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13Sep

Women and Children Murdered – and The Male Voice is Heard

Members of the ANC Women’s League protest outside the court in Pretoria. Photo: Getty

Two events have headlined our news this week and both were about men murdering women and children.
And both events were spoken about and enacted from a male, patriarchal voice.
This week Oscar Pistorius was found not guilty of murdering his partner, Reeva Steenkamp, who he killed.
The Judge believed Oscar’s account of being afraid of an intruder.
The judge believed his account, although there was no other evidence to support his claim.
She did not believe in Reeva Steenkamp’s fear, despite evidence that she had reason to be afraid.

“The man she was scared of caused her death. Steenkamp was, ultimately, right to be afraid.”
“His fears count, hers are dismissed.” (Sarah Ditum)

The legal system’s voice is that of male patriarchy.

The second event was the murder of Kim Hunt and her three children Fletcher, Mia and Phoebe Hunt by Geoff Hunt who then committed suicide.
And here the media represents the male voice.
We find news reports sympathising with the father –

“You couldn’t get a better bloke. The most gentle, considerate bloke… a pillar of society.”

Nina Funnell nails it when she says:

“If a man walked into a classroom, pulled out a gun and shot three children and a teacher, before turning the gun on himself, we’d call it a massacre, and we’d call him a vicious murderer.

Yet when a man walks into his own home and shoots his three children and his wife before turning the gun on himself, he’s remembered in the press as a loving family man who was under some strain.”

Silences the voices of victims of male violence – the voices of women and children.

Nina Funnell correctly writes that the media depiction of male violence against women and children both reframes and minimises domestic violence.
It treats each event as separate and discrete, as one tragic event.
But we know that domestic violence and the murder of women and children by their male partners is a repeated pattern in our society.

Every year 75 Australian women are killed by their partners or ex-partners, according to national homicide data.

Every year violence against women is the single largest contributor to the public health burden of illness, injury and premature death for women aged 15-45.

As Catherine MacKinnon writes:

“Acts of violence against women are regarded not as exceptional but inevitable, even banal, in an unexceptional context, hence beyond no pale.”
“If women in everyday life are not formally considered combatants, with combatants’ rights, neither do they effectively receive the benefits the law of war confers on civilians during combat,” writes MacKinnon, adding that: “most men who commit violence against women are legally considered neither soldiers nor criminals, yet often receive the effective impunity that is the benefit of both.”

Karen Ingala Smith

Permalink Filed under: Violence Against Women Tags: misogyny, violence against women No Comments
29Aug

The Murder of Women and Children – Domestic Violence Deaths

Too many women, too many children – killed by husbands and fathers.

From the Domestic Violence Death Review Action Group

And it is done in the context of domestic violence.

These murders are about power and control, a sense of male entitlement and for revenge.

And yet we continue to hear about the suffering of these fathers and husbands – their grief over separation from their wives and children.

Helen Garner has just written a book “This House of Grief” which explores the deaths of Jai, Tyler and Bailey Farquharson who were driven into a dam and left to drown by their father, Rob Farquharson.

The very title of this book raises concerns. She was interviewed on Life Matters, Radio National.

Her account of the event and the court case was definitely harrowing.

But it was her assessment of preventing such murders can only be described as misinformed. Her answer to this serious problem is to provide support in helping men deal with grief.

So often when these events occur we see headlines in the media such as

“He was a good man”. “He loved his children.”

Debbie Kirkwood in ‘Just Say Goodbye’ Parents who kill their children in the context of separation’, explains how the media contributes to society’s views of men who kill their partners and their children – a view that makes excuses for such behaviour.

“The way these cases are reported shapes public discourse on the subject and the way people understand the events.”

We also hear so many court cases in which women are blamed in some way for the behaviours of their partners –

“She provoked me”; “She was taking my children away from me”.

And of course we have Men’s Rights Activists blaming women and the family law system for tipping men over the edge!

Destroy the Joint are currently raising awareness about the killing of women.

This year, they have recorded 50 women that have already been killed.

Every year 75 Australian women are killed by their partners or ex-partners, according to national homicide data.

Every year violence against women is the single largest contributor to the public health burden of illness, injury and premature death for women aged 15-45.

And yet we still hear the excuses – about grief, about loss!

“Separation filicides by fathers are more likely to involve one or more of the following contributing elements:

• Violence and controlling behaviour towards their partner before, and after, separation

• Anger towards their ex-partner and desire for revenge in relation to the separation

• An intention to harm the ex-partner by killing the children.” (Just say Goodbye)

Fiona Mc Cormack writes that “Rhetoric isn’t enough to stop domestic violence. Here are five real solutions”

One of her solutions is to hold violent perpetrators to account.

Helen Garner’s summation of addressing this problem does not hold perpetrators to account.

It gives them excuses.

She fails to address the issue of male entitlement and privilege and male power and control.

“Preventing violence means tackling the underlying causes – misogyny, the objectification of women, gender inequality, and male entitlement and privilege – that all contribute to men who choose to use violence believing they have a right to behave this way. These causes are embedded at all levels of our society, including among our politicians.” Fiona McCormack

Amanda Marcotte reports on a successful programme in Massachusetts where a high risk assessment team target the men most likely to kill.

Men who kill their wives or girlfriends (85 percent of victims are female) generally give us lots of warning by beating, stalking, and even raping their victims, usually for years before they finally kill.

The high-risk teams shift the burden of being surveilled from the victim to the abuser. Now, if he makes a threat, Massachusetts has the power to escalate. If he uses visitation time to attack her or her children, Massachusetts restricts visitation. Now he’s the one who has to make his decisions with the understanding that someone with power can further restrict his movements and his ability to live freely

WEAVE has been lobbying with other activists for the establishment of Domestic Violence Death Reviews in every state.-

Domestic violence fatality review is a “deliberative process” to prevent further domestic violence and homicide; to provide strategies to ensure safety and hold perpetrators and systems accountable.

We need to stop giving men excuses.

We must oppose men’s power and privilege over women and children.

And we must acknowledge that this power, this privilege, this sense of entitlement permeates our society and leads to many abuses and far too many deaths.

“We also need to challenge the sense of entitlement that some men continue to have in relation to their families, an entitlement that leads them to believe their partner has no right to leave them and no right to form a new relationship, and that punishing her is justified because of the suffering they experience.” Debbie Kirkwood

Permalink Filed under: Family and Family Law, Violence Against Women Tags: family law, misogyny, violence against women No Comments
03Jul

It’s them – not us
Funding announcement for domestic violence – is it about violence against women or another chance to vilify other cultures?

Last week the Federal Government announced $100 million dollars to address violence against women and children.
A most welcome announcement.

There is some sad irony that this announcement is being made when women’s shelters in NSW are closing down due to lack of funding – and the Queensland government are planning to do the same.

Nevertheless it is good news that the major focus of the new funding is on developing and testing

“a prototype for a National Domestic Violence Order (DVO) Scheme, to strengthen the identification and enforcement of DVOs across state and territory borders.”

This is indeed important news.

How then is this being reported in the media?

The media focus has been on forced marriages and genital mutilation.

These are certainly serious and concerning issues, although not reflective of the media release from the Government.

The Australian started this way:

“PROTECTION against genital mutilation is one of the measures to safeguard women under a new $100 million domestic violence plan announced by Prime Minister Tony Abbott.”

Further down in the report Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews

“We need to respond to harmful cultural practices in woman and their children.”

The other focus of media coverage is on women with disabilities, women from culturally diverse backgrounds and indigenous women.
It certainly is true that these women do have additional barriers within the current system in achieving safety from violence. (For more information about these barriers check out Women’s Safety After Separation website under Violence and Abuse).
For example, women who come to Australia on temporary visas to either partner with an Australian man, or with a partner who is also on a temporary visa do find it difficult to separate from an abusive man, given their temporary visa status. Developing better systems to help these women and lessen the barriers to safety is worthwhile.

There is always a dilemma when reporting on male abuse of indigenous women, migrant women and women from culturally diverse backgrounds.
It can feed into racism and cultural imperialism.

We risk sending out the wrong message

– that domestic violence is not a problem for white middle-class Australians

– that the problem lies in ‘other’ cultures – in cultures that not our norm.

I am suspicious that these headlines perpetuate this myth and feed into racism that is far too evident in Australia today.

And I wonder if this is a deliberate tactic on the part of the government and mainstream media.
The Coalition Government’s Immigration policy certainly points to the racism and cultural imperialism that exists.

And a news report from February 17, 2011 tends to confirm the tactics of the Coalition government, where the suggestion is that Mr Morrison is trying to pursue an anti-Muslim political strategy.

In NSW, under Going Home, Staying Home reforms, women-only refuges are being given to other organizations, most of them large religious charities:

“The other big change is that the ”big four” religious charities (Salvation Army, Mission Australia, Wesley Mission and St Vincent de Paul) are now the main non-government providers of services for homeless people. Of the $16 million handed out for inner-city services, $11 million has gone to the big four via an invitation-only tender process, according to a document prepared by a women’s services advocate. Another person close to the scene has calculated that 62 per of the tenders have gone to these charities, either as lead agencies or as partners.” Anne Summers

So let’s put them together
- anti-Muslim strategies,
- a focus on “other cultural practices” in relation to domestic violence,
- and women’s shelters in NSW being run by large Christian organisations.
What is the real agenda here?

Suspicions about the Liberal-National party’s statements about addressing domestic violence are also confirmed when we see the budget cuts and their impacts on women.

Cutting support to single mothers, cuts to women’s legal services and GP co-payment are all strategies which will reduce women’s abilities to escape from violent relationships.

Senator Larissa Waters from the Greens in her media release has stated:

“… the proposed budget cuts were “insensitive” to victims of domestic violence and could trap women in these violent relationships by cutting support for single parents and women’s legal services, and the GP co-payment would mean women in violent relationships may not be able to see their doctors without their partners knowing.”

“The Abbott Government’s abolition of the National Rental Affordability Scheme will force women back into violent homes and increase the pressure on already under-funded women’s shelters.”

The Greens have initiated a senate inquiry into domestic violence.

You can understand my skepticism that this current government is serious about bring about any significant change for women subjected to male violence.
Permalink Filed under: Violence Against Women Tags: budget cuts, Racism, violence against women, women's legal centres No Comments
27May

Join The Dots…

A mass murderer killed 6 people in California this week. He posted a tirade on YouTube about his supposed rejection by women throughout his life. He blamed women and went out and killed 6 people as an act of revenge.

A woman is wolf whistled as she walks down the street… a man grabs a grope of a woman on the bus…the Prime Minister gives a sleazy wink… a woman is passed up for promotion because she is pregnant… a single mother is forced to live in poverty… a woman lives in fear after her partner threatens to kill her and the children if she leaves him… a woman is criticized for being out late at night and wearing a short dress when she has been raped… a woman is killed by her partner on the street… a lesbian is gang raped and a man kills six people because he feels rejected by women.

The list could go on.

We need to join the dots… and recognize the connections between the lack of equality for women in our society, the oppression of women and the violence and abuse that women are subjected to by men and the patriarchal system under which we live.

How many women have been killed in the last year? By mass murderers, by terrorists, during wars, on our streets, in our homes – by male violence? …How many women have been raped and sexually assaulted? …How many women have been and continue to be controlled and terrorized in their own homes by domestic violence?… How many children have been sexually abused?… How many women and children have been sexually trafficked?

Clementine Ford has written about the “structural misogyny and male sense of entitlement” which is the context of male violence against women and the excuse that women are somehow to blame, that men suffer because of female rejection.

When a man kills his wife and/or children after they have left him, we have headlines such as “he loved them too much”. We excuse his behavior on the grounds of his grief and his entitlement to be enraged that a woman dares to escape from his ownership and control.

Many voices have been raised as a result of this latest incident of male violence making these same connections.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-27/hamad-elliot-rodger-and-hate-crime-hypocrisy/5478820

https://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/yesallwomen-twitters-powerful-reaction-to-the-santa-barbara-shootings-20140526-38xcc.html

Laura Bates makes the connections between “sexist jokes and throwaway comments, sexual harassment in public spaces, gender imbalance in the media, discrimination against women in the workplace,” and media comments of women in political life as being inextricably linked to male violence against women.

She goes on to say:

“We accept sexism when it is voiced loudly and publicly by politicians or pundits, friends and colleagues…”

“We don’t notice or protest when our views of women in politics and public life are subtly coloured by the sexist rhetoric in which the media couches its portrayal of them…”

“We don’t take measures to challenge unconscious bias in businesses and organisations despite the fact only 13.5 per cent of CEOs are women (only 4.6 per cent in financial and insurance services) and the pay gap has stood at 17 per cent for two decades…”

“We don’t speak up when we hear a rape joke…”

“We don’t challenge the minor examples of sexism we see all around us…”

It is this sense of entitlement which is at the basis of all sexism and misogyny.

And why every form of sexism creates the context for male violence and abuse.

Until women’s oppression is addressed… until women are not treated as men’s chattels… as less valuable human beings… until women stop being objectified… until women have an equal voice… male violence against women will continue.

Will these voices be listened to?

Will there be any actions by the patriarchal system to create systemic change?

Permalink Filed under: Violence Against Women Tags: misogyny, violence against women No Comments