Group items tagged

"Say NO- UNiTE End Violence Against Women" is a campaign out of UNIFEM which aims to end violence against women worldwide through the activism, support, and help of people. The objective is have 100,000 "actions" performed globally by November 2010 that in some way help end violence against women, such as working in a shelter, donating money to an organizations, or taking an activist stance. There is a section where people can write in their name to stop the violence against women and tell governments to "make ending violence against women a top priority." I think we should all sign and try to take action!

United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women. 2009 The UN Secretary-General's Database on Violence against Women. http://webapps01.un.org/vawdatabase/country.action, accessed March 2010. The UN Secretary General Database on Violence against Women provides information on the laws, plans, and organizations which have been formed in different countries to end and prevent violence against women. The laws from Latin American countries such as Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador are very important to my paper. I discuss what has been done in different Latin American countries to stop and prevent domestic violence. Some of the links on this website connect to the actual laws which are very interesting to read in order to understand the details of each law, meaning what is being changed and implemented and who is responsible for helping victims.

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.

This article discusses the actions and motives of solder-rapists. It discusses who should be held accountable and what war time rape means for political structure and gender inequality. This article allows me to further investigate the psychology of soldiers who are commanded to rape and better understand the concept of male domination. It also allows me to draw conclusions about what women suffer through the in-depth stories some of the men in this article have described.

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 is a great resource for understanding the intersectionality of gender, culture and ethnicity. It is the official website of La Alianza, a Latino Activism against Domestic Violence organization. This is a great resource to use for the understanding of the different experiences and expectations Latinas face when in abusive relationships.

I think this website and organization are really important because it brings to light an issue we have discussed in class, the idea of cultural differences and how to address problems such as domestic violence in cultures that have different views on it and may not agree with how others choose to handle domestic violence. This website mentions that Latina women have a strong sense of moral code to their families and to what they are supposed to do in their role as women because of their cultural norms and values. Thus, many Latinas, when faced with domestic violence, may not find it as easy to just leave their families or take other action to stop the violence due to these cultural morals. I think cultural differences is something very important that must be taken into account in this class and all over when thinking of ways to end violence against women. To many women in particular cultures, such as the Latino community, leaving one's husband or reporting a case of domestic abuse is not acceptable to them and goes against the very culture and values that they come from and that has formed the person they are. When we think of ways to help women dealing with situations of domestic abuse we must think of the cultural barriers they have to cross in order to get out of a violent home, which is why this organization is very important, because it is aware of those barriers and works to find ways around them and still end violence against women in the Latino community.

I came across this while searching for ant-domestic violence campaigns and couldn't resist posting it... This is an article on a Danish anti domestic violence PSA, which apparently asks you to virtually beat a woman and then calls you an idiot and presents facts about domestic violence at the end. I personally do not think that this is an effective way to prevent domestic violence, as it would seem to desensitize people to it, but not all commentators agreed, and some that I read felt that this was a good strategy because it was edgy and attention grabbing, and would make people notice this issue. Other peoples thoughts?

I think this game is just as sick as the other game that we saw in the CNN article. I would love to know who came up with the game's design to see why they chose to use "pussy" and "gansta" to describe the type of man you could be, and why they thought this would stop violence rather than increase it. I think the creators are making these actions seem normal by putting the female character in a situation that could happen so frequently and by making the male respond to it with violence. Like we've been talking about in class, it seems like the game is only going to increase the amount of violence against women rather than stopping it.

What this anti-violence campaign is doing is making light of violence against women. Although the reason why it was created was to make people aware of violence against women, in fact I believe it is doing the opposite of what they intended. The campaign was created to shock people and to catch their attention in order to bring a focus on violence against women. I'm curious to hear about what others think and whether they believe this example of activism works in certain contexts. My question is, did this campaign work in Denmark? Was it effective???

This article shows how certain activist groups have pressured to restructure Guatemalan law regarding violence against women. It discusses how addressing rape is slowly changing with the support of international organizations and national groups. However, the article also highlights how Guatemala's corrupt government and gangs makes it hard to eradicate violence against women, where respect for women and for peace is not rooted.

The page preceding this states that one in three women in the military will be sexually assaulted during their tour of duty. This number is amazing to me and it makes me wonder what life is really like for women in the military. In such a male dominated institution, the women of the military have been silenced. NOW president Kim Gandy is calling for president Barack Obama to address this issue and see that it stops.

This is a great example of our society being male dominated. How are we supposed to make change when the majority of government, law, and policy makers are men? Those involved with public service are typically those in control of delegating positions and reforming laws. It is important for the few women who are involved to raise their voices and for us, the citizens, to elect more women into office.

Before joining this class, I had knowledge of such happenings within our military, but I never had any idea the numbers were so high. I am able to acknowledge that yes these things happen, but it is hard to accept how often they occur. Posttraumatic stress disorder is an issue that is raised all the time, of men coming back from war and being so traumatized that they cannot continue on with their daily lives. In a number of movies and TV shows I have watched, soldiers coming back from war have been depicted as abusing their wives, but what about their fellow female soldiers? This is an issue that surely needs to be address now not only by the media to the public but within the government. Morgan brings up a good, but scary point of how are we suppose to change anything when those in power are men and men supporting the actions in the military by not speaking out. I do not know what the answer to this problem is, but I know that acknowledging and addressing the issue is the first step.

I wanted to bookmark the recap because this latest episode of Criminal Minds involves so many elements of the articles we have read, as well as the class discussions. It's about a white male police officer at the Texas border who was killing illegal immigrants who were trying to cross into the US. The female sheriff was doing her best to end the murders but wasn't getting any cooperation from her deputies or the government. She ends up getting killed by the police officer because she was getting too close to solving the crimes. The deputies in the town kept wasting time by trying to pin the murders on a local gang instead of trying to find the actual murderer. Throughout the episode there was talk about how things like this are allowed to happen with little action taken by the government, which coincides with many of the articles that we have read. There was also an illegal immigrant woman who was separated from her family by the person who was helping them get across the border and he raped her, which is what the border rape article was all about.

Miller, Barbara D. 2001. "Female-Selective Abortion in Asia: Patterns, Policies, and Debates." American Anthropologist. 102(4): 1083-1095. This article discusses aspects of Asian culture that support son preference, the leading cause for sex-selective abortion and female infanticide. It is important to understand a culture's belief system in order to make sense of their communal actions. Miller, by her use of cultural anthropology, has helped me better understand not only Asian culture, but the global context to explain prenatal gender discrimination.

This article/campaign is really interesting and actually quite funny. I have mixed perspectives on the effectiveness of having a man walk a mile in women's high heels. The point of the campaign is to end domestic violence and raise awareness of the issue. It accurately demonstrates how ridiculous it is that women are expected to wear heals but at the same time, I don't know how much it can rally change a man's behavior. I think this campaign is more effective in the gender roles women and men face and in addressing verbal/social abuse, but not so much in physical abuse.

I found this campaign to be hilarious! What a great fun way for men to get involved. We've talked so much about how crucial it is for men to recognize violence against women as an issue for it to ever cease and here is an opportunity. The pictures were of firemen and business men who seemed to be having fun with the event which would most likely encourage other men to get involved. The pain of wearing high heels is only a fraction of the pain that women face as a result of domestic violence, but maybe it starts to get the point across to men!

I thought this was a really great idea. It is definitely important to get men involved, and this offers a fun and creative way to do it. I wasn't quite sure that wearing heels will offer that much awareness to violence, but more towards the oppression that women face, which can lead to domestic violence. It definitely demonstrates gender roles, ideals, and possibly will help men to realize the pain that it takes to be the 'ideal woman'. But I don't know how effective it would be in actually making men take action outside of the walk.

Squires, Catherine. June, 2002. "Review: Mixed Messages" The Women's Review of Books, 19: 25-26. Retrieved April 11, 2010 (http://www.jstor.org/stable4023945). Although this is only a review of two key books, it is helpful in summarizing key information necessary to supplement my research for this paper. It allows me to note the overarching/key issues within each book, and then consider how they relate to the bigger picture of rape in film and how it affects culture and society. This was especially helpful in allowing me to narrow my search within one of the reviewed books, Watching Rape, by Sarah Projansky (of whom I found another article to use, as cited above). This review also makes observations that relate back to other sources and films I am using, such as Showgirls - discussing the foci of rape as related to the actions of white male and female characters, even when the victim herself is of color. Rather than specifically considering gender, this article questions other factors, such as race and class. Also important from this article is its consideration of perspectives and viewpoints as differing over time and through different lenses. The article overall was a helpful find in summarizing pivotal points in concise yet amazingly detailed format.