Violence Against Women Happens to All Women
by: Ghazal Azizzada, Social Media Intern
@MasonWGST #gmuwhm2015 #SAAM2015
The United Nations[1] defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women.” To some it may be obvious that violence against women is a global epidemic that needs to be addressed, let alone tackled. However, some argue that it doesn’t happen to that many women or that it’s an outright made up concept. Gender-based violence not only happens to many women, but it happens to all women. Women of all ages, ethnicities and races, transwomen, married women, single women. All women. In fact, it is so ingrained and normalized in our society that you may not even realize it has happened to you. And not just once or twice; it happens over and over from the moment you walk out of your house, until you come back home. Even then, it truly doesn’t end there. You can turn on the television or flip through a magazine and easily point out the violent attacks on women.
The UN[2] goes on to say that "violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women" and that "violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men." Some examples of violence against women include street harassment and catcalling, sexual harassment, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, human trafficking, forced prostitution, sexual assault, rape and murder. The list goes on and on. There are statistics to prove that these types of violence aren’t made up, though some critics like to believe otherwise. According to The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey[3], one in five women are sexually assaulted or raped. One in three women are victims of domestic violence each year, as stated by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence[4]. The World Health Organization[5] says 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner all around the world.
Violence against women isn’t just a heinous crime; it’s a human rights violation, as quoted by Amnesty International[6]. It goes on to list horrible acts of violence towards women, including honor killings, acid burning, female genital mutilation, and more. However, there is nothing said about the smaller, more inconspicuous, easily hidden crimes. Nothing of the crimes that I guarantee we have all been victims of. Nothing about the creepy remarks from men on the street telling us to smile. Nothing about the men on the metro telling us that we look sexy. Nothing about the men following us in downtown DC. Nothing about the sexual retorts made by our male co-workers or our male boss. Nothing about the sexual innuendos thrown at us when we are at our place of work, where the only response we are allowed to have is to smile and nod, because the customer is always right. Nothing about the guys at the bar or any other public location who grope us without our consent, then say vicious and sexist insults to us when we decline their unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances.
The point is not to demean or devalue the horrible acts of violence that Amnesty International has stated that women go through every day. However, violence against women is perceived in a different way than it should be: we define gender-based violence in only the extreme. When we think of this concept, our minds immediately go to rape, domestic violence and murder. We don’t think about the smaller acts of violence. In fact, we don’t even see it as violence. Instead, we shrug our shoulders and tell ourselves it comes with the territory of being a woman. Our favorite way to silence ourselves is to remind ourselves that the small acts of violence are just that: small. We condition ourselves to normalize these crimes because they don’t amount to the extremes we have associated with gender-based violence. Street harassment doesn’t sound as bad as rape or sexual assault; here is where we minimize our experiences because it’s easier to ignore the reality that these experiences are acts of violence.
Combating how we look at a form of sexism like gender-based violence is difficult. It’s not as simple or easy as x equals equality. Ann Friedman[7], a notable feminist writer, said that in order to bridge the gap between experience and perception, we have to have discourse. Friedman goes on to say, “the only way to enhance our common understanding of issues...is to share our experiences and emotions with one another.” We need to change the way we perceive violence against women. Whether these acts of violence are extreme or not, big or small, we need to acknowledge the fact that they are still acts of violence. After all, violence against women isn’t just a heinous crime; it’s a human rights violation.
The Women and Gender Studies Department here at Mason is sponsoring and co-sponsoring events in April to honor Women’s History Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. A notable event that reflected the theme of violence against women was Hunting Ground. The documentary screening, which focused on the epidemic of rape on college campuses, was followed by a panel discussion that included President Angel Cabrera, Vice President of University Life Rose Pascarell, Director of Wellness, Alcohol & Violence Education & Services Mary Ann Sprouse, and Title IX Coordinator Herbertia Gilmore. For more information regarding events, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and our website.
[1] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/
[2] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/
[3] http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf
[4] http://www.ncadv.org/learn/statistics
[5] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/
[6] http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women
[7] http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a37317/do-women-and-men-agree-on-sex/
April 29, 2015
