Human Rights Syllabi: Institute of International Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Spring 2002 - Ternopil
Below is a list of prevalent forms of violence against women in
several different cultural contexts. Each issue listed has a series of links
for further investigation into the topic. Web links appear at the end of the
syllabus.
Issues to choose from:
Female genital mutilation, or FGM as the practice is commonly referred to, is a practice occurring today in many African and Middle Eastern communities, despite the fact that most governments do not sanction or support the practice. FGM involves one of several practices ranging in severity from snipping of the girl child's clitoris (clitoridectomy) to full-scale infibulation. Infibulation consists of ' the removal of the clitoris, the adjacent labia and the joining of the scraped sides of the vulva across the vagina, where they are secured with thorns or sewn with catgut or thread. A small opening is kept to allow passage of urine and menstrual blood. Often, this opening is preserved with a sliver of wood...An infibulated woman must be cut open to allow intercourse on the wedding night and is closed again afterwards to secure fidelity to the husband. She is cut open and stitched closed again many times throughout her life for intercourse and child birth. Each time she is cut open and stitched closed, there is an increased risk of infection, loss of blood or even death...Worldwide the estimates of experts vary from 80 million to more than 127 million females whose genitals have been mutilated. According to a government survey conducted in 1996, 97% of the women between the ages of 15 and 49 in sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt have undergone the procedure.' (See incest abuse page in selected links for this issue.)
Female infanticide (the killing at birth or intentional fatal
neglect of female infants) in China is a practice that grows out of deep patriarchal
cultural traditions of dependence on male heirs for subsistence in later life.
For centuries, daughters left the Chinese home upon marriage, leaving birth
parents - mothers and fathers - little incentive to invest in daughters' well
being. Sons, on the other hand, especially eldest sons, remained at home after
marriage, following time-honored notions of filial piety by serving and caring
for their parents needs as they aged. For this reason, a preference for male
children developed in China, as it has in many other countries.
However, unlike other countries, China's population control policies limiting
parents to one child per family has drastically exacerbated the problem of female
infanticide in China. Constrained to having only one child, the traditional
preference for male children has caused a drastic increase in female infanticide
in China. The pressure on women created by this official government policy creates
an enormous burden to have sons. The practice is now evident in China's unequal
gender population, with 121 males to every 100 females.
"'We do not consider this murder,' said Wafik Abu Abseh,
a 22-year-old Jordanian woodcutter [of his "honor" killing of his
sister], as his mother, brother and sisters nodded in agreement. 'It was like
cutting off a finger.' Last June, Abu Abseh killed his sister, bashing her over
the head with a paving stone when he found her with a man. He spent just four
months in prison. Marzouk Abdel Rahim, a Cairo tile maker, stabbed his 25-year-old
daughter to death at her boyfriend's house in 1997, then chopped off her head.
He also said he had no regrets. 'Honor is more precious than my own flesh and
blood,' said Abdel Rahim, who was released after two months. (See New York Times
reading in selected links for this issue.)
Murders of women in the name of "honor" of the family are an age-old
practice across the Arab world in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Israeli-Arab
and India and Pakistan. Women may be hunted and killed by family members for
adultery, sexual misconduct, or any other nonsanctioned behavior. One of the
aspects of "honor" killings that distinguishes it from the murder
of female family members in other countries is that the criminal justice systems
of the countries in which it occurs often tolerate honor killings. In the two
instances above, the system released father and brother within a matter of months
for brutal, public murders, "honor" in tact.
Half of Afghanistan's population - the female half - was under house arrest at the hands of a merciless political movement called the Taliban. Hopefully they will be liberated after the US actions for September 11, 2001. The numerous horror stories escaping from that country bear witness to the extreme violations of the rights of women. Women were forced to cover every inch of bare skin and are threatened with death if they venture from their homes without the requisite amount of coverage, or the requisite male escort. The Taliban excluded once practicing women doctors, lawyers, teachers, and other professionals from employment, and in cruel irony, restricts women from seeking medical attention, personal help, or services from men. Girls were prohibited from seeking education, so they do so secretly in abandoned buildings with blankets on the floor.
Karen Knop, "Why Rethinking the Sovereign State Is Important for Women's International Human Rights Law", in R. Cook, supra, note 5, 153, 159
How should we categorize nonphysical violence against women resulting
from economic, political, and social structures within their communities?
What relationship does economic discrimination have to violence against women?
To what extent are limitations placed on women in these areas - political, economic,
and social - perpetuating forms of violence against women around the world?
Or are political and economic disenfranchisement separate and distinguishable
issues? Should we be considering these issues holistically when we talk about
violence against women? Lets start with Amarya Sen’s "Many Faces of
Gender Equality" Vol 18 Issue 22 Oct-Nov 9, 2001 in the Hindu.For a general
resource page dealing with economic, political, and social issues, in addition
to violence, see: http://www.now.org/
For a discussion relating to the political participation of women, focusing
on women's roles in Parliamentary governments, see: http://www.int-idea.se/women/release2.htm
For a list of links to issues of political participation of women in developing
countries, see: http://women3rdworld.miningco.com/newsissues/women3rdworld/msub42.htm
For an informative keynote address on the economic disadvantages faced by women,
suggesting a relation between economic participation and empowerment, see: http://www.runet.edu/~gstudies/keyecon.html
These are just a small sampling of the many resources available on these issues.
Feel free to bring additional information into your analysis.
• See appendix B for references to
information on international violence against women [~56k
pdf.]*
• See appendix C for selected Readings
[~44k pdf.]*
• Back to Main Class Syllabus
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