(Other press responses to the topic can be found at theNPR blog here and at MTVact here.)
Chris Brown and Rihanna just released two songs together. Most people have concluded that this means everyone is “moving on.” It turns out time flies when you’re not punching someone in the face.
There is perhaps no phenomena so inexplicable as “corrective rape.”
A common practice in South Africa, corrective rape is an act of violence where lesbians are raped in order to “fix” them, because, you know, if we haven’t met the right dude yet, maybe it’s jut because the right one hasn’t raped us! (Same-sex marriage in South Africa has been legal since 2006, proving once again that marriage equality is unfortunately not synonymous with equal rights.) The practice was called out by human rights groups in 2009:
A report by the international NGO ActionAid, backed by the South African Human Rights Commission, said the horrific crimes against lesbians were going unrecognised by the state and unpunished by the legal system.
The report called for South Africa’s criminal justice system to recognise the rapes as hate crimes in an attempt to force police to take action over the rising tide of violence.
The ferocity of the attack became clear in April last year when Eudy Simelane, former star of South Africa’s national female football squad, became one of the victims. Miss Simelane, and equality rights campaigner and one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian, was gang-raped and brutally beaten before being stabbed 25 times in the face, chest and legs.
But scores more women have been deliberately targeted for rape, the Guardian reports.
Now, as charming as that sounds, it is clearly time to wave goodbye to that trend. Gay and lesbian activists have been lobbying in South Africa for corrective rape to be labeled a hate crime agree. They have been tireless in their efforts to not only spark conversation on the tragic practice of corrective rape, but to hear their government speak out against it with them.
In Cape Town, government officials have finally met with a group of those activists. This marks the first time the government has acknowledged the discussions surrounding corrective rape in the region.
The activists gathered outside of Parliament to spotlight the practice, and call out the perpetrators for targeting lesbian women based on their sexual orientation. Members of the group met with the Justice and Constitutional Development Minister (sounds fancy, right?) Jeff Radebe today – and they were ready. The activists’ demands were clear: for Radebe’s department to research, develop, and implement an action plan for the nation to tackle hate crimes and even other acts of homophobic violence.
Activists had circulated a petition calling him to take action; it was signed by over 170,000 people from 163 countries within 100 days. (The petition was one of the most popular / successful on change.org of all time.)
There’s no word yet on the outcome of the meeting; it may be too much to hope that all activists’ demands were met. But it’s not too much to hope that with the government finally meeting with LGBT activists, the road may be paved for further efforts to stop corrective rape and diminish its commonality.
This article was initially posted on Autostraddle and republished with the permission of the author.
Julian Assange faces rape charges in Sweden.
An update on Assange thanks to Feministing.com, who put it right:
Maybe Assange is confused because he doesn’t seem to grasp the basics of consent. He says one of the women “arrived at a lunch in a revealing pink cashmere sweater, flirted with him, and took him home.” And the other woman took a “’trophy photo’ of him lying naked in her bed.” Well, ok, that’s nice. And also totally irrelevant to the accusations against him, since both women have said that the sexual encounters began consensually but at some point stopped being consensual. That pink cashmere might have screamed “unprotected sex against my will” to Assange, but I’m guessing that wasn’t the woman’s intention.
Assange, who, as highlighted in this earlier post here, and this one, is currently wanted for interrogation on rape allegations being made abroad in Sweden, with two female accusers coming forward. Once he moved past his defense that he was a victim of “politics,” he opened his mouth- and revealed he also sees himself as a victim of “feminism.” This seems laughable, since the encounters he is facing interrogation for are those of having sex with a woman while she was asleep- always charming- and continuing to have sex with women after they asked him to stop – also charming. He has also been accused of using force to coerce these women into nonconsensual sex. Assange seems a little caught up in how this affects him, and not the impact he has had on these lives or the safety of these women and their health.
It is important to note that consent can be withdrawn. It is important to note that consent for one sexual activity is not consent for another, or for any others, or for sex at another time. Consent is borne of freedom of choice and open communication- which Assange resisted through physical force and the act of ignoring his sexual partner’s voices.
And it is important to note that sex without consent is rape, not a political act to be used to create sympathy for him. Perhaps next time Assange opens his mouth, he should talk a little more about himself, and what his actions really mean for these allegations.
Editor’s note: This post was edited on Dec 29. Assange has not been charged at this point; these are allegations. Sorry for the mistake.
Ah, did you hear that? It’s the sound of a feminist tornado occuring on your laptop.
If you’ve been at all active on Twitter, Facebook, or any blog; if you have read the news- or watched it, or even watched not news, like Keith Olbermann’s show perhpaps; if you have taken a gender class, or a sociology class, or an anthropology class- you get my drift. Chances are, you heard it: the massive swirl of four entirely large personalities (or I guess five, since the whole thing is about one man). They are Michael Moore, documentary filmmaker; Keith Olbermann, political talk show host; Naomi Wolf, feminist author; and Jaclyn Friedman, editor of Yes Means Yes! (and, admittedly, one of my own feminist sheros). All of these people are speaking out on the topic of Julian Assange and the rape allegations brought against him internationally.
Let’s start with a quick summary: Julian Assange was finally put in jail for the allegations (he avoided them for a while), and then celebrities- including Moore and Wolf- posted bail for him. Moore went on Olbermann’s show to discuss it and the two men ended up opining (and tweeting) about the “rape” and using words like “hooey” and lots of “quotation marks.” What occurred then was a shitstorm: Olbermann shut down his account on Twitter after receiving an abundance of criticism, and Moore has simply ignnored the voices talking united under the hashtag #MooreandMe.
And so, round two: Wolf and Friedman appear on Democracy NOW! with Amy Goodman and talk about the case, from woman to woman and famed feminist to another. How disappointing, then, that it was actually a debate on the merits of the allegations and how seriously they should be taken. (more…)
We hope you'll tell us about all of your holiday adventures- and more!Image Copyright of Le Portillon on flickr.
When school ends, it means the mass exodus home, the communal sigh of relief for all college students, anywhere, and an opportunity to sit back, relax, and talk.
I’m going to spend a lot of time reflecting, thinking, and writing this Holiday Break- and you should, too! Take advantage of the free time to stay happy and healthy. Do what makes you feel good, and never look back. There is no better time! You’ve got less obligations and a lighter backpack.
So what I’m really trying to say here is: why aren’t you writing for us yet? (more…)
Nicki Minaj’s album “Pink Friday” has received rave reviews and its fair share of criticism from critics since it’s release, but I’m still waiting on the feminist community’s applause.
Minaj, a member Young Money, has released an album that celebrates femininity, sexuality, and the ferocity of its maker. Minaj is already largely popular and has even managed to make Lil Kim, the original baddest bitch on the block, a little nervous.
So, let it be known that I have been spinning Pink Friday since its release and have memorized all of the words. And let it be known that Nicki, you are a great voice in the media and a woman finally doing it her way. You go hard, you remain honest, and you continue to show all the haters that your drive, passion, and talent are not to be ignored.
Here’s are some of Minaj’s lyrics on her debut album… (more…)
Photo via Kishore Photography on flickr.
There’s a lot going on in the news that relates to WIYL, and we want to make sure you don’t miss one story! In this round-up: Notre Dame silent on rape and a related suicide, the blogosphere fired up about corrective rape for lesbians in the military, and the truth about consent (everywhere).
When the men’s ice hockey team used objectification and sexual language to advertise for a sporting event, the feminist group on campus didn’t sit idly by. In fact, they didn’t even sit busily, talking or complaining. They didn’t even ask for help.
They just painted a new sign, a sign that did all the talking. And it worked. Discussion was provoked, people were intrigued, and a shift in the campus understanding of rape culture’s impact on women’s lives occurred. Kudos to the masterminds behind it!
Feminist Students United at UNC said:
While it can certainly seem daunting to attempt to change harmful cultural norms, remember that cultures (ours included!) are composed of individuals who can choose to act in ways that either reinforce or challenge sexism. Although it’s clear that we still have a lot of work ahead of us, hard-working students, faculty, and staff have already made important steps in fighting rape culture and creating a safer and more equal campus community.
Moving forward, we need to unequivocally shift the focus of the conversation from how to deal with the problem of violence against women to working to change the fact that men overwhelmingly perpetrate violence in the first place.* Women don’t need more self-defense classes, more canisters of pepper spray, more advice about not walking home alone at night, or more blame when men perpetrate violence against them despite all of their precautions. Everyone needs to speak up and refuse to allow actions/advertisements/jokes that promote men’s violence against women. We’re glad that our cube has generated so much buzz about the problem of rape culture—let’s keep the conversations and the actions going!
*Although most men do not commit violence, 95% of sexual violence is committed by men.
This, obviously....
It’s been a great year for THE LINE Campaign. We’ve made great friends, screened around the world, and started countless discussions. Our sticker collection is building up- and you can see all of it here on tumblr – and our impact has only grown from all of the countless love and support we’ve received.
So aside from the things we’re thankful for because we can’t live without them: our team, our partners, and our supporters, what are we thankful for? Well…
Photo via Eric Jusino on flickr.
This article originally appeared here.
Listen, we know the TSA’s been unpopular lately. But are they really so bad? What about this time a TSA screener pulled down a woman’s blouse while frisking her? And then laughed about it? Yes. Yes, they are that bad.
The incident occurred during the spring of 2008 at Corpus Christi airport, and has (shockingly!) prompted legal action on the part of the victim. And yes, she was a victim: “As the TSA agent was frisking plaintiff, the agent pulled the plaintiff’s blouse completely down, exposing plaintiffs’ breasts to everyone in the area,” say lawsuit documents. “As would be expected, plaintiff was extremely embarrassed and humiliated.”
The woman, highly upset, proceeded to leave the screening area to collect herself. You know, after forcibly going topless in the middle of airport security. And when she came back? A display of class about on par with a fraternity basement at 2 am: “One male TSA employee expressed to the plaintiff that he wished he would have been there when she came through the first time and that ‘he would just have to watch the video.’” Right on brah! Topless travelers! Molestation! Betraying your obligation to protect public safety!