Domestic Violence – Page 12

Women With Disabilities at Higher Risk for Intimate Parnter Violence

A new study (reiterating things that previous studies have already told us) shows that women with disabilities* are for more likely than women without disabilities to be the victims of intimate partner violence (h/t). The study looked at physical violence (hitting, kicking, etc.), threats of physical violence, and sexual violence. Across the board, women with disabilities were about twice as likely to have been subjected to these forms of violence by an intimate partner.

Intimate partner violence is “an understudied issue in much need of attention,” Dr. Brian Armor, who led the study, told Reuters Health. “We need to ensure that prevention initiatives designed to reduce intimate partner violence explicitly include the needs of adults with disabilities (e.g. ensuring shelters are accessible).

To estimate disability prevalence and differences in intimate partner abuse among women with and without a disability, Armor and his colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, analyzed data from the CDC’s 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System — a large annual telephone survey of Americans designed to monitor the prevalence of key health behaviors.

They found that women with a disability were significantly more likely than women without a disability to report experiencing some from of intimate partner violence in their lifetime (37.3 percent versus 20.6 percent).

Women with a disability were more likely to report ever being threatened with violence (28.5 percent vs 15.4 percent) and hit, slapped, pushed, kicked or physically hurt (30.6 percent vs. 15.7 percent) by an intimate partner.

Women with a disability were also much more apt to report a history of unwanted sex by an intimate partner (19.7 percent vs 8.2 percent).

The study’s leader reflects on some of the likely reasons behind the disparities:

“Perhaps, women with disabilities are vulnerable to intimate partner violence because their disability might limit mobility and prevent escape; shelters might not be available or accessible to women with disabilities; the disability might adversely affect communication and thus the ability to alert others or the perpetrator might control or restrict the victim’s ability to alert others to the problem.”

Fear is another possibility, Armor said. “That is, a catch-22, stemming from reliance on the perpetrator for caregiving needs that might go unmet or lead to some form of undesirable placement if they tell authorities.”

He concluded, “Since intimate partner violence is a public help problem, we need to ensure that prevention strategies for people with disabilities are widely adopted.”

For more, see Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA), which has a great long list of international resources on violence against women with disabilities.

* Though this study only looks at women, it’s important to emphasize that men with disabilities are also vulnerable to intimate partner violence. I also don’t put it past the CDC to have defined “women” only as “cisgender women,” and so it bears noting that transgender PWDs are at risk just as much if not more than cisgender PWDs.

Argentinian Journalists Develop Plan for Non-Sexist Reporting

In Argentina, an organization of over 100 journalists has drawn up a set of ten “commandments” for writing about gender-based violence. It’s an interesting idea, and as someone who’s obsessed with how the media covers violence against women, I think it’s also a really necessary one.

Here are the rules:

THE DECALOGUE

1. The following terms are correct usage: violence against women, gender-based violence and sexist violence.

2. Gender-based violence is a crime insofar as it is illegal behaviour that must be prevented and punished, a social problem, an assault on the right to life, dignity, and physical and psychological integrity of women, and an issue that concerns the defence of human rights.

3. We will uproot from our work the term “crime of passion” to refer to murders of women who are victims of gender violence. Crimes of passion do not exist.

4. It is of the utmost importance to protect the identity of the victim, rather than that of the aggressor. Make it clear who is the aggressor and who is the victim, and indicate what attitudes and situations may put women in violent relationships at risk, to help raise their awareness about their situation.

5. Some information can harm the victims and their families. It is not always a good idea to identify the victim. It is offensive to refer to victims by diminutives, short forms of proper names, nicknames, and so on.

6. We will never look for justifications or “motives” (alcohol, drugs, arguments, jealousy, a couple’s separation, infidelity, and so on) that only distract attention from the central issue: violence. The cause of gender-based violence is the control and domination that certain men exercise over women.

7. It is essential to check the facts, especially from official sources.

8. Keep the subject on the agenda by denouncing violence in all its forms: psychological, economic, and emotional, without waiting for women to be killed. Tell the story taking into account the uniqueness of each event, but also the elements that each has in common with other cases. This will help us avoid the use of expressions like “once again” or “yet another case of,” and prevent a dulling of sensitivities.

9. Be particularly careful with the photographs and images illustrating the article. Respect the victims and their families, and avoid sexism, sensationalism and obscenity. Never steal images or audio material from a victim. When using a musical background, do not select motifs that inspire terror, or lyrics that talk about “love-sickness” or jealousy.

10. Our articles will always include a free telephone helpline number for victims, and any other information that may be useful for them.

What would you add? Personally, my number one priority would be to do away with the use of the word “sex” to describe rape — particularly the rape of a child. (I’ve seen the word “sex” used in the context of rapes committed against children as young as four-years-old, from mainstream news sources like the New York Times.) I’d also love to correct the “invisible rapist” phenomenon, where it’s constantly reported that “a woman was raped” without alluding to any sort of assailant. It is, however, possible that this problem is covered in point four above.

Have at it, readers — what do you think of the idea and rules themselves, and what do you think is missing from the list?

Via April Reign

Be Bold: Wear Red on October 30, 2008

Via Document the Silence:

In October 2007 people all over the United States gathered physically and in spirit to speak out against violence against women of color. Some of us wore red all day and explained that we were reclaiming and reframing our bodies as a challenge to the widespread acceptance of violence against women of color. Some of us wrote powerful essays about why we were wearing red and posted them on the internet. Some of us gathered with bold and like-minded folks and took pictures, shared poetry and expressed solidarity.

This year, on the first anniversary of the Be Bold Be Red Campaign, we invite you to make your bold stance against the violence enacted on women and girls of color in our society visible. In D.C., Chicago, Durham, Atlanta and Detroit women of color will be gathering to renew our commitment to creating a world free from racialized and gendered violence, and this time, we’ll be using a new technology called CyberQuilting to connect all of these gatherings in real time. To learn more about CyberQuilting, which is a women of color led project to stitch movements together using new web technologies and old traditions of love and nurturing, visit www.cyberquilt.wordpress.com.

This letter is an invitation for you and yours to participate in a gathering in your city on Thursday, October 30th that will be webcast to similar gatherings in other cities. We are calling on you because we recognize and appreciate the work that you and the organizations you work with are doing everyday to make this a more loving and less violent world for women and girls in oppressed communities. Please join us on October 30th so that other warriors in this struggle can be strengthened and affirmed by the energy of our collective ferocity!

If you are not located in D.C., Chicago, Durham, Atlanta and Detroit for the webcast, you can still participate by wearing Red on October 30, 2008 and send us your pictures to beboldbered@gmail.com

Also we are asking once again that people wear Red on October 30, 2008 and send us your pictures to beboldbered@gmail.com

As we receive them we will upload your pictures under “Red Pictures Today.”

Also, as well as to share your stories of Red on this website under “Why are you wearing Red on October 30, 2008.”

For more on the events in D.C., Chicago, Durham, Atlanta and Detroit, click over to the Document the Silence website.

Joe Biden and VAWA

The Obama campaign has released a new video about the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Joe Biden’s vital role in ensuring the legislation was passed. It’s good stuff.

I can’t pretend to be the world’s biggest Joe Biden fan, but for all of his other flaws, this is something for which I feel he does deserve our respect. For more on Joe Biden’s commitment to the issue of violence against women, see this post by Erin at BlogHer.

Truth?

I just saw this new commercial from truth campaign, which always has those “off beat” and “shocking” ads on television about the tactics of big tobacco companies.

Could I possibly be the only one who’s not okay with this? I’m well aware of the point that they’re trying to get across, I’m familiar with their other commercials using similar approaches (which are also sometimes in poor taste, in my opinion), and yes, the comment they’re mocking is absolutely atrocious. But . . . somehow I don’t feel like “it’s ironic!” quite covers a commercial depicting dancing punching bags illustrated with smiling cartoon women singing about wife-beating.

The website provides a statistic about intimate partner violence and information on how to find help if you’re in an abusive relationship — but this commercial seems to be ignoring the feelings of women who are or have been in those relationships, and the content of the commercial is regarding an entirely different agenda. None of this anti-violence information is provided at the end of the television commercial, only information about their anti-tobacco website. In short, I got a very bad taste in my mouth when I saw this, and it’s not fading.

You?

The Democratic Party Platform: A Feminist Document?

That’s what Dana Goldstein argues. I personally wouldn’t go so far, but I do have to say that I’m very pleasantly surprised. From Dana:

The draft of the Democratic Party platform, principally written by Obama’s Senate policy director, the estimable Karen Kornbluh, is a remarkably feminist document, one befitting of a political party that, this year, came exceedingly close to nominating a woman. In the summer of 2006, I heard Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York speak on the Hill, lamenting that the lily livered John Kerry team had, for the first time in decades, removed support for the Equal Rights Amendment from the party platform. Well, this year the ERA is back, alongside a truly unequivocal statement of support for reproductive rights, an unprecedented statement in opposition to sexism, and new sections on equal pay, women’s economic struggles, work-family balance, and violence against women. Read the whole platform here.

It’s clear that care was taken to involve members of Hillary Clinton’s circle in the document’s drafting (perhaps Dana Singiser), or to at least take their concerns to heart. Clinton’s run is presented in the document as a feminist historical feat, and in the foreign policy section, the draft borrows the language of Clinton’s celebrated 1995 speech to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing: “Our policies will recognize that human rights are women’s rights and that women’s rights are human rights.” Reflecting Obama’s own long-standing interest in international development, the documented continues, “Women make up the majority of the poor in the world. So we will expand access to women’s’ economic development opportunities and seek to expand microcredit.”

Urgent Action for Kobra Najjar

I received an urgent email this morning from Tyla at Equality Now, informing me of Kobra Najjar’s desperate situation:

Equality Now is urgently concerned about Kobra Najjar, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery who lost her final appeal for amnesty. Iranian women’s rights activists working on her case report that Kobra has exhausted all domestic legal remedies and that her execution by stoning could happen any time.

Kobra is a victim of domestic violence who was forced into prostitution by her abusive husband in order to support his heroine addiction. He was murdered by one of Kobra’s “clients” who sympathized with her plight. Kobra has already served 8 years in prison as an accessory to her husband’s murder. The man who murdered her husband also served 8 years in prison and is now free after paying blood money and undergoing 100 lashes, while Kobra faces imminent stoning to death for adultery – the prostitution her husband forced upon her.

Equality Now is also concerned about recent reports of seven other women and one man, all accused of adultery sentenced to death by stoning, whose executions are also reported to be possible at any time. In Iran, adultery is the only crime punishable by stoning.

[. . .]

Please write to the Iranian officials below, calling for Kobra’s immediate release, the commutation of all sentences of death by stoning and the prohibition by law of all cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments in accordance with Iran’s obligations under the ICCPR. Urge the officials also to initiate a comprehensive review of the Civil and Penal Codes of Iran to remove all provisions that discriminate and perpetuate discrimination against women, including those regarding adultery and fornication, in accordance with Iran’s own constitutional provision for equality before the law.

Equality Now has all of the relevant contact information, some of which I have reproduced below the jump.

In short: Women suck, Batman rulez.

Reports are out that Christian Bale, star of the new hit Batman movie, has been arrested in London for the alleged assault of his mother and sister. I will admit that when I saw these reports this morning, I had that brief moment of disbelief – “Him? Could he really do that?” – that is so common when apparent “good guy” actors get accused of stuff like this. As if being a great actor makes one immune to doing fucked up, ugly, or violent things; as if one could possibly know anything about stars from the little that filters through the media or their performances; as if violent, abusive acts are only committed by people who have been doing so from birth. (I’ll also admit feeling a rather base and thoroughly selfish sadness that the news could seriously taint my viewing of The Dark Knight, a movie that I’ve been anxiously awaiting and am planning on seeing very soon. Suckily frivolous and beside the point, I know.)

I guess it was my morning to be shocked by things that are sadly par for the course in our fucked up, sexist society, because I was even more shocked by some of the responses that people have had in the comments of news sites and blogs reporting the incident – many people insisting that we not prejudge Bale before the full facts come out (sure, OK, I’ll give you that) while judging his mother and sister as lying, greedy, scheming vultures in the same breath. See here, here, here and here, where one guy goes on the defensive before anyone even talks about Bale and complains:

I hope you’ll indulge my annoyance, but I’m getting a little tired of the “guilty until proven innocent” anytime someone accuses some dude of domestic abuse.

Oh yeah, because that’s how it usually plays out. Same with rape allegations. And especially when a celebrity is involved. Yeah, no one ever doubts, slanders, and pillories the women in question! Give me a fucking break.

Between the people so quick to absolve a man and condemn women, the ridiculously imbalanced treatment of a rich famous white dude by the London police (wonder if a poor/non-famous/non-white person would be given time to take care of business before getting hauled in?), and the allegations themselves, the whole thing is pretty sickening.

(And yeah, I hope that somehow the allegations are untrue as well, but because I hope that women weren’t assaulted. That should be the most important thing here – not people having their movie superhero’s rep go untarnished.)

cross-posted at AngryBrownButch

ETA: I changed the name of this post from “Because clearly, Batman is the true victim here” because that didn’t really get at the point I was trying to make. I don’t know if this one does, either, but it annoys me less. Sometimes I hate coming up with titles for these posts!

Linguistics And Meaning Of “Why Did She Stay?”

In response to Feministe: Why did she stay? which I commented on here there is a post Rambling On: Feminist language, where Lottie writes:

My perspective, is that feminists typically blacklist questions that they don’t have answers to. Why do victims of domestic violence stay? There isn’t a nice, neat, blanket response to that. Domestic violence crosses every border imaginable. It is not restricted to race, age, economic status, social status, level of education, (dis)ability, religion, sexual orientation, gender, genetics, blood type, name, rank or serial number. Domestic violence is an equal opportunity social problem. This being the case, how can we possibly answer the question of why? There doesn’t seem to be an answer at the moment.

Feminists can’t fix it, and so they quell the question.

Language control is directly related to thought control. If feminists (or anyone else) can control our language, they can control how our thoughts are perceived by others. This also allows them to control the dialogue which, in turn, helps create the illusion that they have all the answers, simply by eliminating some of the questions. They stifle the flow of discussion and exchange of ideas, under the guise of supporting women and minorities, and more specifically to this topic, victims of domestic violence.

Lottie is right in saying that there is no dominant answer to, “Why did she stay?” but I see that lack of a common answer as being meaningful and educational. This lack of a dominant answer contradicts much of the mythology about domestic violence.

There is much more commonality and meaning in the answer to, “Why did he (or she) abuse or murder someone that person had a relationship with?”

Therefore the only general meaning which can be derived by looking at why victims stay is to examine failed prevention steps and to look at the barriers which prevent domestic violence victims from leaving safely and the barriers to their safety if they don’t leave for whatever reason.

With that in mind the better questions would be, “How do we more effectively help victims and potential victims of domestic violence remain safe?” and “How can we more effectively reduce the harm done by abusers?” These questions both involve commitment on the part of the questioner.

It makes sense to begin by getting a broad grasp of the problem. A CDC study found that 23.6 percent of women and 11.5 percent of men have experienced intimate partner violence.

“Why did she stay?”

I’m disappointed to say that I had to shut down this thread because of victim-blaming and off-topic comments. But The Holy Fatman at Shakesville has a great post up (also at her own blog) about why those kinds of comments — and questions like, “How could such a smart girl be with a guy like that?” — point us in the wrong direction. It’s not about being smart or not-smart; it’s not about being strong or not-strong. Do check it out.

And, I probably shouldn’t have to say this but I’m going to anyway: Further victim-blaming comments are not acceptable on this thread. This thread is a safe space for survivors and allies to talk about the various barriers women and men face in getting help (although I’m glad to say that there’s one less barrier in NY). It is also a space to talk about how we can improve things — both the actual situations that survivors of abuse face, and the discourse around abuse. If you’re unsure as to whether your comment crosses a line, I would suggest holding onto it and instead reading and learning. Moderation on this thread will be heavy-handed.

Very many thanks to The Holy Fatman for sharing such an important and poignant story.