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"In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: either she's a feminist or a masochist." --Gloria Steinem
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Apr
14
Blog About The Congo Rape Epidemic
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, activism, blogswarm, feminism, human rights, media, misogyny, patriarchy, race and racism, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 4 Comments
Yesterday was the day to blog about the Congo rape epidemic. As Sunday is my day off from blogging, I missed it — but as I always say when I come in late to these things (a specialty of mine), it’s better late than never, and it’s not too late for you to participate either.
I was unfortunately not able to watch the documentary The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, since I don’t have HBO, and I hope that it will be soon available through another outlets for those of us who don’t have access. But I’m happy that it has been made and that it has inspired bloggers to engage on this difficult topic.
It’s human nature to want to ask “who is responsible?” And the obvious answer is “the rapists.” This is absolutely true; of course they are responsible. But this type of epidemic does not materialize from nothingness. When rape is allowed to exist this rampantly and for so long, when weapons and funding do not appear out of thin air, when the world’s richest and most powerful nations turn away or ask simply and disinterestedly “what can we do?”, we must hold others accountable. And as Anxious Black Woman notes, among them are the Corporate Rapists, those who benefit financially from the conflict through their pillaging of the land’s natural resources. She prints a partial list of those corporations that absolutely must be disseminated as far and wide as we can manage:
Popularity: 18% [?]
Mar
14
What is this “rape” of which you speak?
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, human rights, media, misogyny, patriarchy, race and racism, rape and sexual assault, reproductive justice, violence against women and girls | 8 Comments
This morning, I was reading the latest (March 17) issue of Time magazine. It contains an article on the Darfur conflict, and how the lines between “good” guys and “bad” guys are blurring.
Of course, there are extended descriptions of the violence and of the impact of that violence. But somehow, the issue of rape is conspicuously absent. In an article that is over 1,100 words long, the word appeared once, towards the very end of the article, as an after thought:
Amid continued militia and government attacks, it is Darfur’s civilians–both Arab and African–who suffer most. Battles last year drove more than 280,000 from their homes. Some find their way to Darfur’s swollen relief camps, home now to well over a third of the region’s population. But the camps are not immune to the violence. Many are controlled by the armed factions, and gangs of all stripes rob and rape many of those who venture outside. Other refugees wander Darfur’s unforgiving scrub, searching for a village or patch of land with some semblance of stability. Darfur’s humanitarian operation, already the largest in the world, struggles to service the displaced. Roads are a gauntlet of banditry, and attacks on relief workers are rising.
The word “woman?” It doesn’t appear in the article. Neither do the words “child” or “children.” Not once.
Can I possibly be the only one who sees something wrong with that picture? Yes, the article is about soldiers. It’s also about the extreme violence they have experienced and the atrocities that they commit.
Popularity: 28% [?]
Feb
19
Reasons to Take the Bus
Filed Under Africa, Australia, Europe, International, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, sex work, violence against women and girls | 3 Comments
A man in London has just been arrested on charges of drugging and raping women he picked up in his taxi cab. Though there are countless published stories about the case, the information is exceedingly limited in all of them. Here is the gist:
Up to 35 women may have been drugged and raped by a London taxi driver, police said on Monday.
Thirty women have come forward after a man was arrested last Friday in southeast London on suspicion of rape.
Police were initially investigating five attacks in which victims were picked up in a black cab near Oxford Street, King’s Road or London Bridge.
The suspect is accused of attacking his passengers after offering them spiked glasses of champagne which he said were to help him celebrate a lottery win.
The most recent reported attack took place on February 5 after a 33-year-old woman was picked up near London Bridge Station.
“Every case is being linked,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said.
Knowing full well that the Mirror is about as far from a reputable news source as you can get (don’t worry, the facts are the same in every story), I chose to use their article particularly because of the confounding nature of the first sentence. “Up to 35 women.” Well, 35 women in total have come forward. And instead of reaching what I would deem to be the logical conclusion — that if 35 have already come forward, just think of how many others there are — the Mirror has apparently determined that when 35 women come forward with rape allegations, that’s the definitive total, and at least a few have to be liars.
It’s funny, because it seems to be a theme recently. No, not just calling rape victims liars, since that’s pretty much a theme of living in the world as a woman. I’m talking about women being raped in cabs — and then having it implied that they are liars or to blame for the assaults.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Feb
2
Kenyan Women Excluded From Mediation Talks
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, activism, discrimination, human rights, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | Leave a Comment
Last week I wrote about the extreme violence that is being committed against Kenyan women, particularly sexual violence. Women and children make up about 85% of the displaced, a very large portion of those who have been victims of the violence and an extremely small portion of the perpetrators.
And yet, the mediation talks being lead by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan have been excluding the voices of women:
The chairperson of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK), Ms Isabella Karanja, said Kenya had ignored the United Nations Security Council resolution that supports women’s participation in mediation.
In 2000, the UN adopted resolution 1325, which stressed the importance of women’s involvement as active agents of peace and security.
“We are over 50 per cent of the population, but we have been marginalised and now we are requesting for an audience,” Karanja said.
Addressing journalists at a city hotel, Karanja said they were holding talks with the national steering committee on how they could be represented in the talks.
Former chairlady of the Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation, Mrs Zipporah Kittony, said women have been undervalued and under utilised in the ongoing mediation talks.
Kittony appealed to women in both ODM and PNU to set aside their differences and jointly call for cessation of violence.
A coalition of women’s organizations in Kenya has sent a memorandum with their concerns and requests to the mediation team. Other women have taken to wearing sacks as a protest, apparently as a symbol for humility what they see as the need for penance on the part of Kenyans.
Though Annan claims to be dedicated to women’s inclusion in the mediation, little action seems to have been taken to make this a reality. It’s arguable that Annan is taking a route that he believes will produce the fastest peaceful resolution and avert what has already nearly become a civil war. But when it comes specifically to the violence against women, peace made without the input and participation of women is a fragile peace at best, and an absolute sham at worst. The violence has reached a point where I have to feel that there is little guarantee that a political resolution would necessarily stop the sexual violence, even if it did stop the widespread killings (though I certainly hope that I am wrong). Rape seems to have momentum in this way, particularly when committed on a scale so large that it becomes expected and normalized. Women’s involvement in these talks to end the violence is absolutely not a negotiable point. It must happen for any genuine chance at peace.
OneWorld has put together a long list of ways that you can help, get involved and stay informed. Do give it a look.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Jan
27
Sexual Violence Escalates in Kenya
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, human rights, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls | 2 Comments
I’m a bit late on this story, though I unfortunately have a feeling that it’s going to be relevant for some time. Unsurprisingly, reports of rape in Kenya have skyrocketed in the past few weeks — more than doubled, though those figures don’t count the majority of rapes that go unreported, since they are obviously difficult to determine (trigger warning for all of these articles). Since the December 27th corrupt elections, violence throughout Kenya has reached epidemic proportions (the BBC has lots of helpful background on the different aspects that have been fueling the violence). And more than just your standard brutal rapes, both child rapes and gang rapes make up huge proportions of the sexual assaults. From the BBC:
Staff in the Nairobi Women’s Hospital - one of Kenya’s leading centres for the treatment of rape and sexual violence - say they have seen double the number of cases affecting women, teenagers and girls since January.
“Since the beginning of the month, we have had 140 cases of rape and defilement,” said Rahab Ngugi, patient services manager at the hospital.
“We were used to seeing an average of about four cases a day, now there is an average of between eight and 10.”
Almost half of the cases at the hospital’s specialised clinic are girls under the age of 18, Ms Ngugi said. One case was a two-year-old baby girl.
She knows that such a dramatic rise in numbers presenting at the clinic indicates that the reality beyond is far worse.
Only a small percentage of women actually come to receive medical treatment and counselling in the immediate aftermath of a sexual attack, she said. It means they do not get access to the drugs which might prevent the onset of HIV.
“It is the tip of the iceberg,” Ms Ngugi said. “At any time of unrest, of violence, or rioting, women and children are targeted. It is revenge, it is war. People are fighting and the weakest ones get abused.”
Due in part to the political unrest and the current lack of government control, those committing these atrocities are more or less raping with impunity. Estimates say that at least 250,000 people have been displaced, in addition to at least 600 people who have been killed, and around 85% of those who have been displaced are women and children.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Sep
13
Illegal Abortion in Nigeria Costs Innumerable Women’s Lives
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, abortion, anti-choice extremism, human rights, misogyny, patriarchy, reproductive justice, women’s health | 1 Comment
This is wholly unsurprising and yet still incredibly tragic: unsafe abortions in Nigeria are strongly linked to high maternal death rates. And when they say high, they really mean high.
THE statistics are alarming, over 760,000 abortions yearly in the country resulting in over 140,000 hospitalisations.
Abortions has been identified as the major reason Nigeria records one of the highest cases of maternal mortality ratio of 800 deaths per 100,000 births yearly in the world.
These figures, alarming as they are, have been referred to as conservative estimates by researchers and institutions working in the country.
. . . A recent study by CAUP pointed out that a vast majority of women would have had at least one Un-safe abortion by the age of 49 years.
Even worse: unsafe abortion contributes up to 30-50 percent of deaths in Nigeria. No, that does not say “maternal deaths.” It says “deaths.” Period.
Abortion in Nigeria is permitted only to save a woman’s life. Clearly, that restriction is costing a hell of a lot of lives. Of course, the issue of abortion is also inexplicably tied to extreme poverty and lack of access to contraception.
This, right here, is precisely why groups like Amnesty International need to promote reproductive rights as human rights– and not just in cases of rape or health risks, as their current stance states. If the right to not die on a makeshift operation table, at the hands of an untrained individual with unsafe medical equipment isn’t a human right, I’m not really sure what is.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Sep
7
Justice for Ghanaian Rape Victims Comes at a Price
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, class and economics, human rights, legislation, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, violence against women and girls, women’s health | Leave a Comment
This story out of Ghana should not only make you count your blessings, it should also really piss you off. In Ghana, women cannot take their rape cases to trial because they don’t have the money. In order to go to court, they need a signed medical form– but that form can be very costly.
Women’s advocates and officials from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the police agree: without a signed medical form, there is no way to bring a rapist to justice.
“I don’t know of any case where it was won without a medical form,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Angela K.Obeng, who works at DOVVSU’s National Secretariat. For many women, the 150,000 to 300,000 cedi fee for a signed medical form is a staggering sum of money. DOVVSU Commander Borquaye estimated that as many as half of victims simply can’t afford it.
Ama Agbodaze, a social worker, puts the number even higher. On average, she said, for every ten victims she gives a medical form to fill out, at most two or three return. According to this estimate, 70 to 80 percent of victims choose not to pursue justice past an initial visit to the police station.
“They can’t afford the medical bill,” Ms. Agbodaze said, adding, “that’s why they don’t come back.”
It’s not the medical examination that costs money, but the form itself, according to Commander Borguaye.
. . . The reason many doctors charge so much for a signature, said Dr. James Clayman, a gynecologist, is that doctors may be called to testify in court if the rape victim presses charges. When this happens, doctors themselves have to pay the costs associated with testifying, as well as accept any missing salary from time spent out of the office.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Jul
30
Extreme Sexual Violence Against Congolese Women Continues
Filed Under Africa, International, human rights, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, sexual exploitation and harassment, violence against women and girls | 2 Comments
A U.N. investigator has just reported that extreme sexual violence against women is still rampant and pervasive in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
I think that it is a part of human nature, an instinct, to want to turn away from such atrocities when we hear of them, because they are so awful and because we feel so powerless to help. I know that it is my knee-jerk reaction, and when I read about such large-scale epidemics, I want to find something else to write about. Something simpler. And that is precisely why I force myself to pass along this kind of information. I once heard Oprah (yes, I know, Oprah) say something that stuck with me: when it comes to these kinds of horrors, we all like to say that “we didn’t know.” But once you do know, you no longer have an excuse. You can’t un-know.
A warning: the below quote is not for the faint of heart.
Erturk, special rapporteur for the United Nations Human Rights Council on violence against women, said the situation in South Kivu province, where rebels from neighboring Rwanda operate, was the worst she had ever encountered.
The atrocities perpetrated there by armed groups, some of whom seemed to have been involved in the 1994 Rwandan massacres in which 800,000 people were killed, “are of an unimaginable brutality that goes far beyond rape,” she said.
“Women are gang raped, often in front of their families and communities. In numerous cases, male relatives are forced at gun point to rape their own daughters, mothers or sisters,” she said.
After rape, many women were shot or stabbed in the genital area, and survivors told Erturk that while held as slaves by the gangs they had been forced to eat excrement or the flesh of their murdered relatives.
Widespread sexual abuse in the various conflicts racking the republic — which last year held elections hailed as marking a new era — “seems to have become a generalized aspect of the overall oppression of women,” Erturk said.
And of course, like with Darfur, the larger question that looms is why we allow this to continue.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Jul
15
A Setback for Women-Controlled HIV Prevention Methods
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, gender, rape and sexual assault, sexism, women’s health | 3 Comments
Sad news: a study that was hoping to show that diaphragms are a useful, woman-controlled method of preventing HIV infection showed instead that they have no effect.
Researchers are desperately seeking a low-cost method that women could use — without the consent of male partners — to protect themselves against HIV. About 20 percent of adults are infected in Zimbabwe and South Africa, where the experiment was conducted, and women there run twice the risk of infection as men. In cultures where women are traditionally subservient to men, they have less of a say about matters of sex — when to have it, whom to have it with, and whether condoms or other safer sexual practices will be used.
The study was conducted in Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa, and in Harare, Zimbabwe. It enrolled nearly 5,000 women ages 18-49 and followed them an average of 18 months. Half of the women were given diaphragms and a gel lubricant, while the other half were not. Both groups were also given condoms and extensive counseling to have their partners use them.
By the end of the study, HIV infection rates were high and almost identical: about 4 percent of the women in each arm of the study were infected per year. Infections were found in 158 women given diaphragms and condoms and counseling; 151 women were infected among those given condoms and counseling only.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Jun
28
On HIV-AIDS’ Rise and Potential Solutions
Filed Under Africa, International, WOC issues, women’s health | 2 Comments
Yesterday was National HIV Testing Day. Sorry that I missed it. Of course, for those of you who also forgot, it’s not too late to get tested!
In honor, I wanted to bring this sobering article from AlterNet to your attention, which talks about how HIV-AIDS is on the rise among U.S. women, particularly Black and Latina women.
“Everyone is telling us what not to do, but who’s telling us what to do?” says Loretta Ross, the national coordinator for Atlanta-based SisterSong, a collective of some 80 organizations focused on reproductive health for women of color. “‘Just say no’ ain’t worked for drugs, sex or politicians.”
While men still make up the vast majority of reported HIV-AIDS diagnoses in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that diagnoses of women rose 17 percent from 2001 to 2005, with more than 9,800 women diagnosed for the first time in 2005.
Of U.S. women currently living with the virus, about 64 percent are African Americans, and another 15 percent are Latina. HIV-AIDS remains the leading cause of death for African American women aged 25 to 34, and a top-four cause for black women 35 to 54. It’s also the fourth-leading cause of death for Latina women 35 to 44. Younger women remain at higher risk and only cancer and heart disease kill more women annually.
Wow. There’s nothing to like about that. So what can we do?
Popularity: 8% [?]
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"No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body." --Margaret Sanger
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"Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less." -- Susan B. Anthony
