Appalling judgment rectified August 12, 2008

Report here on the successful appeal of a rape victim who was told that her compensation, from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, would be reduced by 25% having been told that  “the evidence shows that your excessive consumption of alcohol was a contributing factor in the incident”.

After appeal, the CICA “has issued a statement acknowledging it should not have happened in any case and confirming it is not its policy to reduce compensation for rape victims because of alcohol consumption.

“The Ministry of Justice also said it was not its policy to “reduce the level of award to a victim of rape due to alcohol consumption.

“This stance supports our view that a victim of rape is not in any way culpable due to alcohol consumption.” “

Ban on date rape drugs August 8, 2008

First of today’s stories from the news worth sharing:

In revisiting the classification of a range of drugs, ministers in UK parliament are intending to ban some drugs used in plastics which double as date-rape drugs. GBL, which leaves victims sedated and vulnerable to assault, has effects the same as those of the more commonly known, and already outlawed date-rape drug, GHB.

Steps are also being taken to make the possession of steroids illegal. See here for an older report on some boys taking steroids and endangering health to impress girls.

UN recognises rape as weapon of war July 31, 2008

The UN has finally acknowledged that rape is used as a weapon of war by voting unanimously in favour of a resolution to classify it as such. Rape has long been used as a means of terrorising and humiliating one’s enemies. It affects not just the people who are raped (most often women and girls), but also the communities to which they belong. Hurting someone is always a means of hurting their family and the wider community of which they are a member. But rape is particularly effective due at least partly to the way in which women and their sexuality are viewed. The norms governing women’s sexual behaviour are typically more stringent or more strictly enforced than those governing the sexual behaviour of heterosexual men. More significantly, deviance from these norms is often held to bring dishonour upon the entire community of which the woman is a part. This Amnesty article has more information about the use of rape as a war tactic. Here also is an article analysing the Rape of Berlin in 1945 and its connection with constructed gender identities. And here is the BBC news report on the UN resolution.

It’s also worth remembering that women in war zones are not just at risk of rape from the warring factions, but also the peacekeepers sent to protect them. Here is an old Guardian report on the issue.

LaVena Johnson July 30, 2008

It’s been shamefully long time since I mentioned LaVena Johnson, the soldier whose apparent rape and murder seems to have been the subject of quite a cover-up. I’m mentioning it again now because there’s a petition to sign. But it’s also worth noting, as Cara does, just how slow both civil rights and women’s organisations have been to join this fight.

Abortion: whose debate? July 2, 2008

There are probably too many thoughts for one post here, but here goes.

Following on from the discussion about women bloggers (see here here and here), liberal conspiracy brings us this post, which is full of interesting points. In particular, the author makes some observations about the fact that strategies for tackling domestic violence, and provision of services for survivors of domestic violence, are woefully low (if at all) on the list of local council priorities:

• ‘In terms of the numbers of councils choosing it as a priority, domestic violence services are somewhere on a par with tackling litter, graffiti and fly tipping.’

Also observed is the shocking fact that

• ‘rape doesn’t appear to be included in targets for tackling serious violent crime (go figure???), and while I found the target I’m still looking for a council, any council, that’s put rape support services up as priority any time in the next three years.’

How does this relate to the abortion debate? Bear with me, I’m getting there…

The author insightfully writes that one of the contributing factors to these distorted local council priorities is that such matters are usually dicated by knee jerk reactions to media attention and public opinion , and that the issue of violence against women just doesn’t get the coverage or the public outrage that would push it up the agenda. Thus the author calls on women and feminist bloggers to do more in raising the profile of such issues:

• ‘Okay, so this is, and should be, a two-way street in which male bloggers should have no qualms about flagging up news items that are, perhaps likely to be more of interest to female bloggers but, to some extent, I think there’s some justification for the rest of us to look to the feminist sector and say ‘well, how about it?’ simply in recognition of the fact that people are naturally inclined, in following their interests, to pick up on stories that the rest of us might well miss’

In particular, (and I’m getting to the point now!) he prompts writers to start something up with the amendments to the abortion act on the table and up for debate (see here for more details), and writes, addressing feminist bloggers:

• ‘the lead on this has to come from women and from the feminist sector - this is the point in this debate where women need to take centre stage, not just because its the right thing to do but because we’re at the point at which the key reference points for the debate lies on ground that women, and feminists in particular, are likely to be most comfortable and most effective… on the issue of supporting the liberalising amendments that are shortly to put to parliament, this is unequivocally your show.’

Ok, so here’s my concerns:

Of course, it is right that whether, and when, and how easily women have access to abortion are issues that need to be considered in light of the impact of pregnancy and potential parenthood on women’s lives. And in this respect, right on, women’s experiences and voices in the debate need to be attended to, and heeded.

But:

First, that women and feminist bloggers have had trouble getting their posts and blogs noticed has been mentioned (and experiences on this are still coming in). So the assurance that this is the ground in which feminists and women can be more effective is unclear; this will only be so if their lead is, in fact, taken up.

Second, whilst pregnancy and abortion has obvious and significant impacts on women’s lives, this doesn’t mean that it is an issue that *only* concerns the interests of women. Having an unwanted pregnancy is often the property of *a partner*, and unwanted pregnancies yield children with *fathers*. Perhaps male bloggers who are pro-choice can think a bit about how women’s lack of access to abortion might impact on their lives too, and give voice to that.

Third, and this plugs in to the previous point about flagging attention to violence against women; feminist issues are not just issues of interest to women! Stopping rape, stopping violence against women, stopping enforced pregnancies because women can’t get access to abortion within the prescribed time limit… all of this should be of interest to men as well as women.

Indeed, the author, unity, shows his sensitive eye for catching feminist issues (see top of this post). It has been asked how men might engage with feminist blogs. Here’s some advice for left liberal male bloggers: Notice that feminist issues are your issues too, and start blogging and campaigning on them!

 Final note: LC piece links this pro-choice site. worth flagging up!

“It’s despicable” May 27, 2008

This was posted a few hours ago with the associated press:

Save the Children UK said in a report released Tuesday that it has uncovered evidence of widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of peacekeepers and international aid workers in war zones and disaster areas.
The report said more than half the children interviewed knew of cases of coerced sex and improper sexual touching, and that in many instances children knew of 10 or more such incidents carried out by aid workers or peacekeepers.

In some cases, children as young as 6 years old were abused, the report said.

The study is based on research, confidential interviews and focus groups conducted last year in three places with a substantial international aid presence: southern Sudan, Haiti, and Ivory Coast. The group said it did not produce comprehensive statistics about the scale of abuse but did gather enough information to prove that the problem is severe.

“The report shows sexual abuse has been widely underreported because children are afraid to come forward,” Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK, told Associated Press Television News. “A tiny proportion of peacekeepers and aid workers are abusing the children they were sent to protect. It ranges from sex for food to coerced sex. It’s despicable.”

…

The threat of retaliation and the stigma attached to sex abuse were powerful deterrents to coming forward, the report said.

Ann Buchanan, an Oxford University expert in statistical attempts to quantify rates of child abuse, said the report does not produce comprehensive, statistical data about sexual abuse.

She said the topic is so taboo that it is virtually impossible to come up with reliable numbers, but she said the new report provides a useful starting point.

“Sexual abuse is a hugely difficult, sensitive area and it’s not something that you can usually do surveys about because kids feel terrible shame and are afraid to say what’s happened to them,” she said. “Given what we know about underreporting of sex abuse, I would say this report is probably true. They’ve gone about it as sensitively as you can.”

…

U.N. officials in New York said the study shows the effort to combat sexual abuse is falling short.

…

Tom Cargill, Africa program manager at London’s Chatham House, said there is no “magic bullet” that can solve the problem quickly.

He said the United Nations is beset by a number of bureaucratic and legal problems when it comes to investigating abuses committed by peacekeepers.

“The governance of U.N. missions has always been a problem because soldiers from individual states are only beholden to those states,” he said…

The felt shame is such a common reaction to abuse, and it is something seemingly nearly incomprehensible to too many people making decisions in legal and  related contexts.

Sexual refusals and misunderstandings May 16, 2008

Feminist philosophers (e.g. Langton, Hornsby, Maitra, McGowan), drawing on Catharine MacKinnon, have argued that pornography brings about illocutionary silencing of women– specifically, they are unable to carry out the illocutionary act of refusing sex because porn has made it impossible for (at least some) men to understand that they are refusing. And the idea that communication failures might be implicated in some rapes– with men failing to understand that women are saying ‘no’– has widespread currency. But it’s nonetheless a controversial one.

Deborah Cameron has recently argued that the idea is preposterous– men have no trouble understanding refusals, even indirect ones, in normal speech contexts, simply because we all use indirect refusals so often.

Research on conversational patterns shows that in everyday contexts, refusing is never done by “just saying no”. Most refusals do not even contain the word “No”. Yet, in non-sexual situations, no one seems to have trouble understanding them.

If this sounds counter-intuitive, let us consider a concrete example. Suppose a colleague says to me casually as I pass her in the corridor: “A few of us are going to the pub after work, do you want to come?” This is an invitation, which calls for me to respond with either an acceptance or a refusal. If I am going to accept, I can simply say “Yes, I’d love to” or “Sure, see you there.” If I am going to refuse, by contrast, I am unlikely to communicate that by just saying “No, I can’t” (let alone “No, I don’t want to”).

Why the difference? Because refusing an invitation - even one that is much less sensitive than a sexual proposal - is a more delicate matter than accepting one. The act of inviting someone implies that you hope they will say yes: if they say no, there is a risk that you will be offended, upset, or just disappointed. To show that they are aware of this, and do not want you to feel bad, people generally design refusals to convey reluctance and regret.

Because this pattern is so consistent, and because it contrasts with the pattern for the alternative response, acceptance, refusals are immediately recognisable as such. In fact, the evidence suggests that people can tell a refusal is coming as soon as they register the initial hesitation. And when I say “people”, I mean people of both sexes. No one has found any difference between men’s and women’s use of the system I have just described.

For more on Cameron, see Edna’s post here.

Now there’s a study out (via The F-Word) that claims to lend some support to the view Cameron disputes.*

“When she says ‘It’s getting late,’ he may hear ‘So let’s skip the preliminaries,’” Motley says. “The problem is that he is interpreting what she said by trying to imagine what he would mean — and the only reason he can imagine saying ‘It’s getting late’ while making out is to mean ‘Let’s speed things up.’”
Motley calls it the “introspection” explanation: “Males’ inferred meanings for women’s indirect sexual resistance messages are more similar to the meanings males would have intended by those same messages than to the meanings women intend.”

The study quizzed some male university students about what how they would interpret a message like “Let’s be friends”; and other male students about what they themselves would mean if they said that. It also asked women students what they’d be likely to mean. It found that men’s interpretations often seemed to align with what men would mean, which differed from what women would mean.

they were as apt to interpret “Let’s be friends” to mean “keep going” as to mean “stop.” And few of them would mean “stop” if they were to deliver any of the indirect messages themselves

This is very surprising, in light of the research cited by Cameron, and the question of why sexual refusals should be so different from other refusals– if they are– merits study. It also merits action. The authors take the study to show that men need sexual communication training. And I agree. I’ve got no problems at all with sexual communication training– indeed, I think it’s a vital part of the sex education that all kids should be given. I do worry, though, that studies like this may help men to evade rape charges in some places, depending on the definitions in use. Another reason we need rape to be clearly defined as sex in the absence of consent, rather than in the presence of refusal. If “let’s be friends” isn’t accompanied by “but let’s have sex anyway”, there should be no question that any ensuing sex is rape– no matter how “let’s be friends” is understood. (For an excellent, and pissed-off, discussion of these issues, check out Cara’s post here.)

*Note, though, that the cause suggested for the misunderstanding (”faulty introspection”) is very different from that considered in the feminist philosophy literature.

Violence, silence, racism, rape and murder May 10, 2008

Via Feministe, What About Our Daughters, and The Village Voice, I’ve learned about the horrific story of Ramona Moore– which contains much for feminist philosophers to think about. She was a black woman, who was kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered. Her mother’s calls to the police were tossed aside, unlike those made by the relatives of a white woman who had recently gone missing. (Issues of what Fricker calls ‘epistemic injustice’ here, concerning who is assigned credibility. As well as issues of which sorts of people are considered worth searching for.) Various bystanders were introduced to the bloodied and tortured woman while she was still alive and could have been saved, and they were even told her story. But they failed to contact the police. (Locutionary silencing here, though the question is why. The bystanders say ‘fear’. The inaction of bystanders is a complicated and incredibly important issue. So is how to overcome it.) Anyway, horrific and very depressing story. The only good news is that Moore’s mother is suing NYC.

FEM 08, I: rape and men’s activism May 2, 2008

Last weekend Jender and I went to FEM08, an activism conference for women and men. It was generally excellent - interesting and inspiring, and great to be in the same place as so many other people interested in feminst issues!

 

We’ve had time to reflect on all we saw and heard and discussed, so now its time to join the blogging about it (plenty already going on see here for fword blogging and links to more, including here)! As Laura over at the fword writes, one thing the conference could have involved more of is *discussion time* - the hectic schedule meant there was little time for dwelling on the issues and sorting through problems and potential solution.

So perhaps some of that can happen in the comments here! It would be great to hear from those in attendance what they thought, or from those who couldn’t make it, what they make of the issues raised in the de-brief!

There was much to offer - more sessions that we could attend - so this is necessarily a partial review of the parts that we experienced - we’ve enjoyed reading about others’ experience of the day and hearing about the other sessions! There are parts where we no doubt fail to do justice to the complexity of what was said - but we hope to add to some of the parts as well. This will be a series of posts, because there’s so much to say!

Panel on rape

The conference was opened by Kat Banyard, from Fawcett. She introduced the first session of the day, Julie Bindel and Kira Cochrane, who spoke on the appalling statistics for rape conviction.

One of the key points from Kira Cochrane was the way that rape was treated as anomalous, an uncommon atrocity; she called for an attitudinal shift to acknowledge that rape was an EVERYDAY atrocity for women. Julie Bindel likewise criticised the media focus on the very small number of false rape allegations, contributing to the deficit in women’s perceived credibility when reporting rape. She called on men to play a key role in challenging sexist attitudes.

Such criticism is, of course, absolutely justified, and the low conviction rate was rightly criticised by panelists as ‘an absolute fucking disgrace’. However, the failure to locate the discussion in a broader context was somewhat disappointing. For example, insufficient attention (in my view) was paid to the connection between women’s material inequality and rape rates. That women cannot leave abusive relationships because in doing so they would face poverty; that women are predominantly primary caregivers and are hence excluded from the workforce, financially dependent upon their partners; that extreme poverty often drives women into vulnerable roles such as prositution; addressing such issues seems of fundamental importance to addressing the high rape rate.

Panel on men’s activism

Following Julie Bindel’s call for men to do their bit in challenging sexism, the next session was from two men involved in feminist activism. Chris White introduced us to the white ribbon campaign, which works with men to end ‘destructive masculinities’, and Damian Carnel (from NFDV) who talked about his work with men, and in particular, the strategy of ensuring that when men were referred to men’s groups, his work to ensure that those groups were *constructive* and concerned for gender equality (rather than those which encourage resentment against women, making ‘feminism’ a scapegoat.)

This leads me to another critical point about the day; there was a lot of focus on individual men, and what they should be doing. Now I absolutely agree that men should be feminist. But to be honest, if I were a man, I would have felt a bit sheepish (at one point, Julie Bindel directly addressed the men there: ‘what are you doing to help feminism?’). [Jender adds: It was clear they did feel sheepish. In fact, they were very apologetic about how little they were doing. And these were men who were running organisations doing incredibly important outreach work trying to change men's attitudes. I'm really not sure why they should be feeling sheepish. Many of the women present, myself included, do far less and nobody was trying to make us feel sheepish. Our sex/gender should neither get us a free pass nor make us instantly blameworthy!] Three concerns:

i. the men there are already on board! We need to keep them on board, and encourage more men to do so - i’m not saying there shoudl be any pandering to men, but I don’t think the most constructive atmosphere is created by personal challenges. This is not least because…

ii. there’s some really interesting work, by Paul Benson amongst others (see his paper ‘Blame, Oppression and Diminished Moral Competence’ in Moral Psychology: Feminist ethics and social theory, Peggy DesAutels and Margaret Urban Walker, eds), about the degree to which agents can be held fully blameworthy in contexts in which oppressive social norms and structures pervade. Roughyl speaking, the claim is that insofar as men, like women, may have their ‘moral competence’ distorted by gender oppression, full blame may not be fully justified. [Jender adds: This is an important point, and a very tricky one to implement. But I think my main concern was that blame/suspicion seemed to be getting apportioned based not on what we do, but on our sex or gender. And that just seems wrong.]

iii. whilst we need individuals on board, we also need *structural* change; with all the well intentioned men and women in the world, unless issues such as the pay gap, the structure of the workplace, the expectations with respect to domestic roles etc are addressed, inequality will persist. [Jender adds: Of course, individuals can work toward those structural changes. But there was very little discussion of the need for such changes in these sessions.]

More to come…

 

Ending Silences April 11, 2008

There are far too many things that don’t get talked about.  Things that need to be talked about– so that we can know they are happening and fight them; or so that when they happen to you, you don’t feel so isolated and alone; or simply because of the human need to talk about important things.  And a lot of these silences involve issues feminists care a lot about. Fortunately, there are a lot of interesting efforts out there to end these silences.

You may have heard, a while ago, about the “I had an abortion” T-shirts.  

Now there are “I was raped” T-shirts.

There is the Document the Silence website, devoted to ending the silence about violence to women of colour. They’re planning an important event on April 30– wear red to show your support. (More details will be posted soon about what else you can do.)

And there’s Exhale, an organisation devoted to providing a safe place where women can talk about their abortion experiences– positive, negative, whatever. (I was interested to learn that it’s not just women who are upset who need this service. It’s also, for example, women who feel relieved but don’t feel that they’re allowed to say that.) They also offer e-cards to send to loved ones having abortions, to help us talk to each other about abortion. Apparently these have been very popular. (I heard about this on Amanda Marcotte’s excellent Reality Check podcast.)

Rape in the Congo April 5, 2008

Lisa Brice, Online Marketing and Outreach Coordinator of WOMEN MAKE MOVIES, writes  us:

I am writing from Women Make Movies, a non-profit distributor of independent film, to let you know about the upcoming national HBO broadcast premiere of THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO, a groundbreaking documentary that exposes the systematic rape and torture of thousands of women and girls happening in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), being used as a weapon of war.

A survivor of gang rape herself, Emmy-Award® winning filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson travels through the DRC to understand what is happening and why. This award-winning documentary features interviews with activists, physicians, even the indifferent rapists who are soldiers of the Congolese Army. But the most moving moments of this film come as dozens of survivors recount their stories with pulverizing honesty and detail, providing inspiring examples of resistance, courage and grace.

===============================================================
National Broadcast Premiere | THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO ===============================================================

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* NATIONAL BROADCAST PREMIERE *
* HBO | APRIL 8 | 10 PM *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“[A] documentary of the highest calling.”
- The Hollywood Reporter

“Breaks open the terrorizing story of rape and atrocity…Bravely documents what happens to women in war.”
- Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues

Women Make Movies is proud to announce the highly anticipated premiere of Sundance Special Jury Prize in Documentary winner THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO by Emmy® Award-winning director Lisa F. Jackson. The acclaimed documentary premieres on HBO at 10pm on April 8.

Watch the Trailer here:
http://thegreatestsilence.org/trailer.html

====================
AWARDS & SCREENINGS
====================

*Sundance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize: Documentary *London Human Rights Watch Int’l Film Festival, Best of Fest *One World Int’l Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Prague *San Francisco Human Rights Watch Int’l Film Festival *Full Frame Documentary Film Festival *Seattle Human Rights Watch Film Festival *Addis Int’l Film Festival on Rights and Justice, Addis Ababa

====================
ABOUT THE FILM
====================

Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this extraordinary film shatters the silence that surrounds the shocking plight of women and girls who, caught in this country’s intractable conflict, are being systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias and the Congolese army.
Learn more about the film here: http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c709.shtml

***********************
HELP SPREAD THE WORD!
***********************

» Tune in to the broadcast premiere on HBO on April 8 at 10PM.

» Forward this email on to your organization’s members, friends and colleagues.

» Post an announcement about the film and broadcast to your listserv.

» Include information about the film and broadcast in your newsletter.

» Link your website here: http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/view_newsletter.php?newsletter_id 1409660503

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Women Make Movies is the world’s leading distributor of independent films by and about women, with a focus on documentaries that give depth to today’s headlines, as well as artistically and intellectually challenging works of all genres. Our collection of more than 500 films is also used by thousands of educational, community and cultural organizations annually.
For more information, visit http://www.wmm.com.

….

Women Make Movies - 462 Broadway #500 - New York - NY – 10013

Silencing and Forced Marriage March 28, 2008

A deeply depressing story.  12 year old Ruksana complained to UK police when her parents said they were going to force her into an unwanted marriage. They came to her house to discuss it with the whole family, and told her not to worry– thus alerting her parents that she had talked to the police, whereupon they moved her elsewhere. She complained again, with a similar response, and eventually was forced into a marriage, forced out of education, and raped. As she says:

“White kids can call Childline and they get listened to - but for Asian children it’s thought of as wrong to complain.” 

Ruksana is, however, hopeful (let’s hope she’s right):

Because of the publicity about forced marriages I think they would take you a bit more seriously now. 

For the nerds among you, there’s arguably both locutionary and perlocutionary silencing going on indicated in Ruksana’s first quote. Asians don’t think they should complain (locutionary), and they aren’t taken seriously when they do (perlocutionary). Depending your views on felicity conditions for complaining, there may also be illocutionary silencing going on. For a quick intro to these silencing issues, see here. (Thanks, Jender-Parents!)

Advance Australia Fair January 9, 2008

One of our blog readers in Australia, Roz, drew our attention to this and this. At the recent Summernats car festival in Canberra, a drunken mob of between 100 and 200 men roamed around yelling “rubber or tits” and generally harrassing women to show their breasts. (There’s a picture link on the second web-page where you can see pictures, including a young guy and his frightened girlfriend surrounded by men heckling him when he tried to defend her).This whole thing is, I think, obviously pretty distasteful - a family event with pre-printed “get your tits out” banners. But in some ways, the stunted neanderthal sexuality that surrounds this kind of car rally, with its accompanying machismo and its love of large breasted “spokesmodels” is, sadly, mundane. Worrying, however is the fact that the mob harrasment of women - whether they tried to laugh it off or not - drew no response from the police. Absolutley zip. The ACT Police Minister, Simon Corbell, suggested that organisers declined police help. Nonetheless, police were on hand to issue 500 or so traffic tickets. This must have been a daunting and even terrifying experience, and the lack of police response is pretty poor. The organisers, of course, saw no real issue describing the mob as “a happy crowd” and seemed content that no police action was required since there had been “no official reports of damage” (clearly missing what seems to be the main worry - the harrassment and abuse). More worrying from my point of view though is that the Police Minister seems impervious to the thought that the police should have done anything, or could do anything in the future - from his point of view, the sexual harrasment simply “highlights the need for Summernats organisers to continue to improve the environment at Summernats so it is a tolerant and respectful environment.” That’s right, its down to the organisers.So why do I think the police should have done something to protect women from this? Well, Australia certainly has an image as a “macho society”, and some statistics bear out the thought that being a women there is not an altogther easy experience. For instance, a recent study at Griffiths University suggests that as many as 45% of women between the ages of 18 and 41 were the victims of child sex abuse (see here for a news report). Of course, child sex abuse isn’t precisely the same as abuse of women, but as the authors of the report point out, the trauma follows these children into woman-hood and victims suffer divorce and domestic abuse at twice the rate of the general population.Similarly, according to a 2002 International Violence Against Women Study, 1 in 3 Australian women have been subjected to sexual or physical violence from a partner, and 1 in 5 have experienced some form of sexual violence. A 2003 study from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commision found that 28% of women had been sexually harrassed in the work place. And speaking of the work place, women in full time employment earn 16% less than male counterparts, and in part time work, 34% less. There is no legislated paid maternity leave system, and only a third of pregnant women manage to take some form of paid maternity leave. I could go on, but you see the point.This alone makes the police inaction at the Summernats rally all the more pressing. However, what’s worse is that the Australian police and legal system have recently come in for some criticism at their often baffling attitude to abuse against women, and if anything, they ought be trying to counteract that. For example, recently, between eight and twelve youths sexually assaulted, taunted, and abused an autistic girl, raping her, spitting and urinating on her and setting light to her hair whilst recording it for a DVD which they later sold around their schools in Melbourne for $5 a pop. Eight were tried, seven were convicted, non were given custodial sentences. It was generally felt that this might have been light and more than a little dismissive of the victim’s experiences. (see here). Similarly, (and as reported on this blog) a judge in Northern Queensland described the gang rape of a nine year old as “naughty” and suggested the girl may well have consented (see here ). Again, I could go on. The point is merely that the law seems to be failing to protect women and girls.Don’t get me wrong, sexism, abuse, and legal systems which are indifferent to victimised women are not peculiarly Australian. Neither is the kind of thing experienced at Summernats, but, given some context, maybe it seems obvious that police action was all the more pressing, and simply shrugging shoulders at “high spirited” bawdy rev-heads is the kind of thing which, perhaps unwittingly, sanctions a lot of sexism.

Proposed reform of Scotland’s rape laws December 21, 2007

It’s an easy life (relatively speaking) if you are a sex criminal in Scotland. Want to rape someone without being prosecuted as a rapist? No problem - since rape is defined as the penetration of the vagina by the penis, simply pick an alternative object, an alternative orifice, or just bugger a man. If you don’t fancy a struggle, there is an even easier way. It’s only rape in Scotland if she has explicitly refused (or her refusal is implied, e.g., if you have to bash her around beforehand). So pick some nice girl in a pub, then ply her with booze until she passes out unconscious. Unless she told you earlier that she wasn’t up for sex - and someone else heard her tell you and is willing to stand up in court and say so - you’re home and dry! (If only other crimes were treated similarly - ‘It wasn’t theft, officer! He didn’t say I couldn’t take his car!’ )

Unfortunately for sex criminals, this happy state of affairs may not continue for much longer, because legal types in Scotland have unveiled proposals for reform. The changes will make it possible to rape a man. They will also redefine ‘against someone’s will’ to mean lack of consent, rather than presence of refusal. Furthermore, they will spell out various scenarios where consent cannot be given, which include, when the person is unconscious. (If having sex with inert bodies is your thing, then you might be better off just investing in a good quality sex doll.) Also, if the reforms go through and you happen to find yourself up in court on rape charges, just claiming ’she said I could’ won’t cut it - you’ll have to explain to the court what you did to ascertain whether or not she was up for it. A small suggestion: maybe just ask politely next time you meet a lady and want to take her home to your bed.

Another update: Halliburton rape December 18, 2007

A few days ago I mentioned the woman who was raped by Halliburton co-workers in Iraq, then imprisoned by the company without food or water for 24 hours and not allowed to phone her family.  Congress is now planning to investigate the case.  (Thanks, Jender-Parents!)

Appalling comments on rape December 18, 2007

From former Conservative cabinet member John Redwood: 

Former Tory cabinet minister John Redwood was condemned by victim support groups last night after he said the government was wrong to regard “date rape” as seriously as assaults by strangers.
Redwood said that Labour’s “doctrine of equivalence” had “led to jury scepticism about many rape claims” and added: “Young men do not want to have to take a consent form and a lawyer on a date.”

It will be very interesting to see the reaction of Redwood’s party leader, David Cameron, who has been rather more impressive on the issue. (Thanks for letting us know about this, Ross!)

Updates December 18, 2007

1.  On punishing the victim:  Saudi King Abdullah has pardoned the woman who was gang raped 14 times, in a Wonderland case where it is one crime for a woman to be alone with a male non-family member and another one to protest a harsh sentencing.

2.  On consent of ten year old to sex with nine: Nine young men who confessed to having sex with a ten years old were allowed to walk free since the prosecutor decided that it was probably consensual.  That prosecutor has now been suspended.

More on both stories at Ms’s Feminist Daily Wire.

Gang Rape December 12, 2007

You’d think we’d all agree that  it’s bad.  Surely it’s only in those backward Islamic states that victims of gang rape get punished and disbelieved.  At least, nobody from America, the Land of the Free, would imprison an employee who was gang-raped by co-workers and deny her food and water for 24 hours. And no Australian judge would claim that a 10-year- old “probably” agreed to have sex with nine men.  OK, maybe they would, but surely the *prosecution* wouldn’t have pushed this line.  Hmm. Guess I was wrong.  (I’ve clicked the categories ‘race’ and ‘class’ because they’re very important to the Australian case.  I don’t know whether they played a role in the other one.)

Sex Wars VS Farm Wars December 8, 2007

Brownfemipower has a powerful post comparing the feminist energy devoted to the porn industry with the lack of feminist energy devoted to the farm industry.   

I know that there’s more than one way to get fucked.And I only hope there will be a time when feminists fight for thirty years about the best way to end violence against farmworkers.

Rape: Bad News/Good News From UK December 4, 2007

According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Yorkshire has terrible support services for rape survivors, except in Sheffield (apparently one of the best in the country).  What do I mean by terrible? 

In Leeds, one in five women have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking in the past 12 months, the report said. Yet there are no Sexual Assault Referral Centres in the Yorkshire and Humber region, and Rape Crisis Centres are closing.    

On the bright side, some progress on courtroom reforms.

Video recordings of statements made to police by alleged rape victims can now be used as their main evidence in court, the government has announced. Complaints of rape will also be automatically admissible to the court, regardless of how long after an alleged attack they are made. And an expert panel will be set up to tackle “myths” about rape that may affect decisions made by jurors.  

Hopefully these will do some good, as improvement is surely needed:

Only 5.7% of reported rapes in England and Wales currently end in conviction. Announcing the new measures, Solicitor General Vera Baird said that only 15% of rapes were reported. Of that 15%, 5.7% ended in conviction - a figure which is up from 5.2% in 2005.  

(Thanks, Mr Jender, for the links!)