Analysis of Women’s Rights: Rape and Sexual Violence Essay

Frightened she broke into a dead sprint. She could hear the footsteps clomping against the cement, drawing nearer and nearer. She could hear the heavy panting of whoever it was chasing her. They were gaining on her and fast. Lauren began screaming madly “Help! Somebody help!” But no one came. She felt two firm hands grasp her arms, they pulled her down causing her to hit her head against the cement with a bang. It was gushing blood getting everywhere, all over her hair her hands, and running into her eyes. Realizing someone had attacked her Lauren began fighting viciously. Without being able to see due to the blood her aim was off and she was causing little damage to her attacker.

She tried to flee, but it was too late. A zombie woman who looked like she had suffered a bad burn had a hold of her arm, while another woman pulled back on her hair.

Throughout history, women have continuously found themselves as the subjects of oppression. Although the treatment of women has drastically changed over time, women are still exposed to much of the violence that exists today. Per the National Organization for Women, “young women, low-income women and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape” (National Organization for Women, 2016). Women-centered violence is highly prevalent and reoccurring all over the world, even in our local communities. Individuals may be hesitant to consider just how much violence against women affects their communities.

On and on they chased her, until she stumbled on a rock at the edge of a deep canyon and fell over the cliff edge. As her scream echoed through the night, the hunters turned to go back to their cave. Then the scream suddenly stopped and for a moment, all was deathly quiet.

When she made her first kill she cried, second time she puked, third time nothing.

According to statistics found by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Every nine seconds a woman is abused by her husband or intimate partner. At least 1 in every 4 women and 1 in every 9 men have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often the abuser is one of their own family. Domestic violence is a problem that somehow affects every one of us in this room at some time and is actually the leading cause of injury to women -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

Women in the military challenge stigmas of femininity, but women who take part in massacres, women terrorist and women who commit acts of cruelty go beyond any explanation of the ‘attributes of a woman’. Although not pictured as killers, and not accepted to be so (the same do not happen with men), women are also responsible for cold-blood acts of violence.

Societies who failed to acknowledge marital violence to be a violation of women’s human rights, blamed women who are beaten or abused by their intimate partner (Francine Pickup, 2007). Thus making them to feel guilty as they were responsible for choosing the wrong partner (HRSC, 2014). As such they choose to remain silent about their abuse and do not look for legal remedies because they believed it is their fault for being abused (HRSC, 2014). Women may accept to be victimized by men’s violence because they have continuously witnessed their mother, and other female relatives assuming this role. Many women also concealed their abused because they feared stigmatization, rejection and social exile by their families and communities until their

This oversight has cost the world dearly. The wars of the last decade have gripped the public conscience largely because civilians were not merely caught in the crossfire; they were targeted, deliberately and brutally, by military strategists. Those caught in the crossfire were mainly women and girls. Making an observation on women Marshall, (2000, p16), noted that, women are involved in efforts to end violent conflict and are often the glue that holds crumbling communities together under the stress of conflict. In times of conflict, ordinary women, far from solely being victims, sometimes emerge as leaders in the effort to restore peace and ameliorate the tragic consequences of war.

"Around the world at least one woman in every three has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Most often the abuser is a member of her own family." (C,J Newton, 2011)

In our modern, 20th century society, we must deal with crimes by nation states. This involves governmental crimes, democratization, and transnational forms of policing. However, under this broad topic of crimes, it can be narrowed down to focus on particular topics. One I would like to focus on is genocide- the mass murder of a group of people that eliminates the social vitality of a group. And in delving deeper into this topic, I want to focus on the role and experience of gender, specifically women, in the case of genocide. In 20th century lives, genocide occurs often in times of war. The problem that is over looked is the consequences of genocide on women during times of war. The issue of gender, women’s rights, and violence against

Domestic Violence (DV) is a critical social issue that negatively impacts not only our own culture in America but as well as all other cultures around the world. Domestic Violence is a global issue reaching across national boundaries as well as socio-economic, cultural, racial and class distinctions (Kaur & Garg 2008). Domestic Violence is a serious problem that can be seen around every society from families of both developed and underdeveloped countries and of different backgrounds. Although there are various cases of domestic violence against men, children and the elderly; women account for the majority percentage of victims of Domestic Violence. This violence can take the form of physical assault, psychological abuse, financial abuse or sexual assault (Kaur & Garg 2008). Domestic Violence is a trend that is on the rise and will continue to plague our society if nothing is done on time to address this social issue.

Through this written piece of work, I want to examine the ways in which the dominant ideas of gender and war, from a Feminist perspective. I will be contributing an understanding to the role of the Kurdish female fighters in the field of war and politics, that have broken the taboos of gender roles within the community, and the national movement. The concept of gender, war, and conflict has lightened the issue of women in war. The image of war is associated to masculinity, and in many cases women are not welcomes in the field of war, as “she is exposed as a victim of war by drawing the idea of women being helpless (Sjoberg, 2014, p. 10).” Laura Sjoberg; Gender, War, and Conflict, states that “war-making and war-fighting have been traditionally

Domestic violence against women is prevalent in almost all the societies in the world. It is an issue which was not even recognised as a crime 40 years ago and is still not recognized as a crime by many societies. Women suffer from violence, including physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological violence by strangers and their partners all over the world (Kaya, 2010). Even though it is a worldwide occurrence, there are some women who face more intense and frequent violence depending on their culture, country, religion,

This began to change in the 1980s, as women’s groups were organized locally and internationally to demand attention to the physical, psychological, and economic abuse of women (p.369-370). Domestic violence is a serious social issue that happens to many women in our world today. This type of abuse is not declining but continually rising on a daily basis. There have been issues in the past with the way these cases were being handled. Today, there has been some improvement concerning the laws that have been enforced in order to protect women from this type of abuse. There has been extensive research done on this issue in the past concerning domestic violence. Over the last ten years there have been a number of surveys on domestic violence that have been published from around the world.