Author: Susan Pearce

The Cataclysmic Ripples of War in the Lives of Women and Children

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By Alexis Bullin

Trigger Warning: This contains discussion including sexual violence, abuse, warfare, and death.

“I was thirteen when the war spread to my city. I was kidnapped by four sol

diers who locked me in a house where I was raped every day by

different men for eight months. I had a miscarriage while I was there. When the war ended, soldiers wearing unfamiliar uniforms came and told me to go home, but my city had been destroyed and

my family was dead. I moved to Sweden with a man I trusted, and he sold me to a pimp in Stockholm. Later the police sent me back to my country, but I am still afraid to go outside, because I worry that everyone can tell what happened just by looking at me”. The encounter above is told by Suada, a woman from Bosnia-Herzegovina. This encounter is similar for many women and children globally. Manipulation and violation perpe

tuated through war is a growing threat. The instability of war leads to the victimization of women and children in the wake of warfare perpetuating the manipulation of women and children through sexual assault/violence, forced militar

y recruitment, human trafficking and displacement.

Women are often the victims of violence during warfare. They can be killed or maimed but they also suffer sexual violence through war rape. Many times, soldiers view rape as a way to terrorize and humiliate the male members of enemy groups. But women bear the consequences which can include pregnancies and psychological trauma. Women and children are also used for forcible impregnation causing them to bear their rapists’ children. The US labels this a form of implicit genocide, where the rapists take over the bodies of their victims and act to exterminate the indigenous population.

forced pregnancy – a tactic that has been recorded historically and used by Genghis Khan. Forced pregnancy is a form of enacting genocide or slavery. These various attacks and violations against women and children are used as an extension of the battlefield.

In addition, women and children are often forced into serving the military goals of the enemy as forced soldiers or terrorist instruments. Attacks such as these have been seen during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Women and children are forcibly recruited and used to facilitate armed conflict and terrorist attacks. This is a direct violation of human right as well as the murder of millions of women and children. Forced soldiers lose their rights to healthcare, education, and autonomy; working against their will, wounding themselves and others.

The political and economic instability of war creates the conditions leading to increased labor and sexual trafficking of women and children. Human trafficking is a global threat, however, areas that are riddled with warfare are subject to exponential spikes in activity. Many women and children are sold or forced into the sex trade. This trade sustains the sexual and mental abuse of women and children. In many places, prostitution is considered illegal and punishable, however, human trafficking is widely tolerated by governmental officials and police. This is true for many areas post-war.

Finally, women and children, are often displaced from their homes and livelihoods after war and bear a disproportionate burden of trying to find sustenance and support for their families. Poverty and displacement effects women and children at a disproportional rate. With the destruction of property, women and children often fall into the direct disadvantage of displacement and poverty. This is often the result of little to no governmental or monetary protection provided to women and children. Women’s responsibilities following war are formidable, considering women are expected to be peacemakers that maintain order on a familial and communal level. Often underrepresented, women and children find themselves excluded from governmental protection. This omittance of protection amplifies the stress and trauma that women and children face in the wake of warfare.

Women and children face adversity daily; however, these adverse circumstances are amplified in the face of war. Using women and children as an extension of the battlefield, whether through sexual violence, forced labor/recruitment, human trafficking or displacement is malice in its deepest form. For too long women and children have been the scape goats for violence and extremism, therefore something has to change. March Twelfth of this year the United Nations met to discuss the threat associated with war that women and children face. Within the next year, they plan to allocate and demand legislation that will protect women and children from the catastrophe and trauma of war. “To the best of my knowledge, no war was ever started by a woman. But it is women and children who have always suffered most in situations of conflict” – Aung Sun Suu Kyi.

 

Alexis Bullin is a Senior at East Carolina University. Graduating with a Bachelor of the arts in Anthropology, Alexis’ main interests are Middle/Near Eastern Ethno-Archaeology, the cross-cultural treatment of women, and the effects of warfare. In her free time, she loves gardening and songwriting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The struggles of a “Ko-reer” Woman: Understanding Sexual Harassment Cross-Culturally

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By Tiger Hobday

 

The sun scorches on a hot Saturday in downtown Seoul, South Korea. The streets of the Western town located in the city are filled with the hustle-and-bustle of Korean citizens, international tourists, expats and the usual young American soldiers. On the second floor of one of the buildings on the main street is a red-painted restaurant. Inside that restaurant, I am scrambling to take demanding orders from starving customers when a life-changing episode completely alters my perceptions of the world of work and the dynamics inside the restaurant. I was close to my manager at the time, whose smile would later turn into a menacing grin. When I first started the job, he was someone that I could approach. He would praise me for my hard work and would sneak me the best food from the kitchen during lunch breaks. He even once bought me a candle that read, “Marina, the Best Worker in the World.” Little did I know at age of 18 that this man, someone who I trusted in a higher position, would end up sexually harassing me.

A group of American soldiers had entered the restaurant, boisterous and hungry. American soldiers were usually my favorite customers because they tip generously unlike Koreans who do not. Firstly, Koreans do not tip. However, Americans generously tip, especially towards me as I was fluent in English or perhaps because I was a young girl. I was also accustomed to male customers making flirtatious comments, but they never commented on my sexuality or my body. As a result, I never felt unsafe and did not take the comments too seriously. On that day, I took the order from these young men and entered the kitchen. As I was heading back out, my manager took me aside and asked me “Why did you spend so much time talking to those customers? It is not your job to flirt.” The comment took me by surprise, and I was at a loss for words. What was he accusing me of? However, the restaurant was too busy to start an argument with him. I quickly apologized and got back to work.

Throughout the day I started to receive harassing texts from him. “Why do you only go to male customers? Do not act cheap. Go put on more clothes. This is why I don’t like to hire women. I was mesmerized by your pretty face; sad you do not have a pretty personality. Those tips are only earned by your slutty behavior. I am sure that you must be sleeping with these customers on a regular basis, no wonder they keep coming back.” At my shift’s end, I burst into tears in the changing room. I decided I had enough. I walked into the office and confronted my boss about the texts. He looked at me with a cold face and said, “Why are you showing me this?”. I told him it was because it was sexual harassment, and he replied that if it did not affect my work performance it was not a matter of importance.

This event happened in 2015. Only in 2018 did South Korea follow the US in the #MeTooMovement with the primary motive of encouraging victims of sexual harassment to come forward and share their stories. The South Korean Labor and Gender Equality Ministries launched a public campaign program to raise awareness regarding sexual harassment. But would this effort be enough to change things? And why did it take so long to happen?

Experts suggest that public awareness regarding sexual harassment in Asian countries is considerably lower than in Western nations. Patriarchy remains deeply entrenched in the roots of most South Korean communities: it is a society where men hold most of the power and women are mostly excluded from it. This is a traditional family system still practiced through patrilineal lineage where the wife’s role is to hold down the household, subordinate to the father’s position as head of the family. Starting in the late 19th century, women began to become educated in greater numbers due to the introduction of an education system introduced by Western Christian ministries. There were schools that had a specific goal of educating women, the most notorious being Ehwa University which was founded in 1886. By 2000, women in higher education were one third of the student population but in 2016 that rose to 42%. As a result, they are entering the workforce in greater numbers in Korea. However, research reveals that approximately 78% of the sexual harassment victims seldom report their incidents since they lack trust in the system.

The nation’s male-dominated culture places women at an increased risk of becoming potential victims. Women are perceived as inferior regardless of their education and careers; this reflected the experience I had with approaching my boss’ attitude towards the situation. He still did not see my complaint on sexual harassment as one that should be equally addressed in comparison to complaints my coworkers had presented. Such incidents of prejudice and discrimination have discouraged female victims from speaking out about their encounters.

Korea women in professional jobs experience similar issues in the workplace. Unfortunately, South Korean patriarchal culture and traditions help propagate sexual harassment in the workplace. Research shows that men occupying superior office positions promote demeaning and sexually harassing behavior towards women in the lower ranks, reflecting the experience of my male manager and me. Statistical evidence reveals that approximately eight out of ten working women in South Korea are victims of sexual harassment One example is of office parties, where entertainment provided involve escorts or prostitutes and is focused on entertaining male employees or clients. This is seen in big companies that do business with other companies, such as in the entertainment industry, where the aim is to please their clients in order to solidify a business deal that benefits the company financially. They use the sexuality of women through providing female entertainment to show “hospitality” to their clients. This creates a hostile environment for professional women who mostly chose not to participate and are then excluded by their coworkers. The hardships that professional women face seem to be never ending. Don’t you think it is time for it to stop?

On the other hand, when I arrived in the US, I had a completely different work experience. As part of my orientation, I had to complete a workshop on Title IX: a title based on the laws protecting workers against sexual discrimination in the workplace. I was shocked that my job emphasized this training and the protection of women as I never had such an opportunity or education in Korea. Furthermore, by living in the US I have seen the success of how the system apprehends sexual harassers and encourages people to report such incidents. I witnessed how strong the #MeTooMovement was in America, the solidarity between women on social media, the Women’s March in DC and even the Women and Gender Office at my university. These movements and safe places create environment for women to speak about the injustices that they face.

The progress made in the US on providing women legal protections for sexual harassment and the social support for those who speak out gives me hope similar changes can happen world-wide. By all genders uniting on the importance of creating equality through feminism, the unified effort has the potential to create this change. There must be an effort to not just create a culture that frees women and men from patriarchal constraints but also one that detaches men from the assumptions of a patriarchal educational system that encourages them to think less of their female peers. If we accomplish these aims, then the struggles of a Ko-reer woman will have been worth it.

 

Tiger Hobday is an international at East Carolina University and goes by the pronouns She/Hers/Her.  She is originally from London, UK and Seoul, South Korea. She studies sociology with her main focus on feminism and international human rights. In her spare time, she enjoys producing music.

Stolen, Forced and Broken: Why Should We Care About Sex Trafficking in Thailand?

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By Tamia Smith

Imagine this: being taken away from what you knew as your life and being thrown into a world of sex, violence and danger. That is a summation what sex trafficking is.

The journalist Ashton Kobler documented the story of Umida, a Russian woman, who was accepted work promised in Thailand by a random woman because her family was impoverished. She thought she would be able to help support them. Unfortunately, Umida was brought to Thailand and her documents, except her passport, where immediately destroyed. The woman did not give her food or money, nor did she allow Umida to go out, unless it was for “work.” Umida was forced to be a prostitute on the Bangkok streets.

Sex trafficking happens right before our eyes, in plain sight, and yet we often do not see it at all. Thailand, an important southeast Asian country, has a large sex trafficking rate. Over 500 women and children, natives and foreigners, are being trafficked within the country. However, these numbers are likely to be under-reported and have increased in more current years. Their problems may not seem relevant to those of us living in the United States, but out actions are directly involved in perpetuating circumstances that cause these women to be enslaved.  Sex trafficking is a major issue in Thailand because of two reasons: foreign demand of sex and local poverty fueled by global labor inequities. Thailand’s sex industry has grown because rural, poor young girls and women are seeking ways to support their families, or they are used as repayment for debts and because foreigners travel to the country seeking, illegal sex. Organized tours, normally involving foreign men, many of whom want younger women are a reason why many women and young girls are sold through the sex industry daily in the country.   And it has to stop. The Thai government has enacted some laws and guidelines to eliminate the heinous crime, but these laws alone are not enough.

Back to Umida and her story, she tried to escape and was almost successful. One of her customers had given her enough money to buy a plane ticket home, and some extra to help take care of her son. Umida rushed to the Uzbek consulate and was issued a certificate to return to Russia. At the airport, Umida was approached by a veiled woman, who revealed herself to be Umida’s trafficker. Umida feared her, and her certificate to return home was snatched away. Umida had to go back to prostitution. She worked for half a year without any money, while living in an apartment with no shower or food. She could only eat when a client took her out.

Sex trafficking doesn’t only do mental damage, but physical damage as well. The women and children involved in sex trafficking experience harrowing traumas while being trafficked. This trauma involves emotional and verbal abuse, like name calling and yelling; physical abuse, like beatings, starvation and rape – which victims do not even consider rape. To add to this trauma, a lot of young girls and women have contracted HIV or AIDS due to trafficking. This is due to the lack of public health interventions set in place by the Thai government.

I know you’re probably thinking what can one person do? Cambodian activist, Somaly Mam, wrote The Road of Lost Innocence about her own experiences being sold into sex slavery as a child in neighboring Cambodia. She reports on the harrowing abuses she experienced and the efforts she went through to get out of that life. Since that time, she has dedicated her life to rescue and help rehabilitate other victims of sex trafficking. Her foundation has established four safe houses for girls, provided them with occupational training and conducted countless educational programs for rural men and women on the dangers of trafficking. I know majority of us have never experienced sex trafficking, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot step forward to make sure that those who have won’t experience it again. We can also take this stand to make sure that no other woman or child will have to experience this inhumane crime.

Sex traffickers go above and beyond to hide their actions. But there are signs of sex trafficking that you can be aware of. For instance, signs of physical abuse or injury; individuals who are always accompanied by someone else who speaks for them; persons who appear to be afraid or controlled by those around them; and individuals who are travelling with minimal belongs (no luggage, no identification/passports – or aren’t able to carry their own identification/passports). Those are just a few signs. Click here to read about more signs of sex trafficking.

To Thai citizens, take a stand against sex trafficking, in Thailand. Contact your government officials. Tell them that there should be more laws enacted to prevent sex trafficking and to punish traffickers. If you see something suspicious, contact the police. There are ways to help slow down, and even prevent, sex trafficking. And one small step from you can help to eventually eliminate sex trafficking, even globally.

Umida once again gained an opportunity for escape. Emily Chalke, the co-founder of Ella’s Home, a nonprofit that helps women exit trafficking and exploitation was working with Nightlight International in Thailand to help fight against sex trafficking at the time.  Chalke met Umida in a Bangkok hotel, notorious for exchanges between sex workers and their clients, after she was informed by another Uzbek women that Umida’s passport had been taken.  She recalls that everyone at the hotel knew Umida as “the girl who was in trouble.” After Umida told Chalke that she wanted to escape, the two agreed to meet at another hotel, where Umida would pretend she was seeing a client. From there, they took a taxi to a safe house. Chalke recalls that Umida was angry when they first met because so much had been taken away from her, she only had the clothes on her back and a small notebook, noting all of the amounts paid to her trafficker, over $10,000. Chalke and Nightlight International arranged for Umida to receive a new passport; they also purchased her a plane ticket and Umida was able to return home. Her case was reported to the police and her trafficker was located and arrested.

I know it may be hard to break the cycle of trafficking in Thailand, as an American, but you can do it as well. Chalke was not a Thai citizen, but she made efforts to save and protect victims of trafficking in Thailand. We Americans can join NGO’s like Chalke’s, or we can start our own. We have to push to stop sex tourism, we can educate American sex tourists on the “dark side” of the industry – the things they do not get to see. We have to educate them on the traumas trafficking victims experience. To make further efforts, we can publicize and boycott travel agencies that organize sex tours for Americans to Thailand and other places. We have to research and find ways to encourage education to Thai women and girls, so that they can have better financial opportunities.

Click here to read about NGO’s focused on sex trafficking among women and girls in Thailand.

Tamia Smith is a senior undergraduate at East Carolina University, majoring in biological anthropology and organic and biomolecular chemistry. She hopes to graduate in May 2020. She plans to pursue master and doctoral degrees in Criminal Justice. Her career goals are to work as a forensic anthropologist and medical examiner for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Quantico, Virginia and as to work as a member of the U.S. Department of Defense. In achieving these goals, Tamia hopes to provide progress for her people and the safety of this nation.

The Chhaupadi Practice in Nepal: a Difficult Time for Women and Girls

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By: Michaela Batson

Imagine being locked away and isolated during one of the most difficult times of the month for many, menstruation. This happens every month to women and girls in Nepal, particularly in rural areas, where they observe chhaupadi, which is a cultural practice of isolating and restricting a girl or woman during their time of menstruation. They are not allowed to consume milk products, use public water holes, or touch men, children, cattle, living plants, or fruit bearing trees. These women cannot come into the village or attend any religious practice during this time. They are kept outside of the village in a small shack or animal shed, and isolated away from their society until their menstruation is over with. Most of the time, menstruation lasts for around five to seven days, but girl’s experiencing their first menstruation are kept in the shed for fourteen days.

The women and girls of Nepal have lived with this cultural practice their whole lives. They are told that when menstruating they are impure and will ruin everything that they touch. They must pause their normal lives to go live in isolation for almost a week. It is a religious belief that if the women and girls of Nepal do not follow these strict guidelines, God will send a wrath upon their homes and families. Not only are they shunned from the village to live in isolation, but the huts they must reside in are kept in terrible condition. They are very small with dirt flooring and usually only a hole for a door, which doesn’t allow for proper ventilation. The huts have no plumbing and there are no latrines so women must relieve themselves outdoors.

Chhaupadi is not only meant for the difficult time of menstruation, but is also implemented when women give birth. They are sent there to deliver alone and must stay there with the baby for ten to fourteen days. The new mother is not provided with any help or resources during this time, putting their babies at high risk for disease and death. Areas that practice chhaupadi have very high maternal and infant mortality rates because of these conditions. The isolation of chhaupadi also exposes women to difficult weather conditions, making them susceptible to suffocation during the summer and hypothermia during the winter.

It is also very common for them to contract many diseases. Being kept in unhygienic conditions makes it much easier for them to get sick. Some common ones are pneumonia, chest infections, respiratory tract infections, genital infections, and extreme diarrhea. Diseases are not the only threat for these women and girls in the huts. Natural threats are a huge concern for them. The most common way for them to die is being bitten by poisonous snakes while out there. Snakes are not the only thing though, there are other wild animals and insects that could get them while out there in isolation. Records kept by police in Nepal show that over the last ten years, fourteen people have died during their chhaupadi practice. Of those fourteen, nine of them died from snake bites. Number of deaths continues to grow each year, in 2017 three girls lost their lives within a ten month span. Two from suffocation and one from a snake bite.

Even though chhaupadi creates all these health risks for these women, girls, and babies, the people of the village have still stated that under no circumstance may they reenter the village during their time of isolation. So, they are not allowed to seek any kind of medical help if they need it.

These women and girls face psychological threats as well. Many become depressed because of isolation and how they are treated by the rest of the village during this time. Postpartum depression is an issue with the women who give birth by themselves. Exile from friends and family, the trauma of being alone while giving birth or having your first menstruation. All these things contribute to the way these girls and women feel after years of practicing this.

In 2005, chhaupadi was outlawed by the government. Then in 2017, the ritual was criminalized threatening a large fine and time in jail. Despite these legal restriction imposed by the government, the custom still continues in many rural villages in Nepal.. The best way to combat this practice is to teach villagers about the health threats that women and girls go through during this time. The NGO, Restless Development Nepal (https://restlessdevelopment.org/nepal), funded by the UN Trust Fund, is a group of educators who are doing just this. They go to rural towns and educate older families on why this practice should be modified. Some have listened, and allowed their women to stay in their homes separated from other family members. The older and more traditional people of Nepal will take more work to convince. This group has talked to over 20,000 females and 15,000 males across Nepal. Supporting their work can help them aid the women and girls of rural Nepal.

Michaela Batson is a senior at East Carolina University who is set to graduate May 2020 with a BA degree in psychology and a minor in anthropology. She currently has plans to further her studies at the graduate level in psychology.

A Walk to Beautiful: Addressing Obstetric Fistula

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The Nova documentary, A Walk to Beautiful, follows three Ethiopian women on their journey to find a cure for injuries they sustained during childbirth that have left them incontinent and shunned by their husbands and the communities in which they live. Why is obstetric fistula known as the silent epidemic and why does it disproportionately effect women in the developing world? Why do some of the women in this film say that death would be preferable to living with fistula? If you were tasked with doing something to help prevent this problem in countries like Ethiopia, what would you do–where would you begin and why?

Difret: Changing Child Marriage and Bride Abduction Customs

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The feature film, Difret, produced by Angelina Jolie, portrays the real-world court case defending the Ethiopian girl Hirut  from a murder charge when she killed the rapist who abducted her. The film brings to light the ongoing issue of child marriage in many parts of the world. This custom of abduction of young girls disrupts their education and chances for a better life, leading to early pregnancies, poor health outcomes and continuing poverty for them and their children.

Advocates for change in these customs realize the need to understand and change male attitudes and cultures of masculinity. What varying models and representations of masculinity do you see in this film? How do you think these models will continue to strengthen or change in the aftermath of Hirut’s case? What would you recommend to try and change these cultures of masculinity that perpetuate child marriage?

Addressing Female Circumcision among the Masai

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You have watched the video on Masai women and evaluated the relevance of Hartmann’s theory of patriarchy for Masai culture. You have also listed to the power point on FGM. Now I would like to hear your thoughts about whether this practice should be stopped among the Masai–if not, why not; if so, why and how. Here is some background information from a Masai activist, Ledama Olekina:

The type of circumcision that the Maasai perform is called clitoridectomy, in which the entire clitoris or part of the clitoris, and at times the adjacent labia, is removed. The primary reason female circumcision is practiced among the Maasai is that it is considered a rite of passage. Circumcision is a cultural practice in the Maasai community, not a religious practice.It elevates a girl from childhood to the status of adulthood, and is necessary for a girl to be considered a complete woman. Another important belief among the Maasai is that the rite has an ability to reduce the woman’s desire for sex, making her less likely to engage in pre-marital sex or adultery.

At the Nairobi International Conference on Female Genital Mutilation in September, attendees from nations where female circumcision is practiced urged states to adopt political, legal, and social measures to eliminate the tradition. But the activists leading this movement have failed to understand the cultures behind the practice, and their ignorance is dangerous. Legislation, particularly the criminalization of FGM, and other external pressures that do not take local culture into account can have deadly consequences.

Many Maasai families cannot afford to give their children formal schooling, so to protect their daughters from lives of poverty they choose to marry them off at a young age. Because Maasai girls are traditionally considered children until they are circumcised, it is seen as imperative for a Maasai girl to undergo the circumcision rite before she is married. This strongly ingrained cultural belief propels families to go to great lengths to complete the circumcision. Over the past 10 years, I have witnessed people in my Kenyan Maasai community being arrested for practicing female circumcision. I have seen young Maasai children nearly starve to death because their parents were sent to jail. Most painfully, I have heard of girls from my community as young as 10 years old undergoing circumcision and being married.

Representatives of many non-Maasai organizations come to my village and talk about how young girls are mutilated. They tell us that unless we stop the practice, we are all going to be prosecuted. In most cases, these forceful approaches have not succeeded. Many families are now circumcising their girls at extremely young ages, before outside organizations have a chance to get suspicious and take action against them.

Under these circumstances, what do you think should be done, if anything. Please comment or respond to the comments of your classmates.

Evaluating Masai Women from the Disappearing World Series

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Now that you have seen the ethnographic film, Masai Women, I would like to hear your opinions on it. What are its strengths and weaknesses in terms of both depicting and explaining women’s status among the Masai? What did you like best about it and what did you like least? If you were the film-maker, would you have done anything differently–if so, what and why?

Increasing Femicides in Mexico and Elsewhere: What Can Be Done?

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Femicide is defined as a sex-based hate crime, “the intentional killing of females because they are females” Every year, about 66,000 women are killed violently across the globe. Mexico has been experiencing a crisis of femicides. The rate has more than doubled with 3580 women being killed in 2018. Fresh outrage has been sparked in Mexico by the brutal murder this month of Ingrid Escamilla, 25, who was found stabbed to death and partially skinned and by the disappearance of 7-year old Fátima Cecilia Aldrighett Antón on Feb. 11 in the Mexico City neighborhood of Xochimilco, where she was waiting to be picked up from school. Four days later, her body was found naked in a plastic bag. These crimes sparked a wave of protests in Mexico City, and feminists have accused President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of brushing them off. The Washington Post reports that in the midst of a fundraising campaign linked to the sale of the presidential plane, Obrador chastised a reporter who asked him about the attacks on women: “I don’t want femicides to distract from the raffle.” Last week protestors painted “femicide state” on the walls of the national palace. They accuse authorities of doing nothing to investigate or punish the perpetrators of violence against women. In Mexico’s National Congress, the opposition National Action Party proposed creating a special committee for femicides, claiming a “state of national emergency.” Josefina Vázquez Mota, president of the Senate Committee on Children and Adolescents, said data from Mexico’s Children’s Rights Network shows seven girls and boys disappear in the country every day. Police have also been implicated in recent crimes of rape against women. Mexico’s city first female mayor is urging action. Latin America has some of the world’s highest rates of femicide in part because gang violence is so high overall. But yet these same countries have declarations against femicide on the books but do not enforce them. Some say the issue lies with how the term is defined. In Chile and Nicaragua, a crime is not femicide if the perpetrator did not know the victim. Mexico does not define femicide, allowing many murders to go unclassified, making it difficult to gather reliable statistical data on rates of gender violence. Honduras and El Salvador have the highest murder rates for women in the world, and a key reason is the control by drug traffickers of much of the country. Patriarchal values that view rape and interpartner violence as justified or that favor the rights of men to control women also make enforcement of laws difficult.

 

Feminists argue that it is important to label these crimes “femicide” to illustrate the seriousness of violence against women and to call attention to the gender issue. Just listing them as murders obscures that women are the victims the majority of the time and inhibits the push for change. What do you think; is the term important, and what can be done to stop femicides like those in Mexico?

Empowering Super Bowl Show or not?

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Jennifer Lopez performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Last night’s half-time show for the Super Bowl featured two Latina stars:  Shakira and Jennifer Lopez. It was high energy with incredible dance routines and complex choreography. Both artists said they wanted the show to be empowering to women. But was it? While these two are undoubtedly talented artists with a lot of star power, I was disturbed that the implicit message seemed to be that women are empowered only when they are highly sexualized, even into middle age. Much of the performance involved sexualized dancing with prominent crotch grabs and Lopez on a stripper pole. Even more jarring to me was the juxtaposition of this with Lopez’ 11-year old daughter singing with a group of young girls in the background. What messages were being sent to those young women about how to succeed? I also thought it interesting that the male stars featured were covered head to toe in baggy sweats. From my perspective, Demi Lovato’s stunning performance of the national anthem was more empowering and inspiring, especially as it has been a goal of hers to perform it for ten years. But maybe I am just a cranky old person. I’d like to hear your perspectives as younger women.