An Anti-Violence Action Project: The Rape by Lara Mathis

For centuries women and young girls have been told what to do, their futures have been pre planned for them. However it’s not every girl's dream to be a stay at home housewife. Women want a chance to feel safe, to explore the world, without fear of being punished or put down. Women have often been considered the weaker sex, but not any more. The National Organization for Women, also known as NOW, is a public feminist organization that was founded in 1966. NOW’s goal as a national organization is to educate the world on the economic inequalities surrounding women, along with the rising amounts of crimes committed against women that go unnoticed. As a result of NOW’s speeches, rallies, and, marches many young women have been inspired to speak

“The extension of women’s rights is the beginning of all social progress.” -Charles Fourier Initially. Women have always been seen as the fragile sex, the one that has to be protected and kept safe. Still, not everybody thinks like that. There are several places around the world where women are seen as the weaker sex or even a burden. In order for women to be valued more we have to address the issues behind the cause, and we need to find a solution immediately. We need to achieve social progress by fighting all the types of oppression against women and by creating a better future for them. Oppression towards women is still a problem in today’s society because they are victims of modern day slavery, it causes gendercide, and have no educational

In the world today, women have a say in what they want to do and things that they desire to do. Back in the day, before the 1800’s, women had to be submissive to their male counterparts and do according to what was required of them. In the end, this led to the demeaning of the woman and the concept that women were inferior to men. Even though this concept and perception changed, there have been some countries and regions of the world that have not yet recognized the equality that women deserve. Such areas do not allow women to vote, attend school, have a say in the community, and the women are at the mercy of their husbands, fathers or male superiors (Hartmann, Susan M).

“Women aren’t the problem but the solution. The plight of girls is no more a tragedy than an opportunity” (Kristof & WuDunn, 2009, p. xviii). This quote does an excellent job of introducing the issues discussed in the book Half the Sky. In this book, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn present us with the issue of the unjust and cruel treatment of women in today’s world. Women throughout the world are treated in unthinkably bad ways, but the majority of people are not even aware of the suffering these women face on a daily basis. According to Kristof and WuDunn (2009), “Women aged fifteen through forty-four are more likely to be maimed or die from male violence than from cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war combined” (p. 61). However, Kristof and WuDunn (2009) also point out that if something dramatic such as a school shooting or bombing takes place, it makes breaking news, and everyone is aware of it all at once (p. xiv). Plenty of women are being mistreated every minute of

Taking a gender woman study class gave me the opportunity to discover how woman do not only fight for their rights but for everyones right as well. In Mary Pardo’s Mexican American Women and Grassroots Community Activists: Mothers of East Los Angeles, I was able to learn how woman fight for their communities rights and try their hardest to protect everyone and not just themselves. Michelle Jacob’s article Claiming Health and Culture as a Human Rights: Yakama Feminism in Daily Practice also shows how woman become agents of change to bring change into the community. As I kept reading various articles, I also discovered Lila Abu-Lughod. “The Romance of Resistance: Tracing Transformations of Power Through Bedouin Women.” which focused on working towards woman rights. The last article I will talk

All over the globe, violence and discrimination against women and girls violates their human rights and severely compromised their perception of equality. Culture, false beliefs and ancient traditions, such as early marriage, the nuclear family, gender-based discrimination, which lead to violence against women and femicide, destroyed young girls ' mental and physical wellbeing and self-esteem by supporting the ideas that gender-based discrimination and inequality is acceptable in our societies.

Women rights movement’s dates back to the nineteenth century as the female gender was seeking to have a place in the society where they have their rights and entitlement fairly given to them. It was instigated by the fact that the male population by making them feel as less beings in the society. This is because they were not entitled to having their views brought out. However, in the 1970’s efforts to secure equal rights for women by eradicating gender discrimination put by institution, laws and various behavioural pattern meet serious activism (Barrett. 2014). The reforms enjoyed currently concerning women empowerment is as a result of all the atrocities that they went through at this time. It is, therefore, evident to say that the challenges faced by women in the 1970’s rights movement gave birth to new opportunities such as coming up with severe laws on gender discrimination, pushed for the Title IX law and defining rape as a crime.

16 Days of Activism is a campaign that opposes violence suffered by women and children at the hands of intimate partners, parents and others. Though not actively being involved between spouses and families, the 16 Days of Activism campaign aim is to raise awareness of the impact violence and abuse have on women and children, by helping bring the world together to fight for a common goal with the intention to rid people of abuse permanently. Women are not only supported by men though. Men are encouraged as well to take part in the campaign to help eradicate violence in their communities by helping challenge offenders to change their behaviour and informing survivors of services and organisations that could help rehabilitate them in terms of

Women all over the world have been mistreated for more than a century. It has been exploited throughout the world as how “women aren’t currently treated the same as men in certain situations” but it is far more beyond that. Only half of the world seems to at least know what is really happening behind the curtain. Ambiguous people have manipulated the very much realness with what is exactly taking place in our society. In this essay, I will be talking about the following things; Inequity in the workplace, “Asking for it”, Violence against women globally, Education, and The psychology of it all. These five topics need to be demanded attention. Our younger generation needs to be cognizant of what has been going on for many millenniums. Girls and women should be able to walk around at night and not be afraid, nor should they be afraid to oppose another man. There is no real justification on why women should be treated like this but there is plenty of justification on why they shouldn 't, so genuinely why is this problem happening? Some of the books that I read to have mostly validation on this paper from other human beings but also to enlighten myself even more that I already am. “Subjection of Women” by John Stuart Mill, “Created Equal: Voices on Women 's Rights” by Anna Horsbrugh-Porter, and “Equal Pay for Equal Work” by Grace C. Strachan. I chose these three texts because each one yet talks about the same thing but has a little bit of a different perspective on each. I

“Without doubt, the last century has witnessed an unprecedented expansion of women’s rights, in one of the most profound social revolutions the world has ever seen. One hundred years ago, only two countries allowed women to vote. Today, that right is virtually universal. Millions of men and women around the world today advocate to end violence against women, and a record two-thirds of countries have passed laws against it.” – Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director

Beginning in the late 1800’s, the feminist movement grasped third world females by the arm and dragged them along the never ending fight for equality. The fight for the equality of the sexes has accomplished many victories from granting women the right to vote in 1920 to banning female genital mutilation in Nigeria just this year. Feminism brought numerous inequalities to light in the past years, but one of the most underrated struggles fought by females of all ages everyday often gets overlooked. Young girls still face large amounts of inequality in the classroom.

An issue discussed in class that is central to achieving gender equality is the elimination or prevention of gendered violence. Gendered violence is a huge issue, that affects a multitude of women in Canada and all over the world. It is critical to the cause of gender equality, as gendered violence is rooted in the idea that women are lesser than men and it is acceptable to exert power over them through violence. Thus, women are abused, manipulated and assaulted simply due to their gender. This is a severe form of misogyny and sexism in which women are kept in their place, and prevented from rising to their full power and potential. Gendered violence has contributed to gender inequality, as shown in The War at Home. The episode of the CBC series First hand demonstrates the various plights women are forced to go through due to their abusive partners. Even through this, the justice system can behave like another form of abuse. It is not possible for women to be considered equal in a society where their worth as human beings is not respected. An example in the episode is

Throughout history, women have been victims of oppression. Even though there have been attempts to shed light on the issue that women face worldwide, it seems as if humanity still does not understand its importance. Society has tried to mold everyone to believe that white heterosexual men are superior to those who do not fit the hegemonic norm. However, there have been women and men who dedicated their lives to fight this worldwide issue. Amongst those people are Nicholas Kristoff and Cheryl WuDunn, who are authors of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide and who are also featured in the movie documentary. Ishrad Manji defines Gendercide in his article “Changing Lives” that was published in The New York Times as “the daily slaughter of girls in the developing world” and it “steals more lives in any given decade than all the genocides of the 20th century.” Sex trafficking, forced prostitution, maternal mortality, and gender-based violence are subjects that are especially exposed. Therefore, the Half the Sky Movement has proposed microfinance and education as ways to overcome these problems.

Women have been the most discriminated-against group of people in the entire history of humankind. They have been abused, held back in society, and oftentimes restricted to the home life, leading dull, meaningless lives while men make sure the world goes round. It seems strange that half of the world's population could be held down so long; ever since the dawn of humanity, women have been treated like second-class citizens. Only in the past 100 years or so have women started to win an equal place in society in the Western world. However, the fight for equality has not been a short one. The seeds of the liberation movement were planted hundreds of years ago, by free-thinking

For centuries, women have been oppressed and degraded in a patriarchal society. With the election of Trump, a sexist president, communities from all over the nation have participated in a march to demand respect and equality. This movement has potential to advance society and better the quality of life for women worldwide. Without protests and movements like these, women would still be under a man’s power not receiving suffrage and other basic rights. To them, equality is a priority over their safety, because advocates desire for change and freedom for those women who do not have a voice.