelafemme]

Originally Posted by AtLast

I see what you are saying. I don't recall exactly what was going on when I first did this thread. Yes, my own back yard is a mess.

What I often have problems with here in the US is a US-centric outlook about violence against women- not much awareness of how globally, women are treated. That we need to look at all of the issues and cultural variables around the world that women face. That is what I was trying to get at. Believe me, I get what continues here in the US.

I recently took a class on transnational feminisms, which is precicely what AtLast is referencing in her above post. and, yes, the us has a very us-centric perspective on just about every human rights issue you can think of. take "third-world" countries for example. "third-world" as compared to what? the u.s.? does this mean we are a "first world" country? and if so, what criteria did we meet in order to exact a first place status?

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

I recently took a class on transnational feminisms, which is precicely what AtLast is referencing in her above post. and, yes, the us has a very us-centric perspective on just about every human rights issue you can think of. take "third-world" countries for example. "third-world" as compared to what? the u.s.? does this mean we are a "first world" country? and if so, what criteria did we meet in order to exact a first place status?

This does click with what I was trying to say.

Something that has struck me as well is how I can better see the world outside of US paradigms is seeing independent films. Sure, I just like this genre, but, more often than not, I leave feeling like I might just understand perspectives outside of my own better. Yes, I see mainstream US movies, but, let's face it, they are mostly (not always) from a white, middle class perspective of life in the US.

[*Anya*]

Nearly One in Five U.S. Women Raped in Lifetime
By David Beasley

ATLANTA (Reuters) Dec 15 - Nearly 20% of women in the United States have been raped at least once and one in four has been severely attacked by an intimate partner, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Wednesday.

Almost 80% of female victims were first raped before age 25 and more than half were raped by a current or former partner, according to the CDC's analysis of data from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey of 18,049 men and women in the United States in 2010.

The survey, which the CDC said was the first of its kind, found that one in eight female rape victims said the perpetrator was a family member.

Alaska, Oregon, and Nevada had the highest percentage of women who had been raped, the study found.

One in seven men reported having experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner and one in 71 men said they had been raped at least once.

The report highlights numerous long-term health problems associated with sexual violence, including headaches, chronic pain, and difficulty sleeping.

"This landmark report paints a clear picture of the devastating impact these violent acts have on the lives of millions of Americans," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

The CDC numbers show rape "is still a crime that impacts almost every family in America," said Scott Berkowitz, president of the nonprofit group Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

More victims need to report rape and more rapists need to go to prison, Berkowitz told Reuters.

"The more we can get off the street, the more crime we can prevent," he said.

The new report defines rape as "completed forced penetration, attempted penetration, and alcohol or drug-facilitated completed penetration."

SOURCE: http://1.usa.gov/t10uOI

CDC, 2011.

Reuters Health Information © 2011

==========================================

[Glenn]

Fully one quarter of all South African men admit to having raped at least one woman or girl in their lifetime, according to a recent study about rape and HIV in South Africa. This study used Palm Pilots to guarantee anonymity.

[Greyson]

I just saw a quick news story the other night about "Honor Killings." Yes, they are happening globally. One story in particular was out of Canada. These women are killed by male family members because they have done something that is considered to have "disgraced" the family. Something horrible like stepped out of their home without being chapperoned by a male family member.

[Kobi]

TEL AVIV—For years, Israeli women have been pressured into moving to the rear of public buses serving strictly religious Jews. Now, in confrontations reminiscent of the era of Rosa Parks, women are pushing back.

Doron Matalon, an 18-year-old soldier, says she was standing at the front of the No. 49a municipal bus after an overnight shift at her Jerusalem base on Wednesday morning last week when an ultra-Orthodox man ordered her to move back.

"I said that I have the right to sit here," she says. "Then a commotion ensued, and other people gathered around and started shouting….It was scary."

The conflict drew national media attention and highlighted the growing tensions in Israel as the population of once-insular ultra-Orthodox Jews has surged beyond the urban enclaves of Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak, where they have lived for decades.

As the Orthodox seek jobs and housing in other areas, they are increasingly interacting with mainstream Israelis who see their strict code of religious practice to be coercive, and a threat to Israel's democracy.

"It's a slippery slope. What starts with women boarding the bus in the back because of modesty can end up with women not voting," says Mickey Gitzin, the director of Be Free Israel, a nonprofit that promotes religious pluralism. "It could turn Israeli society into a segregated society in which women don't have a place in public life."

In the past week, public outrage peaked following a TV report on the harassment of an 8-year-old girl by ultra-Orthodox men, in the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh. The men spat on the girl and called her a prostitute for dressing in a way they considered to be immodest.

That spurred thousands of people to demonstrate against the segregation of women on Tuesday, Dec. 27; a counterprotest two days later ignited clashes in Jerusalem and in Beit Shemesh.

Haredi rabbis of Beit Shemesh said the women of their community observe modesty rules voluntarily because they are for women's honor and Judaism orders the separation of men and women in the public sphere.

Many ultra-Orthodox object to segregation, but have gone on the defensive. "The problem is that they want to make a secular state in the Holy Land. That's what creates the friction," said Israel Eichler, a parliament member from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party.

Mr. Eichler alleged that Israel's secular media is focusing on the ultra-Orthodox treatment of women as a way of indirectly attacking a political ally of the Haredis—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly denounced segregation. Last week he insisted that "women will sit in every place."

Haredi political parties wield outsized clout because they often function as kingmakers of Israeli coalitions by moving between right and left, though their outlook is more in keeping with right-wing coalitions.

For decades, Israel's Haredi sects kept at a distance from the mainstream, congregating in self-contained ghettos. Their religious ideology rejected the foundations of the secular Jewish state even as they participated in its politics.

Because they made up a relatively small percentage of the population, they were allowed to avoid army service and oversee schools that shed elements of state curriculum, and lobbied for public subsidies that enabled graduates to continue religious study rather than pursue jobs.

In the 14 years since the first public buses went into operation in Jerusalem, exclusion and segregation efforts have expanded to include men-only sidewalks in ultra-Orthodox
neighborhoods, separated waiting rooms at some health clinics, and the gradual disappearance of women from billboard advertisements in Jerusalem.

With Haredi birthrates double the average Israeli family, ultra-Orthodox Jews are poised to surge from around 10% of the country's population. Economists say the status quo, where most Haredi men don't work, will eventually drag down the economy because the government won't be able to afford the rising cost of so many men staying out of the workplace.

The bus lines that initially served only ultra-Orthodox communities eventually spilled over into mixed areas. As the number of segregated bus lines grew into the dozens and complaints emerged, the liberal Israel Religious Action Center, an affiliate of the U.S. Reform Jewish movement, petitioned the Supreme Court to ban segregation on buses.

In a ruling in January 2011, the court said that while forced segregated buses were illegal in principle, it would be possible to allow them to operate for one year on a voluntary basis.

The ruling highlighted a dilemma for Israel's government in determining how to handle diverse religious and national groups that reject many of its basic principles.

"The deeper question is how does a democracy deal with separatist fundamentalist communities in its midst," said Yossi Klein Halevi, a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. "Israel's great domestic challenge is to figure out the balance between allowing cultural autonomy and reinforcing its sovereign authority."

With the one-year trial period about to end, the petitioners say they plan to press the Supreme Court again.

For Ms. Matalon, it might be too late. She says she fears riding the bus and hasn't returned for fear of harassment.

"It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last time," she says.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...myyahoo_module

[Novelafemme]

Originally Posted by Greyson

I just saw a quick news story the other night about "Honor Killings." Yes, they are happening globally. One story in particular was out of Canada. These women are killed by male family members because they have done something that is considered to have "disgraced" the family. Something horrible like stepped out of their home without being chapperoned by a male family member.

CANADA?!?!

[Cin]

Eve Ensler Calls for a Billion Women to Strike Against Sexual Violence

The Vagina Monologues shot writer Eve Ensler to stardom. Now she is a global campaigner who plans to call a billion women out on strike against rape.

Eve Ensler has big plans. For the 15th anniversary of V-Day in 2013, she wants to get a billion women – the figure comes from the UN's estimate that one in three women will be raped or assaulted during their lifetime – to come together, "to walk out of their jobs, to walk out of any situation where they have been violated, or just to walk because they were violated, and to join with whoever. If women could see the numbers, how many women we are who have been through this experience …
http://www.alternet.org/story/153625...e/?page=entire

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Words

Given the contents of the following article (amongst others), I'd say that your title is somewhat misleading AtLast. You might take a lot of things for granted, but what applies to you, doesn't necessarily apply to others, especially those from less privileged groups...and I'm not talking about those in Afghanistan, Egypt, or Syria, I'm talking about those in your own back yard.

http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html

Best,

Words

Also took a bit of an issue with this thread for the same reason. I really dislike it when people from North America or Europe talk about "what we take for granted" as far as human rights. Are women's rights violated with such frequency and to such excessive degrees in developed nations vs. many developing nations? No, evidently women's rights have come along way in Canada, the US, France, Germany, the UK etc. However, just because they have come a long way does not mean we should say that we are taking anything for granted when we discuss violence against women in developed nations. It's the same argument I think I've heard frequently even on this forum about queer/trans rights worldwide...that despite the homophobia and transphobia that still exist in the west and other developed regions, that because somebody has it worse we are "taking things for granted."

To me that comes off as though we're "whining" when we try to fight for equal rights in developed nations. But the truth is someone will always have it worse, and that does not mean that we are taking anything for granted in the developed/western world as far as our own rights. It does not mean that women's rights in one nation are more important than women's rights in another nation. Both are equally important.

Just a month or two ago I was appalled to hear that some U.S. states had passed or reinstated laws that allowed police to conduct criminal investigations against women who had miscarriages, in order to make absolutely certain that the woman had not somehow induced the miscarriage herself. So not only are the police and the government policing women's bodies by not allowing them access to abortion resources, but they are actively pursuing miscarriage cases. This is violence against women. No, it's not acid thrown in a woman's face, but it is still violence against women. It is still policing women's bodies. It is still completely atrocious and it is happening in a western "developed" nation.

I just feel that the wording of this thread is problematic and that people need to understand that no matter how far rights for marginalized people (including women!) have come in the west, they still have very far to go.

As far as US centrism...well yes, I think a lot of the issues discussed on the forum are extremely US-centric...however, that should not detract from the struggles of women in the US. I'm not accusing you of that or anything else, AtLast, but I'm just saying that wording can be "dangerous" as far as what it may convey to some.

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

CANADA?!?!

Erm...you do realise honour killings occur all over the world yes? Basically anywhere that has residents who come from regions where honour killing is accepted will have an issue with honour killings. Canada (and other western nations including the US) has had quite a few cases where immigrants from the middle east or south Asia, particularly, participate in honour killings. There was one case recently where a husband, his wife and their son were responsible for drowning their three daughters over "revealing" social media pictures and having boyfriends or something like that. Every nation in the world has a struggle against honour killings.

[Truly Scrumptious]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

CANADA?!?!

Yes, Canada.
Right now there is a trial going on that has a mother, father and son accused of killing 4 family members: 3 daughters and one first wife.

It's hard to stomach, but if you're up for the challenge you can read about it here:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/a...honour-killing

[Novelafemme]

Honestly...I consider myself fairly well-read and I don't recall coming across honor killings in Canada. off to do some research:::

...even though it makes me incredibly sad and frustrated.

[Novelafemme]

“A woman’s body is considered to be the repository of family honour.

“Honour crimes are acts of violence committed by male family members against female family members who are held to have brought dishonour onto the family.’’

How? By exhibiting themselves in unacceptable ways, by going where they don’t belong, by asserting a whiff of independence, by getting raped, by asking for a divorce — all moral crimes that require expunging, sometimes to the extreme of death.

“Cleansing one’s honour of shame is typically handled by the shedding of blood. It’s really about men’s need to control women’s sexuality and freedom.’’

So very troubling. The article's closing summed my feelings up perfectly.

I work with a large group of Saudi scholars and have (over time) developed honest and respectful relationships with each one of them. There are days when I "push the envelope" a bit with some of the men by asking some very direct questions. I have to run and get some study time in for an exam tomorrow, but I'll be back to discuss this issue more tomorrow. It is near and dear to my heart.

[Cin]

Why We Must Put Our Bodies on the Line to Fight Against the Right-Wing War on Women's Rights

Is it time for a reproductive rights revolution? We've done it before; the climate may be right again for occupations and actions to save our bodies from state control.

Despite some modest gains, overall there’s a steady chipping away of abortion rights and access to contraception, no matter who’s in office or what he or she pledges to do.

In the cities and towns of America, the effects of that chipping are showing. Austerity budget cuts, the absolutely brutal legislative war on women and the further stigmatization of abortion mean that clinics are shutting their doors, costs and travel times for procedures are rising and the back-alley abortion (now more commonly done with a pill obtained over the Internet than with a coat hanger) is very much back with us. But of course since the passage of the now "accepted compromise" of Hyde Amendment banning funding for low-income women to have abortions, the truth is it never really left.

Here’s the reality that many feminists know: As the income gap in America has grown, another gap has grown along with it. Women are divided into two classes. With each small law that has been passed requiring parental consent, mandatory ultrasounds and waiting periods, with each guarantee that we will never reconsider allowing Medicaid-funded abortions, the divide between the women who will always be able to have abortions and those who are now living in a pre-Roe era keeps growing--and the number of women in the latter category expands along with it.

It may not be the 99 percent vs. the 1 percent just yet, but the class, race and privilege gap over who has reproductive rights is turning into a chasm, with a smaller and smaller number of women on the side that allows them freedom over their bodies...

...As for the issue of reproductive rights, which has been stuck in its own rut with a squeamish population and an even more squeamish power structure approving every abortion restriction on the book, it’s beguiling to wonder what we could do with that power to change the conversation.

If we had the bodies on the ground, might we stake out some ideological territory that would enable those mainstream organizations to push harder? Could we spread a new message that would make our fellow citizens--who as a rule are so indifferent about the reproductive freedoms of women who aren’t themselves or their families--think twice?

Our opponents have been beating us at this game. We hold rallies and marches while they do cruel but effective things like blocking clinic entrances and stalking and harassing women (and resorting to unspeakable violence, it should never be forgotten). This ranges from reprehensible to criminal to psychotic, but it indicates a level of moral surety and confidence that should be ours, that is ours.
http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst...ts?page=entire