Feminist Issue
Sexual Violence is a feminist issue because society often sides with the perpetrator.
Sexual Violence is a feminist issue because of intense victim-blaming. Sexual Violence is a feminist issue because women’s consent is disregarded. Sexual Violence is a feminist issue because it is influenced by misogyny. Sexual Violence is a feminist issue because our society is impacted by rape culture. Rape culture has been a huge element of discussion within our Women Studies class. Rape culture has been instilled in our society through customs, institutions, pop culture, advertisements, politics, and religion. As Mohadesa Najumi notes, "Rape culture is the condoning and normalizing of physical, emotional and sexual terrorism against women and girls and marginalized subjects. It is the production and maintenance of an environment where sexual assault is so normative that people ultimately believe that rape is inevitable." Rape culture is filled with sexual double standards that often insists that rape is acceptable based on a women's dress, alcohol content, or behavior. Sexual violence is fueled by our societies social norms and advertisements objectifying women. This attitude also can be found within oppressive institutions that glorify and support patriarchy. Such as the Military. As stated by the WVFV, According to the WVFV, “ one-half of women will be battered in their lifetimes and nearly one-half of will women be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. " Sexual violence is feminist issue because of the entitlement that men receive from a male dominated society often leads to justification for male actions. As Jessica Valenti states, “Rape is a standard result of a culture mired in misogyny, but for whatever reason—denial, self-preservation, sexism—Americans bend over backwards to make excuses for male violence.” Sexual violence in the US military is a feminist issue, because all of the stated issues such as victim-blaming and siding with males are tolerated by this institution. |
* This video may be triggering, it includes verbal expression of their experiences. This video does not contain graphic content.
Kayla Williams, was the only women soldier stationed with a unit of approximately 20 different troops - everyone else in the unit being males. After being a victim of sexual harassment while deployed, she was repeatedly influenced by her peers to be silent about the incident. As Williams states, she was questioned, "Why ruin a man's career over this?" The response from her peers encouraging her to stay silent is an element of victim-blaming. Below is a link to the full story of Williams and her struggle with sexual harassment.
This epidemic is deeply-rooted in gender inequality and pervasive misogyny. For instance, as noted in an article by Alyn Pearson, a study of rape culture done by the University of California at Davis found: “ the high incidence of rape in this country is a result of the power imbalance between men and women. Women are expected to assume a subordinate relationship to men. Consequently rape can be seen as a logical extension of the typical interaction between men and women.” That culture within the military is entirely instilled in soldiers and these customs become social norms. There are many different factors that influence these acts of sexual violence and why it occurs at such a high rate in the US Military. Victims of sexual assault in the US Military's cases are dealt with by the Military commanders. This process differs significantly from the civilian cases most of us are familiar with in our system of law. This process provides far too much power to these commanders who don't properly handle sexual violence cases. It also deals with the violence, power, and dominance that is assimilated inside the military culture. This tribunal process, compounded with societal pressures and norms that reinforce male dominance make these all-too-prevalant instances of sexual harassment and assault normalized. Even worse, they frequently go unpunished. As such, these patterns make female soldiers part of a de facto underclass that are oppressed and unrepresented within the military.
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