Blog 12: Woman's Death Prompts Abortion Debate

Southern Ireland is a very Catholic oriented country so naturally their laws reflect their religious beliefs. Abortion is not allowed in Southern Ireland unless the mother’s life is directly in danger. Even if the woman is having a miscarriage doctors will not carry out an abortion unless the fetus’ hear has stopped beating. Savita Halappanavar , an Indian residence or Ireland, lost her life after enduring a three day miscarriage that doctors refused to aid her with. Mrs. Halappanavar died of sepsis or blood poisoning while she stayed in the hospital with intense pain for days. Even though she was having a miscarriage the doctors would not perform a procedure that could have potentially saved her life because the fetus’ heart was still beating. Because of this tragic incident there has been a call for reform in Ireland’s laws concerning abortion and protests in Britain outside of the Irish embassy.

            This story is something I think most don’t think about when they consider issues surrounding abortion and whether it should be allowed. Typically when I think of abortion I think of women who are unable to care for children, or have conceived through rape or incest. I usually don’t consider the women who get abortions because their health is being negatively affected or if they are already having a miscarriage and want to ease their pain. I was directed to another link after reading this article about a Dominican teen girl who died after not being able to start chemo soon enough because she was pregnant and could not get an abortion. The girl, Rosa Hernandez, had a miscarriage after finally beginning chemotherapy for her cancer. She died the next die after going into cardiac arrest. I wonder how many women in countries strict on abortion laws have died because of similar circumstances. Because doctors refuse to take the mother’s needs into account they were left to just die. I don’t understand how a medical professional can be okay with a woman dying when they have the means to potentially prevent her death. 

Source 1: http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/ireland-abortion-controversy/index.html?hpt=wo_bn6

Source 2: http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/18/world/americas/dominican-republic-abortion/index.html

Blog 11 Ukraine's Femen

The article I read focused on the radical feminist group based in Ukraine called Femen. Femen seeks to bring attention to women’s rights issues by doing public stunts topless. The women apart of Femen seek to desexualize the female body and fight against patriarchal constructs as well as religion, and dictatorship. The Femen movement was founded in 2008 to combat the sex trade industry as well as prevent women from becoming mail order brides. Femen has gained support from North America but sometimes have issues garnering the same support from within their country. The women of Femen began baring their breast while do their demonstrations and they say that this action does not diminish their campaign in anyway. The Femen organization has had some controversy over the past few years. Femen in addition to being a tops off campaign, also does bold stunts. Some of these stunts include cutting down religious signs, attempted theft, and open mockery of political figures. These actions have added even more scrutiny and disapproval to their campaign and in some cases have put the members of Femen in danger.

While reading this article I didn’t feel like I was completely informed on what Femen’s specific objectives were. I got the overall message that they were for equality and against religious and dictators. Besides overthrowing the patriarchal paradigm I am not sure what Femen wants to accomplish. I thought of ‘Slut Walk’ while reading this article because of some of their methods are similar in a sense that they use unorthodox ways to gain attention for their cause. ‘Slut Walk’ is a series of rallies and marches where women dress “like sluts” to bring attention to slut shaming, victim blaming, and female inequality as a whole. There are some critics of both movements saying that they are bringing the wrong type of attention to issues affecting females. I am on the fence about whether or not these groups are employing the wrong methods to make a point. I think some people may just see women going topless etc. and then refuse to find out what they stand for based off of how they are presenting themselves.

 Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20028797

Blog 10: Widows, India's Other "Untouchables"

                In India being a female is pretty difficult. Females in Indian society have little to no value compared to men in their culture. I used to think that nothing could be worse than this, to essentially be viewed as nothing. I found out that I was wrong and that there is something worse than being a female in India. You could be a widow. The article I read detailed the struggles Indian widows face often times for years after their husbands deaths. Sometimes after a woman’s husband dies, her husband’s family might take her in. Perhaps her brother in-law might remarry her. Marrying a widow is not considered to bring fortune because not too long ago, women who’s husband’s had perished suffered the superstition of causing their husbands deaths. Even when a woman is taken in by family members neither she nor her children are guaranteed safe haven. Some women are subjugated to abuse at the hands of their husband’s family and/ or are forced out of their homes. A woman in the article who went by the name Goswami was banished from her city by her mother, in an effort to “keep the peace”. Also some of these exiles take place to prevent women from inheriting anything their husband might have left for them. In a lot of cases these women have no way of providing for themselves or their children which is one reason why they may be rejected by their loved ones. The city the women go to is a sacred city known as Vrindavan. A widow who moved to Vrindavan was supposed to move there to reflect on and mourn the loss of her husband. Widows of Vrindavan were to give up luxuries and just focus on remembering their husbands. The living conditions of Vrindavan are less than ideal. The widows are given a government provided monthly allotment of 6 dollars which is definitely not enough to support one person. Some women turn to begging for money or meals by chanting for long hours. There has been push for a change in this way of living for widows but so far not much has been done to solve the continuing solution. One of the women believes she would have been better off committing “sardi”, a suicide involving throwing oneself atop a spouse’s funeral pyre, than she is living in the city for widows. I think that it is definitely a sad state for widows in India but I’m not sure if there could be a quick change in the way widows are treatment. A lot of the mistreatment is deeply rooted in long held superstitions and social norms. 

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-india-widows-20121016,0,6972223.story?page=1

Uruguay: New Abortion Law Breaks Ground for Women's Rights: Blog 9

This week, new ground was gained for women’s rights in Uruguay. The President of Uruguay, José Mujica signed a bill that would eliminate penalties for abortions that occur up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy, 14 weeks for rape. This is a huge deal for Uruguay because the Latin American continent is largely restrictive of their abortion policies. The implementation of this new law means that the amount of unsafe abortion procedures will be reduced. This is important because 13% of maternal deaths were caused by unsafe abortions.  Some countries in Latin America have zero tolerance for abortions not even in instances of rape or incest. Passing this law was not a quick process. The bill itself only passed by a one vote margin, and in addition to that it took nearly a year for the bill to go through the Chamber of Deputies and key changes were made to the bill that added stipulations that need to be fulfilled before a woman can receive a lawful abortion in Uruguay. A woman who wishes to receive an abortion must tell her doctor the situation surrounding the conception as well as any reason why she would be prevented from continuing her pregnancy. The doctor then has to consult with a gynecologist, a mental health worker, and a social support specialist. This group then has to provide information and mental/ social support for the woman. Finally it is mandatory for a woman to spend five days reflecting on her decision to get an abortion. Once all of this is completed the woman can give her doctor permission to perform the procedure. In the case of rape or incest women do not have to go through this process, they just have to file a criminal complaint. Unfortunately the lengthy process of these steps may make it impossible for a woman to receive a legal abortion within the approved time frame. I think that it is great that women can now safely receive abortions in Uruguay. Though their guidelines for receiving an abortion are very specific and restrictive, in this case some progress is better than no progress. My views on abortion are pro-choice though it is not a choice I would make for myself. I don’t think that a woman should be forced to carry a child against her will especially if her life is at risk. In some ways I don’t think that some of the requirements that need to be met before an abortion can be done are bad. The mandatory reflection period may help a woman be absolutely sure that the abortion is the right choice for her to make. Sometimes an abortion may not be what a woman wants. In some cases a woman might receive pressure from her family or her partner to get an abortion. Ultimately what goes on inside of a woman’s uterus should be completely controlled by that woman who owns the uterus. Hopefully Uruguay will inspire neighboring countries with abortion bans to follow their lead and lower mother mortality rates.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/human-rights-watch/uruguay-new-abortion-law_b_2024947.html 

Violence Against Women in India: Blog 8

In India, a teenage girl set herself on fire after being raped by two boys her age. The boys were helped by a female family member who stood guard while the girl was brutalized. From 2010 to 2011 there has been a 7.1 percent increase in the number of reported crimes against women in India. These crimes against women include rape, dowry related aggression, molestation, kidnapping, and harassment. While these crimes are on the rise conversely, there has been a decrease in the number of offenders who get punished for their assaults on female victims. When reading this I automatically thought the reason behind the lack of punishment was because of a failing justice system. As I continued to read the article I learned that this was not the case, but a large part of the issue was related to the societal structures. India operates under a largely patriarchal system where women are in no way viewed as equal to men. This viewpoint is what drives some men to commit brutal assaults against women. Because of their mentality, some of these attackers may even feel that the crimes they commit are justified. In some cities like Haryana women are still subjected to honor killings at the hands of their own families. Honor killings occur when a women has bought what is perceived as dishonor upon herself and her family. In the article it says that the only way to combat these crimes is by using a combination of change in the judicial system and a change in the mindsets of the population in general. This article sort of reminded me of the victim blaming attitude that the United States seems to have at times. I grew up in a society that asks the girl what she was doing wrong before she got raped. Was she drinking, or was it what she was wearing? Did she want something like this to happen because she was out alone after dark? I think that this way of thinking just needs to be eliminated around the world because it sends the message to perpetrators that their acts of aggression are not entirely their fault.

Source: http://www.globalissues.org/news/2012/10/19/15090

Blog 7: In France, Light Gang Rape Penalties Outcry

Some years ago 2 French teen girls were raped on numerous occasions by an accused 14 different men. These men were taken to court and trialed but only 4 out of the 14 were convicted of the charges of sexual assault, the rest of the men were acquitted. In France there was outrage about the outcome of the case, not just that there were only four convictions but that the men who were convicted they received very light sentence. The main concern amongst feminists groups in France is that the light sentences the men received will send the wrong type of message both to victims and their rapists. To the victims, a man receiving only one year for such an egregious crime sends the message that it isn’t worth filing a complaint for sexual assault. The perpetrators then get the very wrong impression that rape is okay because even if you are convicted you will get a light sentence.

Reading this article I was reminded of Law and Order SVU, which I had been watching the previous night. Those familiar with the show know that the case deals mostly with sexual assault cases. The French victims of rape had difficulty proving their case against the defendants because of lack of evidence and hesitancy to speak out against the assaults. This reminded me of something that one of the characters of SVU said, that women have to prove they were raped, you never have to ask a victim of burglary if they asked for it. This is one of the things that upsets me about rape complaints. Victims just can’t get taken on their word that a sexual assault happened. The have to go through invasive questioning and tests that are often embarrassing and difficult to go through. I understand the necessity for some of these methods but there is also the problem of credibility. Sometimes the victims own credibility is a part of the trial. I think the court system just perpetuates the cycle of victimization. Ultimately I think the system needs work because often time it fails in aiding victims or in some cases preventing crimes from happening.

One very specific example that stands out in my mind is in the case of Jaycee Dugard who at 11 years old had much of her life stolen. The man convicted for her abduction and repeated sexual assault is Phillip Girrado. Girrado should not have been out in the general public in the first place because he had been dealt a sentence of 5 years to life for the kidnap and rape of a South Lake Tahoe woman. Girrado was released from prison after serving only 7 months of his sentence. Even if Girrado had served the minimum 5 years of his sentence and had been released he was wrongly classified as only needing low monitoring as part of his probation. Lax probation inspections continued to allow Girrado to hold Jaycee Dugard in captivity. There were numerous occasions under which Girrado’s activities should have been considered suspicious or a violation of his probation but because of his low level of monitoring he was able to get away with his crime for so long.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/world/europe/in-france-light-gang-rape-penalties-prompt-outcry.html?_r=0

Jaycee Dugard Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Jaycee_Lee_Dugard

Jailed Domestic Abuse Victims Blog 6

Brenda Clubine spent 26 years in jail for killing her husband, and now because of new evidence she has been released. Brenda endured years of physical abuse at her husband’s hand and finally ended the abuse by killing him after he threatened to kill her. Clubine isn’t the only woman faced with the situation of facing lengthy jail sentences after killing an abusive spouse. Thanks to a bill signed by the California governor these women behind bars have a better chance of release if they can present new evidence to help their case. Within one California prison there is a support group for women who have been jailed for killing their abusers. These women and their struggle are being presented in a documentary called “Sin by Silence”.  The documentary serves the purpose of calling attention to the fact that if testimony providing information on “battered woman syndrome” were allowed in the courts in which the women had tried, they probably would have received lesser sentences or no prison sentences at all.

I do not believe in murder unless a person is in immediate danger of being killed. That being said I cannot begin to understand how a woman who was only defending herself from the threat of her abusive husband can be imprisoned for lengthy stretches of time or at all. I understand that sometimes it is difficult to determine whether allegations of abuse are true; some women are too embarrassed to report or get treatment for abuse. While other women are abused in such ways that is difficult to establish that they have been abused. But when there is clear evidence that a woman has suffered at the hands of her husband I don’t think it is just to put them in jail for a long time (or at all).One woman imprisoned for killing her husband had visible footprints on her back from her husband in her arrest pictures. Putting a woman behind bars does not help her after she has killed her spouse. I think that getting psychological help is more fitting than harsh prison sentences. On one hand I believe in law and order, and I know that nobody is above the law but I think the way that abuse victims should be dealt with in a more suiting way.

Article source:  http://www.npr.org/2012/10/05/162169484/jailed-domestic-abuse-victims-get-chance-at-freedom

Blog 5: Educating Girls Like Chrissie Can Save A Nation

Joyce Banda, the president of Malawi, is only one of fourteen female presidents in the world. She became the second president of an African country in April and since then she has sought to improve health and educational opportunities for women and girls in her country. In a country where secondary education for girls is hard to afford, girls get married and pregnant early. Often women have no choice but to give birth in deplorable conditions that pose risk to the health and safety of the mothers and their children. In one example given by the president (and speaker in the article) a mother loss her child as soon as she was born because the lights were out in the hospital. The president of Malawi is concerned with the general population (men, women, and children) of her country but I think this article speaks overwhelmingly on how important it is for conditions to women to improve, starting with an adequate education. I used the tools given to us during the Discussion 2 assignment to compare the education rate for females in Malawi to that of education rates in North America. In primary education I was surprised to see that Malawi was ahead of the United States, Bermuda, and Canada in female enrollment. But this trend was not withstanding and at the secondary education level Malawi fell behind North America albeit by a small margin. The importance of having a secondary education is that it affords more opportunity and chances for improvement. President Banda stated that her childhood friend had been unable to continue her education and thus was married young and went on to have many children. Because of these things her friend was stuck in a cycle of poverty. Staying in school longer means that chances for jobs and opportunities for advancement increase. Also girls who are in school are probably less likely to get married while attending school and will have more time to focus on their studies than the alternative of child rearing and managing their household. 

Original Article: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/opinion/banda-women-poverty/index.html

Supplementary Resource(s): http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=se_prm_enrl_fe_zs&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&ifdim=region&tdim=true&ind=false#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=se_sec_enrl_fe_zs&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:BMU:CAN:USA:MWI&idim=region:NAC&ifdim=region&tstart=717652800000&tend=1096344000000&hl=en_US&dl=en_US&ind=false

Blog 4: The Women's Revolution

The article I chose to read this week is about Egypt’s upcoming election and how women may not have a voice in governmental decisions. Author Ursuala Lindey begins the article by reflecting upon the protests against then President Hosni Mubarak this past January. In Tahrir Square women were out in full force, protesting for their rights along with men. Women and men stood together to fight to overthrow the dictator. After he was overthrown the semblance of unity that once untied the men and women disappeared. Women were no longer welcome at protests for governmental change and if they showed up, they risked being harassed and heckled. Some women who slept over in Tharir Squarred ruing the protests were given such indignant tests as “virginity” tests.

            As time goes the situation for women in becomes even more worrisome. They are severely underrepresented in Parliament; during Murbarak’s rule it was mandated that there were 64 seats that must be filled by women. Currently there is only one woman in Parliament meaning the 64 seats rule of the past is no longer in effect. It does not seem likely that many women will be elected into Parliament because it is a widely accepted belief that men are wiser than women. Amongst the women of Egypt there are varying opinions on whether or not women should be governmental leaders. The difference in opinions seems to be based on generational differences. Besides this the women agree that there needs to be more gender equality throughout their country. A group that has been implemental and constant in fighting against Egypt’s dictator has been a group called the Brotherhood. Not only has the Brotherhood opposed Murbarak’s regime but they also made sure to have female representation amongst their rank. This is because women play a key role in the amount of weight the Brotherhood carries in Egypt.

            Another institution within Egypt that needs to change is the justice department. Divorce and custody battles are hard to win when a system is so biased against women. Even when a woman says that her husband has been abusive to her and/or her kids, she must provide proof to back up her claims. With the momentum of the revolution, some men are seeking to overturn the gains women have made in marriage and custody.

            I agree with just about every issue mentioned in this article; Women in Egypt are locked in a desperate struggle for freedom. Freedoms we m might take for granted here in America, others have to fight tooth and nail for. One of my main issues is the contradictive nature of some of the traditions versus legal proceedings.  For instance, it is a woman’s role in society to raise her children, yet when women seek custody of their children in divorce cases, even in instances of abuse, they run the very high risk of losing their children. It is incongruent to say that a woman’s place is to raise her family yet take away her children when she seeks to escape a desperate situation. I think that if there isn’t any type of voice for women in Parliament, the rights they have fought to gain may be stripped from them.

 http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/09/25/egypt-s-women-still-fighting-for-their-rights.html

Blog 3: Polygamy Throttles Women in Senegal

In Senegal, located on the West coast of Africa, there has been an increase in polygamist marriages. The majority of the women in these marriages are forced into them, some girls as young as 15 are made to marry men who are sometimes 20 years their senior. A large percentage of women suffer abuse at the hands of their husbands, or from the other wives in these types of marriages. Some men who take multiple wives try to rationalize their lifestyles by saying that because the population has more women than men, it creates a balance between the sexes. According to the author of this article, this belief is wrong and infringes upon the rights of the women in these marriages. In some cases women get passed down as inheritances from one male family member to another. Other men think that by marrying multiple women they have lowered their risk for contracting and spreading STDs. In my opinion this is just a poor excuse for men to escape commitment to one woman for the rest of their lives. If women were afforded the same opportunity, to take multiple husbands, then perhaps this type of marrying would not be so unequal. Another disadvantage for women involved in polygamist marriages is that they are uneducated “and unaware of their rights as women” (Niang). I don’t think there is anything wrong with polygamous marriages if all parties involved are compliant and enter the marriage freely. I think it is wrong to force women into any type of marriage situation they don’t want to be involved in. 

Original Article: http://www.globalissues.org/news/2012/09/12/14768

Blog 2 When All Else Fails, Women Choose To...

I read an article about a protest movement taking place in Togo that involves women denying their husband sex to get them to take active roles in politics. The article started out by citing a play called Lysistrata (named for the main character) written in Athens 411 BC. In this play the main character entreated the women in our community to deny their husbands “any depth of love” to promote peace in war. This is the same attitude women in Togo are taking so that their husbands will vote against President Faure Gnassingbé. This method is not uncommon in todays society. The article mentions Noble Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee as another woman who has initiated this action in her home country, Liberia. In reading this article I recognized Ms. Gbowee from a previous class in which I watched her give a speech on Ted Talks. She and the women in her nation were able to make political changes using sex as an instrument to get their husband’s and partner’s attention. Some critics say that this method is unsound because it promotes using sex as a tool. In relation to that, Jen Thorpe a feminist activist says that using sex as an instrument allows for some to use arguments of “justifiable rape” as means to control or subdue women. I see both sides of the arguments on this issue. For example, some African women who identify as lesbians are raped as an attempt to “turn them straight” or “correct” their sexuality (Liz Hazleton). This is one example that shows how some use sex as a harmful instrument to women.  On the other hand withholding sex from partner’s and husband’s has proved to be effective not only in Liberia but in South American countries like Columbia.

Initial Article:  http://allafrica.com/stories/201208290473.html

Citation Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055289/Corrective-rape-South-Africa-women-attcked-cure-lesbians.html

Blog 1; Abolishing Prostitution

The news article I read about was about completely getting rid of the institution of prostitution. One of the main reasons that the people involved in the article wanted to get rid of prostitution is because it is harmful to women, i.e. through violence, and receiving criminal records for selling sex. The article highlighted that it is mainly the woman who gets arrested or serves time for selling sex instead of the “John” for soliciting sex. Normal Hataling, who had previous dealings with prostitution, created an organization called SAGE (Standing Against Global Exploitation) to help women involved in prostitution. The program provides job training and rehabilitation services for prostitutes as well as options to make “Johns” more aware of the realities of prostitution. The arrest rate for repeat “Johns” who attended the SAGE programs and community service was shockingly low. The program makes sure to keep its doors open for women even in need, even if they have turned to prostitution again. The article then goes onto detail the author’s personal crusade against prostitution throughout the 80s, 90s, and up to the present day.

I would say that I agree with the author of this article. I feel as if most women who voluntarily enter into prostitution do it to make quick cash and then plan to quit once they reach a pre-established personal goal. The problem with that is some of these women often don’t have job experience/skills required to get a regular job and therefore they are trapped in the cycle of hooking on the streets. This article reminded me of a documentary I once watched on HBO called Hookers At the Point. In the first documentary some of the women had vowed to be done with prostitution by the end of the year but in the follow up documentary some of them were still walking the same track. There is more to the prostitution lifestyle than just having sex for money. Some women get raped, abused, or hooked on drugs. These three factors can severely damage their self-esteem making it harder for them to quit prostitution, or make them so dependent on their drug that the only way they can support their habit is by prostituting. Prostitution is an age old profession that may never go away but perhaps in the near future we can make it easier for women who want to leave that lifestyle behind and give them more options for a brighter, less damaging future.

http://www.womensmediacenter.com/feature/entry/abolishing-prostitution-a-feminist-human-rights-treaty