Group items tagged

Recent murder of a woman victim of domestic abuse in the Boston area. This was the sixth killing of the type in the last month.

An interesting local series of events we might want to connect with.

Women's vulnerability to sexual violence after Haiti's quake.

For the paper on Human Trafficking- a somewhat related source

One of our shared readings

Activist groups in Pakistan pressure to reform the law to protect women from violence. The U.S.A is also realizing how vital it is to incorporate violence against women in their international agenda. Violence against women is starting to be seen as a global struggle that crosses national interests.

This article is very important to our class because it is directly related to the reading we did on the Bosnia rapes. The article explains how almost 20 years later, the women who were raped are still struggling with everyday life. Additionally, justice has still not been found for many of the women and men who were raped. Taking steps in this direction would be a good response to violence against women.

This is about a recent victory in South Africa regarding hate speech and rape. It is important to our course because rape is a major problem in violence against women. By taking action against offenders, in a country where rape is very big problem, the South African government is taking a stand and helping to change the future of violence against women.

This article draws a parallel to the questions/ workshop based on femicide in class. When discussing effective ways to raise awareness and stop the violence, the government seemed a major resource in doing so. I found it very interesting and surprising that the South African government is taking hate speech and rape seriously and being proactive in making sure this violence stops and perpetrators are punished. By getting the government involved in gender equality and violence, can allow change within society among men and women. In particular men can be educated in how to support women's rights and gender equalities, and also create new standards or systems of gender roles to advance gender equality.

This speech given by Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton goes into how activism on behalf of violence against women has changed in the past few years. She explains that progress has been made, but that it needs to continue. This helps to attract global attention to the problem of violence against women. This is related to our class because it shows how action can have an effect on violence against women, and how changes in the future are necessary and can be made possible.

Global attraction to this issue of violence against women is pertinent in working towards solving it. This issue is usually in places were impunity rules over the perpetrators. The steps taken by global actors such as the United States in taking a stand against violence against women,and being proactive in implementing legislation to end it works to promote taking action on this issue. However, it is also important to note the areas were there is still work to be done as Hilary Clinton expresses.

Active for Ending Rape is an organization that works with students to get organized and make a change within their own college community. Focusing on ending sexual violence, SAFER encourages kids to know their school's policy when it comes to such violence on their campus. Through policy changes, the organization hopes that university campuses will be a safer place for all. The website offers on-campus training as well as other free resources students can use to get going. With a list of other schools who have started using the program as well as specific student video stories, SAFER gives students the tools they need to get started.

This is a great webpage. One of my articles was on how one rape case in Holly Cross was poorly addressed. The importance of clear and fair procedures in college campuses mark a difference in prevention and in especially addressing the cases. I think that an organization such as SAFER ism important because it gives tools to empower students to end the inustice. It is a very positive article ! Thank you Kat.

Being a student on a College campus, I could not think of a better website to correlate everyday reality to this course. Also, this site seems appropriate to coincide with the Symposium, "Breaking the Silence", as it asks college students nation-wide to take a proactive role in sculpting the future of their College's sexual assault policies. It is important to note that on the Wheaton campus, we maintain and encourage a "don't ask, don't tell" type of policy where the discussion or realization of sexual assault on the campus is seemingly unheard of. This site encourages its viewers to be open-minded and encourage others to discuss the current campus policies and acknowledge that assault and rape do in fact, occur on college campuses nation-wide despite their lack of publicity.

Unaware before taking this class of reality, I too, like the majority of society, was influenced by the misconception that rape was a stereotypical image. I have come to find through taking this class that the majority of rape and physical assaults are experienced by females from a male perpetrator who is an intimate partner, including spouses, boyfriends, or dates. When searching ways in which the violence against women has been an issue under which proactive means have been taken toward awareness or even a solution, I came across the website for the Bahamas Crisis Center. This page offers a direct introduction to the issue with the poster that states, "When we got married, I promised to love, honour and obey him and he promised the same to me. I gave him my love, respect and my heart, but last night he betrayed that love and broke my heart. He RAPED me." This page seeks to directly address marital rape as an eminent threat to the well-being of women and the society at large by taking a problem that ordinarily occurs within the home and places it in people's faces. The video "Silent Pain" is a collage of images, words, songs, and interviews. It begins with a description of the emotions felt by women whom are betrayed and raped by their husbands. When asked if they were aware of what marital rape was, those interviewed replied "no" and of those who were female, they remarked that it is indeed, unacceptable while the males depicted it as "a condoned act of marriage". Fortunately, the video also attempted to show how the issue has become increasingly apparent in the media to raise social acknowledgment. The video ends with a detailed personal account of a woman who was raped by her husband. I believe this is a positive step toward making a private issue a public one that needs to urgently be addressed.

This was an amazingly difficult video for me to watch. The explicit images from films, reenactments, etc. were incredibly jarring. However, I think that this was a good thing because it really sent the message through to me, even more so than the readings we have been doing in this course, especially those from last week. I think it is great that you found this. Is this also implemented in the US or only in the UK? This might be something really good to place within the symposium!

In the midst of taking a class on the different outlets of Violence Against Women, the student is often left with a better understanding of how and why rape, physical assault, murder, human trafficking, and Femicide against females occurs as well as an overwhelming feeling of helpless and hopeless. The website entitled the "Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence Against Women and Girls" is an attempt to take pro-active steps in helping the public form campaigns, educate others, seek justice, form legislation and public policy, prevent, discover where safety zones exist, and research the various locations where the violence exists. It truly takes a step in helping the public feel less helpless and asking questions of what the can do to help because it directly leads one toward the answers.

I have bookmarked a specific event that takes place every year under The United Nations Population Fund. As an international development agency, UNFPA works across countries to spread awareness and to work towards equal rights and opportunities for all people. Working with the government of a specific country, the agency works on sustainable development taking into account the needs of the population now and for the future. This event specifically, the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women is done every year and speaks out across the world on issues of gender violence. Apart from the set aside 16 days, this page lays out 16 ways the UNFPA is working to end this violence. As well, the website lists various other events they are hosting as well as sites to visit that show social and multi-media space on a variety of issues that one can use to network and learn more on such issues.

This is a great website, and I love that it happens every year. By not only providing websites and other resources for people to look at, just their presentation, as a worldwide event, makes it very effective in getting the idea of how bad violence against women really is. One thing that I thought was most effective about it is that it is not just the US, and not just a country that we hear about often with regards to their violence against women, but global. This globalness is very important because if someone who knew little about violence against women were to see this, then they could possibly become aware that violence against women is not just in the US, and not just in the rest of the world, something that is very important to ending violence against women.

I'm glad that you came across this website because people want to get involved and sometimes do not k now were to start. I feel like I can send some of my friends to this website to get started. I like that the ideas also involve men; it's something that everyone can do and feel good about. One of the 16 ways that jumped out at me was "Publicizing the issue of acid burning and other unusual forms of gender violence" because it is something that it is not spoken about and given a lot of attention to.

Amnesty International is an organization that is working to enforce human rights through various campaigns. They work across countries with the government in order to change law and help push legislation to help further equality. This page in particular focuses on their work to stop the current violence against women occurring around the world. Here you can read about the problems facing various countries, learn more about what different governments are doing, and what Amnesty International believes needs to be done. Here you can find resources to help in your own activism such as fact sheets, videos, and specific campaigns.

Although this is not an "official" site per se, it still offers an interesting take on Art Therapy for Sexually abused adults. This is a program offered at a California YWCA for adults who have been sexually abused to express their experiences and trauma through the medium of art. In this particular piece the various pro's regarding art therapy are listed. The page also includes a list of references for those interested.

I think that this is a really great idea. I remember reading (maybe I misunderstood) in the Myer reading that catharsis does not actually help many, or have the effect many believe it to have. I find this to be completely false and somehow offending. Personally, a way I deal with the difficult topics that come up in our class is through making a connection between this class and my 3D Design course. I found/find it to be very cathartic in dealing with issues that arise in this course, as it seems many survivors do in creating their own art. I find it especially valuable in that it often seems to allow others to relate and connect their own emotions with their fellow survivor peers. Hopefully more shelters, etc. begin to institute this idea.

I love this idea and think that people need to engage in creative activities more frequently not just as a way to heal, but as a way to stay happy, which in turn makes one healthy as well. Emilie- I think that Myer focused on catharsis in a different way. He made the case that watching/reading/looking/playing instead of doing cannot satisfy one's desire for violence among sexual activities. But I could be wrong; I do not know what he would say in response to art therapy. I feel that all art production is a catharsis of some kind and must be helpful for many otherwise the practice might not have perpetuated itself. I am also not an artist in the conventional sense of a person who produces pieces of art on a regular schedule, so my opinion might be far from reality.