I wrote this for a "Women's Issues" course I took this semester taught by Mary Ann Mason. The assignment was to write a letter to the President outlining four problems of violence against women and proposing policy suggestions to address these issues.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label violence against women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence against women. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Other Side of War
Women for Women work with women all over the world in conflict and post-conflict zones to improve their lives and restore their communities.
This is Alice Walker reading her preface to The Other Side of War: Stories of Survival and Hope. The book is written by Zainab Salbi, the President/CEO of Women for Women International.
In this bold and heart-rending commentary, Zainab Salbi takes readers into the heart of Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Sudan to hear the stories of women who daily reclaim the lives of their families and communities from the ashes of conflict.
Here is a video about Women for Women's work in Kosovo. For more information about the conflict in Kosovo click here. For more information on the status of women in Kosovo, click here for a recent LA Times article.
This is Alice Walker reading her preface to The Other Side of War: Stories of Survival and Hope. The book is written by Zainab Salbi, the President/CEO of Women for Women International.
In this bold and heart-rending commentary, Zainab Salbi takes readers into the heart of Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Sudan to hear the stories of women who daily reclaim the lives of their families and communities from the ashes of conflict.
"War is not a computer-generated missile striking a digital map. War is the color of earth as it explodes in our faces, the sound of child pleading, the smell of smoke and fear. Women survivors of war are not the single image portrayed on the television screen, but the glue that holds families and countries together. Perhaps by understanding women, and the other side of war...we will have more humility in our discussions of wars...perhaps it is time to listen to women's side of history."- Zainab Salbi
Here is a video about Women for Women's work in Kosovo. For more information about the conflict in Kosovo click here. For more information on the status of women in Kosovo, click here for a recent LA Times article.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
ManAlive Violence Intervention
Hi folks, the brother of Dr. James Gilligan, (Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, who wrote the books on Violence which we recommended for the group study and we'll mention next week) Mike Gilligan, produced a documentary on a batterers' intervention program which is based in San Francisco. The program is called ManAlive, and the training I participated in last week was intriguing. It speaks to many of the issues of both IPV and community violence we discussed in class.
This link is for the documentary information, in which the groups are displayed. Dr. James Gilligan and Hamish Sinclair, the developer of the model, are featured in the video. Check it out!
Jenn
Self-Immolation (suicide by burning alive)
As a result of the reading this week, I learned a new term. I was familiar with the practice of "Sati" or "Self-Immolation," especially for widows burned alive on the funeral pyre of their husbands, and also its use in protests. But I didn't know the words to describe it, so I looked at wikipedia under "self-immolation" and "sati."
The Term "Sati" means a lot of different things actually, and comes from Hindu mythology, relating to a story of a goddess bearing the name "Sita", who went through a "trial by fire" in order to be reaccepted by her husband (who was alive--not dead!). The word "Sati" now also refers to a "chaste" or "good" woman, as well as a widow who has gone through self-immolation.
The wikipedia posting about self-immolation did not mention the practice being used by widows (or widows being forced to undergo this death by burning), and the listing on "Sati" also barely mentioned the definition applying to widows' suicides.
Finally there was a listing called "Sati (Practice)" which provided some details about the practice in Hindu cultures, but pretty definitively implied that it was a problem of the past, which is "rare" nowadays. They mentioned literally a handful of cases in the last 50 years, which I found to be such a disservice to the MANY women who die each year through coerced Sati.
We know from the readings and the presentation offered today that this practice, though illegal, is still practiced commonly in different parts of India. The statistics that were cited were from the 1800s, and it was not clear whether no one had bothered to collect statistics about how many women experience this type of death in modern times or whether no one had bothered to post it to wikipedia yet... One related statistic I found was that the UN reports that 5,000 women per year are killed in India because the husband or husband's family feels that the woman's dowry is insufficient. Often these "dowry deaths" are staged as burnings, especially "accidental" burnings in which the stove explodes, or the woman is lit on fire and pushed out a window.
I found some videos on youtube that I wanted to share, but I want to preface them by saying that they may be quite painful and difficult to watch. The first was made by the "Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan" (RAWA), and it shows the impact of self-immolation on women who attempted suicide to "escape miseries."
Self-immolation may be used in formal protest, and some of the most famous protests utilizing these methods were enacted by Buddhist monks who were against the Vietnam war. This footage may be upsetting to watch, as the monks sit quietly and peacefully while they burn to death.
We talked today about the search for meaning in life (and death) and wondered about what individual people decide is "worth dying for" or "worth killing for." This footage brings up more questions than answers for me... how about you?
The Term "Sati" means a lot of different things actually, and comes from Hindu mythology, relating to a story of a goddess bearing the name "Sita", who went through a "trial by fire" in order to be reaccepted by her husband (who was alive--not dead!). The word "Sati" now also refers to a "chaste" or "good" woman, as well as a widow who has gone through self-immolation.
The wikipedia posting about self-immolation did not mention the practice being used by widows (or widows being forced to undergo this death by burning), and the listing on "Sati" also barely mentioned the definition applying to widows' suicides.
Finally there was a listing called "Sati (Practice)" which provided some details about the practice in Hindu cultures, but pretty definitively implied that it was a problem of the past, which is "rare" nowadays. They mentioned literally a handful of cases in the last 50 years, which I found to be such a disservice to the MANY women who die each year through coerced Sati.
We know from the readings and the presentation offered today that this practice, though illegal, is still practiced commonly in different parts of India. The statistics that were cited were from the 1800s, and it was not clear whether no one had bothered to collect statistics about how many women experience this type of death in modern times or whether no one had bothered to post it to wikipedia yet... One related statistic I found was that the UN reports that 5,000 women per year are killed in India because the husband or husband's family feels that the woman's dowry is insufficient. Often these "dowry deaths" are staged as burnings, especially "accidental" burnings in which the stove explodes, or the woman is lit on fire and pushed out a window.
I found some videos on youtube that I wanted to share, but I want to preface them by saying that they may be quite painful and difficult to watch. The first was made by the "Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan" (RAWA), and it shows the impact of self-immolation on women who attempted suicide to "escape miseries."
Self-immolation may be used in formal protest, and some of the most famous protests utilizing these methods were enacted by Buddhist monks who were against the Vietnam war. This footage may be upsetting to watch, as the monks sit quietly and peacefully while they burn to death.
We talked today about the search for meaning in life (and death) and wondered about what individual people decide is "worth dying for" or "worth killing for." This footage brings up more questions than answers for me... how about you?
Hindu Informed Violence Against Women
This is a preview for a movie (you can get it on Netflix) about widows in India, and the lives that they have been forced to lead.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Earth, Fire, Water
These three films by Deepa Mehta, explore themes of women's lives in India. "Fire" especially relies on references to Sita's self-immolation (trial by fire) in Hindu mythology, as it relates to the storyline of two women who fall in love despite societal, religious, and family disapproval. "Water" explores the lives of widows, with a focus on a young girl who is widowed while still a child and who inspires others to resist their circumstances and make changes for themselves. "Earth" I have not seen, so I am not familiar with it yet.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Violence Against Women Act
Hi Folks - There are many pieces to the VAWA legislation, which is why many of us have heard different things. Heres a link to different components of the legislation...I checked Wikipedia and its definition is not updated with the most current information...
http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/regulations.htm
Jenn
http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/regulations.htm
Jenn
Monday, February 11, 2008
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Trauma and Recovery
by Judith Lewis Herman
Don't Hit My Mommy
by Alicia Lieberman and Patricia Van Horn
Violence: A National Epidemic
by James Gilligan
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
from the cover of "Infidel"
