1. Consider the phrase “violence against women.” Recall the first image or definition that came into your head before reading this week’s materials. Compare your original thought to the definition outlined on p. 142 of From Outrage to Courage of “violence against women” as a strategy for maintaining social power. What is different and what is the same? Has this new definition compelled you to think about domestic violence differently?
2. In this unit, we learned that violence against women is especially prevalent in countries where the oppression of women is accepted by society and remains common. Look at the list of countries that Anne Firth Murray defines as being a part of this group (p. 140 of From Outrage to Courage). In this exercise, we consider if anti-violence organizations can adapt to local norms while changing the culture and rhetoric around violence against women. If you are from one of these countries, you may have additional insights to answer this question!
a) What are some features of the local culture? In what ways does societal oppression of women further contribute to the prevalence of domestic violence?
b) Choose one of the countries on the list. Create a mission statement for a new anti-violence organization that caters specifically to the cultural norms of this country. If you had to teach a class to men in this community about violence against women, what would you say?
3. What are some of the negative health implications of violence against women? Discuss the reasons why women who experience violence in relationship have higher morbidity rates than those who are in non-violent relationships.
4. Explain the concept of and justifications behind honor killing and dowry death. If you had to create a campaign against these traditions on a billboard or poster, what would you write in order to convince community members that this practice is wrong? Are there other strategies that could be adopted?
5. Share your personal reactions to the readings and/or videos from this week. What did you find most surprising, and what aspects of the readings do you think are most important for others to know about?
3. In my opinion women experiencing violence in their relations have a higher morbidity rate not only as a result of physical violence against them but also because violence makes you feel less valuable and sometimes may lead you not to take enough care about yourself.
ReplyDelete4. I think that to stop honor killing, there should be, along with many other changes, a change in people's mentality. The concept of honour as related to women's sexuality should be completely removed from any legal frameworks. In Italy the concept of honour was completely abandoned in the beginning of the 80s, just to say how long is the way to abolish such a retrograd concept.
5. I think the most important idea is that violence against women is just the tip of the iceberg of all those strategies put in place to keep control over women's lives and to make them comply with societal gender expectations on them.
Considering the phrase "violence against women", the first image that came into my head was of a woman who was abused by her partner. I live in a community where the culture does not encourage or engage in culturally discriminative practices against women, and, in fact, is probably one of the most equal communities in the world as far as gender equality. Women in my community are leaders in business and in the government. Men are not encouraged to show their power by refusing to allow women to compete with them in any arena. So, for me, the only place where I envision violence against women is in the home. High unemployment and underemployment, and living in an area with a high cost of living, causes many people to struggle to make ends meet in my community. When people can't afford to live in a healthy environment, when they have too many unstructured hours in their day due to not having a job to go to, and when they can't afford to socialize in healthy ways, they often resort to the use of drugs and alcohol to make themselves feel "okay" with their lives. What I see in the volunteer work I do in my community is men that feel like they have failed their families when they do not have work and/or cannot afford to live comfortably in their communities. When they feel like failures, they use drugs and alcohol, and when they do so, they become belligerent and angry. When they become angry, they take out their frustrations on those whom they are closest to - their partners. After reading and watching the videos about violence against women, I see that abuse happens across all nationalities, all cultures, all socioeconomic stratas. Physically, women are smaller than men. And, regardless of what culture people are raised in, women still suffer more than their male counterparts.
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ReplyDelete1. In my opinion the best concept to describe violence against women at home should be: terror and torture. Because it is what they are experienced by their male partners in the place and with the one they should feel safe and loved.
Some years ago the cases of murdered women by their partners were described as passionate crimes, after that as domestic violence. Now I think we have to go a step further and take into account the acts of torture are really happening and change the concept to terrorism by their partners.
2. The society will have to make an effort to ensure the life of all the women and her children, in case they have, who decide to stop the violence. It is one of the moments more vulnerable for her and her family. In fact many women are murdered by their, or ex partners, when they decide to finish the relation, to denounce the violence, get divorce and even in cases with restrained order. The most perverse act it can happen it is when the aggressor decide to kidnap or murder the children.
Judges should take the necessary actions, in order to prevent that this happen, if there is any minimum doubt. The voice of the women has to count more than the rights of the aggressor to see and spend time with the children. In my opinion this time should be monitored in a safe place, for the children and therefore the mothers.
4) 'Honour killings' are used to control a woman's behaviour, particularly her sexuality, for in some cultures, it is the woman's chastity that determines the family's honour. If she therefore behaves in a way that seems to threaten that notion of honour (traditionally, this meant having sexual relations with a man to whom she is not married but this is often extended to other acts, such as leaving the house without permission or talking to another man outside of the family), the family will murder her in order to 'restore' its honour. This is justified as necessary to maintain a society of chaste women, since sexual freedom and promiscuity for women is considered immoral, dangerous and scandalous and thought to produce societal chaos.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to design a poster to try and change attitudes towards 'honour killings,' it would emphasise that this practice is contrary to the teachings of both Islam and Christianity, since 'honour killings' mostly occur in societies in which religion has a very strong influence and is central to the community. For a poster in an Islamic community, for example, I would write that the Shari'a (Islamic Law) dictates that for someone to be killed as punishment for zina (extra-marital fornication), 4 witnesses need to testify that they saw actual penetration take place and their testimonies need to be exactly the same- there cannot be any discrepancy in the details (a near impossible feat, when sex is a private act and perception of reality is very different for every person). Then a Qadi (Shari'a Judge) then has to pass the sentence that condemns the man or woman to death. Finally, Sura 24, Ayat 4 of the Quran states that, "And those who accuse free women then do not bring four witnesses... these it is that are the transgressors." The poster in Muslim communities would therefore finish by asserting that so-called 'honour killings' are not Islamic and bring dishonour to the family responsible for this crime against the woman and against Allah.
Such awareness-raising would have to be accompanied by advocacy to change laws and legal practices that enable these murderers to receive reduced sentences or no punishment at all, as well as by workshops with both sexes that challenge support for 'honour killings.'
1. Consider the phrase “violence against women.” Recall the first image or definition that came into your head before reading this week’s materials. Compare your original thought to the definition outlined on p. 142 of From Outrage to Courage of “violence against women” as a strategy for maintaining social power. What is different and what is the same? Has this new definition compelled you to think about domestic violence differently?
ReplyDeleteI am very familiar with the definitions of VAW and GBV, therefore I wasn’t surprised with this definition of violence as a strategy to maintain social power, because it’s the one with which I agree. Furthermore, I don’t like in general the concept domestic violence because it tends to leave violence inside the houses, it tends to diminish its importance (as it’s a quarrel without too much importance) and it tends to forget the gender component and imbalance of power. Exactly, I prefer in general to use the term Gender Based Violence because it highlights more the gendered meaning of this kind of violence. And as a good substitute for domestic violence I would use Intimate-partner violence.
3. What are some of the negative health implications of violence against women? Discuss the reasons why women who experience violence in relationship have higher morbidity rates than those who are in non-violent relationships.
VAW has got many negative health implications for women, some of them are mortal: physical injuries (that can lead to disabilities), unwanted pregnancies, abortion, gynechological problems (fistula) HIV/AIDS and other STIs, chronic pains, post-traumatic stress disease, depression, anxiety, use of alcohol or other drugs… and directly or indirectly to death (“natural” death and homicide) and suicide. And related to the fetus in case the woman is pregnant, VAW has consequences on the weight of the baby, the possibilities of prematurity, and other kind of malformation. Because of this I do believe GBV is an epidemic and huge health problem worldwide. I think all these things are enough to be able to say that women who experience violence in relationships have higher morbidity rates, but as you have mentioned previously, the morbidity is not coming just from physical consequences but also from the disempowerment and feeling of isolation that GBV provokes and that makes women less able to protect themselves, to have access to protective resources and to accept in the end one’s victimization.