Introduction

Author(s):  
Traci C. West

This chapter presents the interdisciplinary framework of the book and its core argument linking issues of racism and religion--particularly heteropatriarchal Christianity--in the cultural support for gender violence. It argues that the conjoined presence of religion, anti-black racism, and sexual violence against women in American history of slavery and colonialism compels a similarly transnational exploration of inspiration from Africana activists and scholars to address U.S. gender violence. A methodological overview describes the book’s theoretical foundations in feminist and womanist studies, and how tools of ethnography, anthropology, and Christian theo-ethics inform the its unconventional narrative approach. The U.S.-based analysis features snapshots of the author’s encounters with leaders and their contexts, not a broad survey or comparison of gender violence in Ghana, South Africa, and Brazil.

1969 ◽  
pp. 655
Author(s):  
Jennifer Koshan

This article examines the issue of disclosure and the legacy of Stinchcombe through a review of the history of disclosure and production in criminal sexual assault proceedings and an analysis of judicial decisions and legislative enactments in this context. The author presents a feminist analysis of the tension between those representing the rights of accused persons who seek to access a complainant's personal records and the voices of equality-seeking and anti-violence groups that challenge stereotypes about sexual violence against women. The author presents a comprehensive review of the louver court decisions in production applications since the Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Mills. The author concludes that while Bill C-46 and Mills are positive developments, a great deal of discretion is left to trial judges to decide on the merits of production on a case-by-case basis, and such decisions are granted much deference by appellate courts. The exercise of discretion may encourage the application of stereotypes about women and sexual violence and is the reason an absolute ban on production is preferred by women's and anti- violence groups.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Crawley ◽  
Olivera Simic

The last few years have witnessed increasing discussion of sexual violence in the mainstream media and public debate in North America and elsewhere, especially with the most recent wave of sexual assault and harassment allegations in entertainment, media and public institutions, called the #MeToo campaign. Despite the view that men must be engaged in this conversation in order to be effective at preventing violence and changing deep-seated patriarchal attitudes, the place of male voices in this ongoing conversation is hotly in question. This article analyzes an unusual and controversial project by Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger, who, 20 years after Stranger raped Elva, produced a TED talk (2016) watched by over 3 million people, and a jointly written book, South of Forgiveness (Elva and Stranger, 2017), detailing their story of forgiveness and redemption. The first part of this article situates this unprecedented victim-rapist enterprise within the history of feminist anti-rape politics and men’s involvement in that politics, arguing that this project both instantiates, and critiques, an appeal to the ‘good man’. The second part analyzes the book South of Forgiveness as a survivor story that is more complex than the highly reductive format of a TED talk allows, and shows how its uneasy fit within the putative frameworks of ‘restorative’ or informal justice (as Elva and others claim it to be) is a function of the unacknowledged dimension to the performance in the form of revenge. The third part of the article turns to Elva’s and Stranger’s public performances that began with the TED talk and book tour, which we attended, to show how this function of revenge played out theatrically and implicates the spectator as bystander and witness. We conclude by reflecting upon the implications of listening to male perpetrators speak against sexual violence against women and our responsibility towards these questions as feminist legal academics.


2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Franciele Marabotti Costa Leite ◽  
Maria Helena Costa Amorim ◽  
Fernando C Wehrmeister ◽  
Denise Petrucci Gigante

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with psychological, physical and sexual violence in women victims of intimate partner violence assisted in the primary care services. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study, conducted in 26 health units in Vitória, State of Espírito Santo, from March to September 2014. We interviewed 991 women aged 20-59 years. To classify the psychological, physical and sexual violence, the World Health Organization instrument on violence against women was used and a questionnaire to investigate the sociodemographic, behavioral characteristics, and the women’s family and life history was developed. The statistical analyzes used were Poisson regression, Fisher’s exact test and Chi-square. RESULTS The prevalence we observed were psychological 25.3% (95%CI 22.6–28.2); physical 9.9% (95%CI 8.1–11.9) and sexual 5.7% (95%CI 4.3–7.3). Psychological violence remained associated with education, marital status, maternal history of intimate partner violence, sexual violence in childhood and drug use, while physical assault was related to age, education, marital status and maternal history of intimate partner violence. Sexual violence occurred the most among women with low income, and victims of sexual violence in childhood. CONCLUSIONS Psychological, physical and sexual violence showed highly frequency among women assisted by primary care services. Sociodemographic and behavioral factors, personal experiences, and maternal violence influence the phenomenon.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vusi Gumede

This article analyses key policies and documents, which form the basis of democratic South Africa’s desire to becoming a developmental state. In order to understand the notion of a developmental state, I provide a discussion on the theoretical foundations of the concept by drawing on examples from other countries (such as the Asian Tigers) that have embarked on a journey to become developmental states. Through a comparative analysis, and by probing the National Development Plan (NDP), as well as the work of the National Planning Commission (NPC) broadly, I examine South Africa’s prospects of becoming a developmental state. To this effect, I argue that although the foundation that was laid for South Africa to become a democratic developmental state (DDS) was relatively solid, South Africa has veered far away from becoming a developmental state any time soon. But, given the existing institutional architecture, as well as an assessment of developmental outcomes, it would seem that South Africa can still become a viable developmental state—although South Africa has lost many of the salient attributes of developmental states. It is also worth highlighting that it was always going to be difficult for South Africa to become a developmental state because of the political and economic history of the country. The article makes suggestions with regard to what could be done to ensure that South Africa becomes a viable, fully-fledged, democratic developmental state.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan M. Van der Merwe

The Rustenburg Church Conference took place in 1990, 30 years after the historic Cottesloe Church Consultation of 1960. Both these conferences had a huge influence on the history of the churches in South Africa. Thirty years after the Rustenburg Conference, this article suggests that the current context of South Africa calls for another church conference. To motivate this, the events and the declarations of the Rustenburg Church Conference of 1990 are revisited. Firstly, the article starts with a short overview on the organising of the conference. Secondly, it revisits the important confession of Prof. W.D. Jonker on apartheid and what he said on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church and the Afrikaner people. It then recalls the lesser known but not less important declaration by the women at the conference before moving on to the main declaration, which was made after the conference. The question that is then asked is what this important historical event means for the current situation in South Africa. It is suggested that the churches in South Africa are called to take the initiative to organise a Lekgotla where churches and other civil organisations can come together to discuss and address the challenges in South Africa. Racism, poverty, education, violence against women and children and corruption are specifically named as issues that should be addressed. The article concludes that given the current situation in South Africa, the churches have arrived at another Kairos moment.Interdisciplinary implications: The research in this article challenges other disciplines in theology, sociology, education and law to join the quest for workable solutions. This should be done with specific reference to research on the current problematic events in South Africa, namely poverty, corruption, racism, violence against women and the needs of children and land issues.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Nel

The phenomenon of discrimination against women within Pentecostal churches in terms of ministry and leadership is investigated to propose a strategy for deconstructing such structural violence. The violence is described in terms of a case study, the history of a prominent South African Pentecostal denomination (Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa) that initially recognised the involvement of women in all forms of ministry; subsequently in the 1940s refusing their ministry as preachers and pastors, and eventually at the end of the 1970s offering them the same ministerial privileges as for males. Their recognition is, however, characterised by a practical non-application of a church order that in effect represents the commitment of violence against women. It is argued that the change in perspectives of women’s ministry and leadership is hermeneutical in nature. To deconstruct it would need revisiting Pentecostalism’s original hermeneutic as well as restoring its restorationist urge of egalitarianism and inclusiveness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Ana Fernández Quiroga

Resumen. Las violencias machistas son un problema global de primer orden. Sus mani­festaciones son muy diversas y deben tratarse como un problema intersectorial, ya que influye en sus distintos grados de opresión las diferencias étnicas, de clase o de nivel sociocultural. Son innumerables los instrumentos legales que se han promulgado para su erradicación pero sin mejorar en gran medida las cifras de violencia a nivel mundial. En parte debido a que se ha olvidado en muchas ocasiones contar con las propias voces y experiencias de las mujeres que han sufrido estas experiencias y se ha caído en falsos paternalismos en su regulación y en otra parte porque algunas de sus manifestaciones se realizan en espacios privados y quedan invisibilizadas, especialmente las agresiones sexuales dentro del matrimonio. La presente co­municación se refiere a una investigación llevada a cabo en una isla de Kenia llamada Lamu donde se desarrollan distintos proyectos de empoderamiento social y económico de las mu­jeres indígenas. En la misma se trata de conocer el grado de conocimiento y legitimación de la legislación contra las violencias machistas, las barreras en el proceso judicial y la diversidad existente según la etnia, la religión o el nivel socio-cultural, así como las estrategias de resil­iencia de las propias mujeres frente a estas violencias. Se realiza desde un marco metodológico cualitativo donde la pieza clave son las entrevistas en profundidad a las propias mujeres in­dígenas. De la misma sacaremos, entre otras conclusiones, que cuando el proceso judicial de divorcio y el de denuncia de violencia sexual son independientes, ante la falta de capacidad económica, se abandona el segundo.Palabras clave: violencias machistas, violencia sexual, resiliencia, denuncia.Abstract. The Gender Violence is a global problem of the first order. Their manifesta­tions are very diverse and should be treated as an inter-sectorial problem, since ethnic, class or socio-cultural differences influence their different degrees of oppression. There are in­numerable legal instruments that have been promulgated for their eradication but without greatly improving the figures. Partly because it has been forgotten on many occasions to have the voices and experiences of women who have suffered these experiences and has fallen into false paternalism in its regulation and elsewhere because some of its manifestations are car­ried out in private spaces and remain invisible, especially sexual assaults within marriage. This communication refers to an investigation carried out in an island of Kenya called Lamu where different projects of social and economic empowerment of indigenous women are developed. It deals with knowing the degree of knowledge and legitimacy of the legislation against sexist violence, the barriers in the judicial process and the existing diversity according to ethnicity, religion or socio-cultural level, as well as resilience strategies of the women themselves in the face of these violence. It is carried out from a qualitative methodological framework where the key piece is the in-depth interviews with indigenous women themselves. From it we will draw, among other conclusions, that when the judicial process of divorce and that of sexual violence are independent, in the absence of economic capacity, the second is abandoned.Keywords: violence against women, sexual violence, resilience, report.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 98-102
Author(s):  
Eduardo Mahecha Reyes ◽  
Lorena Alexandra Botero Salazar

Objective: Violence Against Women (sociodemographic variables of the victim, type of violence and characteristics of the aggressor), reported to the public health surveillance system (SIVIGILA) in the department of Huila, during the period 2013-2018. Methodology: an observational, descriptive study was carried out, taking the data collected through the XLS files for notification of the "Gender Violence" event, reported to SIVIGILA. During the period under investigation. Results: Non-sexual violence is the form of violence to which women are most exposed, with 76.81% of cases, being more than 3 times greater than the form of sexual violence. Women are more likely to endure physical violence, 8,432 cases and psychological violence, 4,006 cases. In 80.26% of cases of gender violence against women, the aggressor is a man, and it is probable that the victim has some kind of family relationship with the aggressor; possibly being his partner, 7,137 cases or ex-partner, 3,264 cases. Conclusion: in the department of Huila, women between 10 to 39 years old are more likely to suffer physical, sexual and psychological violence; men being the main aggressors and in most cases the sentimental partners of the victims. The most used mechanisms to inflict damage by the aggressors are short-blunt and sharp objects.


Author(s):  
Esmeralda Ballesteros Doncel ◽  
Francisca Blanco Moreno

La violencia sexual contra mujeres y niñas es una de las formas más brutales de violencia de género y, al mismo tiempo, un delito largamente silenciado. La disponibilidad de estadísticas periódicas, rigurosas y confiables es un requisito para monitorizar cualquier fenómeno de interés público y, en el caso de la violencia sexual, un requerimiento ineludible para diseñar políticas e intervenciones orientadas a su prevención, intervención y reparación. Este artículo quiere ser una contribución por las víctimas de cualquier forma de violencia sexual y, en particular, una reflexión política de denuncia ante la injustificada falta de calidad de fuentes cuantitativas para el estudio de este suceso en España. En la primera parte, identificamos los organismos responsables de producir y difundir estadísticas de criminalidad sexual, proponiéndose una primera evaluación de las principales fuentes disponibles que implicaría problematizar sobre el sub-registro estadístico de esta tipología penal y examinar las deficiencias técnicas que presentan los datos publicados.  En la segunda parte, presentamos una compilación de las series sobre delincuencia sexual extraídas de los distintos Anuarios Estadísticos publicados por el Ministerio del Interior desde 1987, advirtiendo su escasa capacidad para un estudio cuantitativo riguroso de las violencias sexuales.Sexual violence against women and girls is one of the most brutal forms of gender violence and, at the same time, a long-silenced crime. The availability of periodic, rigorous and reliable statistics is a requirement to monitor any phenomenon of public interest and, in the case of sexual violence, an unavoidable requirement to design policies and interventions aimed at prevention, eradication, intervention and reparation. This article wants to be a contribution to the struggle of women victims of any form of sexual violence and, in particular, a political reflection of denunciation against the unjustified shortage of quantitative sources and the inexplicable low quality of the data for the study of this event in Spain. In the first part, we identify the agencies responsible for producing and disseminating sexual crime statistics, making a succinct evaluation of the main sources available. In the second part, we present a compilation of the series on sexual delinquency extracted from the different Statistical Yearbooks published by the Ministry of the Interior since 1987, noting its low capacity for a rigorous quantitative study of sexual violence.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (09) ◽  
pp. 19-30
Author(s):  
Macarena Car Silva

El presente artículo hace una breve revisión –desde la historia del derecho– de los esfuerzos que en materia legislativa ha hecho nuestro país por visibilizar la violencia de género desde el advenimiento de la democracia, haciendo hincapié en que el esfuerzo hecho ha tenido un éxito relativo en materia de violencia contra la mujer,y sólo en sus aspectos más íntimos de la vida. This article briefly reviews –from the perspective of the history of law– the efforts in legislation that our country has made to view gender violence since the advent of democracy, emphasizing that the effort has been relatively successful on violence against women, and onlyin their most intimate aspects of life.


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