WMC Women Under Siege
When conflict came to Burma’s Rohingya, women were forced to do something unexpected
The roles of family and society, dictated by culture and history, often disintegrate in the presence of conflict. And the Rohingya people, already one of the most persecuted ethnic minorities in the world, were no exception after last year’s violence in Burma.
WMC Women Under Siege
When we focus on rape, what do we miss?
It’s been 20 years since the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Despite this, it doesn’t seem like the Western mainstream media have figured out how to represent more than a narrow definition of the types of violence women experience during conflict. Too often the focus is only on rape and other forms of sexualized violence.
WMC Women Under Siege
Taking away their guns: A move toward protecting women and girls?
Rape turns bodies into weapons. But in many cases, literal weapons facilitate the act itself. As one Congolese woman told Amnesty International in 2011: “A guy with a machete in a village can rape one woman. Two guys with a machine gun can rape the whole village.” Guns not only facilitate rape but also heighten its danger. With guns, women are shot in the vaginas, leading to death or debilitating injuries such as fistula. With guns, and other weapons, rape “is often used as a predecessor to murder.”
WMC Women Under Siege
November 14, 2013 | Kishalay Bhattacharjee |
Disability,
International,
Violence against women,
WMC Loreen Arbus Journalism Program
Of the thousands of unreported, ignored stories in India, here’s one
Despite the outrage at violence against women that spread through India this past year, thousands of women and children continue to be victims of rape, trafficking, and other forms of sexualized violence. The stories of these women and children go unreported and are largely ignored by global campaigns against violence. But one of the worst and most brutal cases has been that of Soni Sori.
WMC FBomb
Why Teaching Teen Boys About Consent Should Be A Mandatory Part of Sex Ed
It started with a Facebook post. Last summer, a Facebook friend posed the question: "If you would teach your daughter about protection, then why wouldn't you teach your son about respect?"After I read...
WMC FBomb
Rape Culture Shock
I thought the toughest adjustment when it came to starting college would be the workload, or self discipline, or missing my friends and family. I was prepared for those challenges. What I didn’t expec...
WMC Women Under Siege
10 wars to watch (and that the media ignore)
Bloodshed, famine, rape, internal displacement. There are truly few things as awful as the reality of living through modern warfare. The horror, suffering, and pain caused by war are acutely felt on an individual level. Often though, that pain is endured quietly, out of view, while the media focuses on bombs falling and guns firing.
WMC Women Under Siege
November 08, 2013 International,
Violence against women
Women under siege (and on the Web) this week
Our roundup of what's happening around the world and around the Web when it comes to women, war, and sexualized violence this week.
WMC FBomb
A Feminist Wave of Fury
I'm not walking 'before' Anybody.
I'm not here to parade my body,
Or prance and flit about.
Cause under all the prettiness,
There beats an Amazon heart.
To wear what We want.
To do what We dream.
To...
WMC News & Features
November 06, 2013 | Mary Ann Swissler |
Violence against women
Using Student-Made Films to Confront Campus Sexual Assault
Student filmmakers and their professors at five far-flung colleges have united to create a diverse collection of short films to promote campus sexual assault awareness and prevention. So far, the films have reached 400 additional schools, and counting.
WMC Women Under Siege
U.S. steps up protection of women in war
One of the first things that happens when war breaks out is that the rule of law crumbles. Women become targets of violence—whether through rape or sexual exploitation as food and other resources quickly become scarce. This can have critical consequences not only for the women themselves, but for the escalation of the war.
WMC Women Under Siege
November 01, 2013 International,
Violence against women
Women under siege (and on the Web) this week
Our roundup of what's happening around the world and around the Web when it comes to women, war, and sexualized violence this week.
WMC Women Under Siege
Women in South Africa are living in a war zone
This year has been especially horrific for the women of South Africa. On October 15, two little girls, aged 2 and 3, were found in a public toilet in Diepsloot, a settlement in the north of Johannesburg, according to news reports. The girls, both cousins, who had been abducted in broad daylight, had been raped and strangled.
WMC Women Under Siege
What's going on in Syria is about a lot more than chemical weapons
We're off talk of "intervention" in Syria, and on to trying to get everyone to the negotiating table. It's not going very well.
WMC Women Under Siege
October 25, 2013 International,
Violence against women
Women under siege (and on the Web) this week
Our roundup of what's happening around the world and around the Web when it comes to women, war, and sexualized violence this week.
WMC Women Under Siege
Shutting us down: How online misogyny prevents women from fully participating in democracy
There are two major barriers to women’s full participation in the democratic process in the UK at the moment—the first relates to their taking part in the vital and shaping process of grassroots activism, and the second to their participation in more traditional political careers.
WMC Women Under Siege
The Index: Rape in War
Number of countries that signed the UK and UN’s Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict: 128. Countries that refused to sign the declaration at the UNGA on September 24: 80...
WMC Women Under Siege
'Their untold stories eat away at them': Rape and the women of Mali
In late September, a Malian woman told UN workers that she had been raped, and identified four Chadian soldiers—UN peacekeepers—as her rapists, according to a BBC report. A UN spokesman issued a statement a few days later, reaffirming the organization’s zero commitment policy against sexual abuse and calling on the Chadian government to fully investigate the matter.
WMC FBomb
October 08, 2013 | Trip E |
Education,
Feminism,
Girls,
Misogyny,
Race/Ethnicity,
Violence against women
When the Controversial Decision to Only Cast Women Of Color Makes Sense
Last week, Barnard College/Columbia University’s V-Day organization announced that this year's production of Eve Ensler's play The Vagina Monologues will feature a cast entirely composed of self-iden...
WMC Women Under Siege
10 must-read books on sexualized violence in war
Our mission here at WMC’s Women Under Siege is to add to the public record on sexualized violence in conflict. But if you’re just setting out to learn more about a topic as complicated as this, figuring out where to begin might seem a bit daunting.
WMC Women Under Siege
Burma refuses to relinquish rape as weapon of war
On September 24, British Foreign Secretary William Hague’s initiative to end sexualized violence in conflict zones took the 2013 UN General Assembly by storm. The event was hosted by Secretary Hague and Zainab Hawa Bangura, special representative of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, and included speakers from 27 member countries.
WMC Women Under Siege
‘I Can Still Smell the Dead’: Central African Republic's crisis worsens
Virtually unnoticed in September amid news of back-to-school sales and Miley Cyrus twerking at the Video Music Awards was a report released by Human Rights Watch called “I Can Still Smell the Dead.”
WMC FBomb
September 24, 2013 | Vanessa W |
Feminism,
Violence against women
Dear Mrs. Hall: In Defense of Teenage Girls
Dear Mrs. Hall,
Do you remember what it feels like to be a teenage girl?
Do you remember what it feels like to question every fiber of your identity?
Your body, the hand grenade. Your body, the pla...
WMC Women Under Siege
Seeking justice through the ICTY: Frustration, skepticism, hope
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was established in 1993 to prosecute “persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory.” But taking into account the thousands of victims of sexualized violence from the conflict is comprehensive prosecution even feasible?
WMC Women Under Siege
Where is 'red line' on rape in war?
I remember a chalk line drawn on blacktop by a group of kids at recess when I was young. The message was clear: This is the line you do not cross. If you stepped over it, you would face the wrath of those kids in whatever game we were playing. Now turn that line crimson and color it toxic. This is the adult version of "do not cross."
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