3/29/2011 Gendered Violence Microcosm and Macrocosm: Interpersonal, Family, and State. Overview:  WMST 103 March 29, 2011 Anita Shaw Violence: When one person takes control, even temporarily, of another person’s body or life. Masculinity. The gendered nature of violence. Domestic violence. Women who are violent. Sexual violence. Military violence. Hate crimes. Another way to think about this… Gendered Violence: 1) occurs due to the power imbalance between women and men and 2) serves to maintain that imbalance. “Men are overwhelmingly more violent than women” Kimmel & Holler, p. 342.  Violence:  most highly gendered behaviour.  holds inequality in place. place - reflects and perpetuates inequality.  90% of all murders are committed by men. Masculinity  Theories about male violence:  Biology:  Hormones. y theory. y  Evolutionary  Psychology:  Frustration-aggression hypothesis.  War as defense.  Cross-cultural studies:  Bravado/fear.  Sexual bellicosity/cooperation. Interpersonal violence AND intersocietal violence is linked to gender inequality. 1 3/29/2011 Gender-based violence: Victims.  “Violence that is directed against a person on the basis of gender or sex. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental, or sexual harm or suffering, threat of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty” coercion, liberty (Human Rights Watch). Who is Vulnerable?   All women. Everywhere.  A global public health issue.  Crosses all ethnic, racial, religious, g , age, g , social and economic groups.  Some are more vulnerable:  women with disabilities,  geographically-isolated women,  young women (age 15-24),  and Aboriginal women. But aren’t women violent too?  Rates of perpetration of spousal violence by a current or previous partner in last 5 years: Women - 7% Men - 6% Violence Against Women Through the Life Cycle Phase Prenatal Infancy Childhood Type Prenatal sex selection, battering during pregnancy, coerced pregnancy (rape during war) Female infanticide, emotional and physical abuse, differential access to food and medical care Genital cutting; incest and sexual abuse; differential access to food,, medical care,, and education;; child prostitution p Adolescence Dating and courtship violence, economically coerced sex, sexual abuse in the workplace, rape, sexual harassment, forced prostitution Reproductive Abuse of women by intimate partners, marital rape, dowry abuse and murders, partner homicide, psychological abuse, sexual abuse in the workplace, sexual harassment, rape, abuse of women with disabilities Old Age Abuse of widows, elder abuse (which affects mostly women) Family Violence  Domestic violence in Canada: 1993 Violence Against Women Survey:  25% of women had been abused by y an intimate partner at least l once.  51% of all women had experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual abuse by age 16. 2004 Statistical Profile of Family Violence:  Females - 85% of all reported incidents of partner violence.  Women 25-34 most at risk. Men’s and Women’s Violence: Similar but Different  Women’s experiences are different from men’s:  More serious types of violence.  More frequent q incidents of violence.  More likely to be injured as a result.  More likely to fear for their lives.  More likely to have daily activities curtailed. Between 40 and 70% of female homicides were committed by a male partner. (WHO, 2002). 2 3/29/2011 Child Abuse   Women also culpable.  Physical abuse related to “corporal punishment”.  Overwhelmingly perpetrated by males. Includes siblings, etc. Responsible for 10 times the amount of serious harm and almost all deaths. Gendered differences:   MEN use violence instrumentally:  WOMEN use violence expressively or defensively:  Maintains the system.  Reacting to the system. Shared power = less violence Entitlement:  Sexual Violence:  Once considered: E.g. E g “As As long as you you’re re living under my roof, …”  Very rare. rare  A stranger.  Extreme physical violence. Or “Those (insert name of ethnic group), taking all the jobs. Why don’t they go back where they came from?” Prior to the 1980s this would have been assumed to be a “typical rape scenario.” Sexual Violence: How has our understanding changed?       1970s: Feminist consciousness raising. 1972: First Rape Crisis Centre. 1973: Study of female suicide attempters. p in Marriage, g Diana Russell. 1982: Rape 1990s: Mary Koss; raised awareness of “date rape.” A continuum of heterosexual coercion Consensual Sex___________________________________Rape which is supported and perpetuated by gender inequality. Rape as a Weapon of War  “Approximately 75 per cent of the estimated 60 million displaced persons from conflict and disasters worldwide are women and children, who often face considerable hardships in situations of displacement, including sexual violence and abuse.” UN. 3 3/29/2011 War and Masculinity  The Language of War: Penetration and domination.  Masculine war roles depend upon feminine war roles.     Wif girlfriend. Wife, i lf i d Mother. Nurse. Prostitute. Victory is confirmation of male identity; defeat is emasculation. All confirm militarized masculinity. Hate Crimes  Sexuality, Domination, and Violence   Femicide •Language of penetration and domination is deployed in male-female and male-male encounters •This language also permeates interactions between states  Woman-killing as a gendered hate crime.  Indigenous women between the ages of 25 and 44 five times more likely than all other women of the same age to die as the result of violence.  Over the past twenty years more than five hundred Indigenous women may have been murdered or gone missing in circumstances suggesting violence. Summary:  Hate Crimes: Other Risk Factors   Sexual orientation  Gender identity  Possibly oss b y tthee most ost vulnerable u e ab e g group. oup.  Disability Violence is possibly the most gendered behavior. Men’s violence is typically instrumental. Women’s violence is typically yp y defensive or expressive. p Interpersonal and state violence linked to masculine ideologies.  Gendered violence reflects and perpetuates gender inequality.     4 3/29/2011 Bibliography.  Facts and Figures on Women, Peace, and Security. A United Nations Publication. 2005. http://www.womenwatch.org/womenwatch/ianwge/taskforces/wps/WPS_ Facts.pdf Accessed 26 March, 2009. Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile. 2006. Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/85-224-x2006000-eng.pdf Accessed 26 March March, 2009. 2009 Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile. 2005. Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/85-224-x2005000-eng.pdf Accessed 26 March, 2009. Gavey, Nicola. Just Sex? The Cultural Scaffolding of Rape. Routledge, New York, 2005. Goldstein, Joshua. War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa. Cambridge University Press, 2001. Klein, Jessie. “Teaching her a lesson: Media misses boys' rage relating to girls in school shootings.” Crime, Media, and Culture, 2005;1 (1) 90-97. http://cmc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/1/1/90 Accessed 2 April 2009. Reardon, Betty. Sexism and the War System. Syracuse University Press, 1985. Starhawk. Why We Need Women’s Actions and Feminist Voices for Peace. http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/womensvoices.html Accessed 26 March, 2009. “Wars, Wimps, and Women: Talking Gender and Thinking War.”  Discussion questions: 1. What does Carol Cohn mean when she talks about a “gendered discourse”? 2. Does she consider participation voluntary? 3. What is a critical implication of gender discourse? 4. Why is gendered discourse so powerful? Why did the term “wimp” have such resonance for her? 5. Can you think of similar, personal experiences with gender discourse? 5