Is sexist violence getting worse?
Saturday, May 31, 2014 @ 5:10 PM
It was in the news yesterday that two Indian girls, aged 14 and 15, were gang-raped, murdered and hanged from trees. It was said that two police officers and two civilians were the perpetrators and initially the police were going to take no action. It was only when the villagers staged a protest below the girls's hanging bodies that they were forced to act.
Such terror and horror for them and for their families and friends; and a warning to other girls everywhere that men have the power to do this. Is there to be no end to this sexual violence against women and girls?
My young teenage daughter was just this week writing an essay for a Spanish exam. The question was whether 'la violencia machista' is the main worry for women today. I gave her my opinion, which is that while it will be a terrible reality for millions of girls and women in the world, women also had other pressing worries, such as how to feed their children or get them medical help when they are ill.
Of course many of these women will face these challenges without a supportive (if any) partner to help them. They may also be facing these more economic issues within a family and/or community context of violence against women.
My daughter finished her essay by saying that such sexist violence has always existed and will always exist.
But how can we accept this? In the West there have been some invidious developments, especially related to the internet, in terms of tolerance of sexism and sexist violence against women (an excellent programme by Kirsty Walk was broadcast on this theme this week). We must combat these trends for the sake of society in general, for the sake of our daughters (for whom it is so upsetting and confusing) and also for our sons (so that they can lead more decent lives and not become brutalised with twisted notions of gender relations).
Clearly, the issue of sexist violence is much more serious in countries like India, where rape is endemic and on another scale to that in the West. But we should be leading the way and exerting pressure on these countries, while at the same time tackling the increasing tolerance of sexism in our own countries.
Is it so much to ask that women and girls be treated with the same respect accorded to the male of the species?