Abstract
Violence against women is a dilemma in every country around the world. It has no respect for race, nationality, religion, or social status. One if the many factors that contributed to the continuance of this problem is, the authorities did not deem it an important issue. Compounded with the fact that these women are already ashamed to report their abuse, they do not want to be ridicule. Also the fear of repercussion keeps them quiet. After all the scientific advancement this world has accomplished, it is only about twenty years ago, since violence against women is awarded “human rights' status. Even with this awareness and enacted laws to curtail this plague, the numbers are growing at an astonishing rate. This is a problem that needs the help of everyone; we must become our sis
Violence Towards Women
In spite of the fact that we are in the twenty-first century, society still lingers in the dark- age and still thinks that women are unequal to men. Crime against women is everywhere; no country is exclusive; in some countries, violence against women is accepted and even considered necessary. According to Experiences and Perceptions of Community Response to Sexual Assault (2001); “One in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.” Despite these staggering facts, the number is much higher since some women do not report crimes against them due to fear and ridicule.
Since the beginning of time violence against women has been treated as trifle and the women more often than not are blamed. Some of the comments one hears about women who are raped are; she was dressed provocatively or she flirted or teased the man into a sexual frenzy. About ten, twenty years ago, this was the general consensus of society. Times are changing but the stigma still remains, and some still see women as the aggressor. Chalata Casar (2009) says in her article “Inter American System,” “It (crimes against women) is under-recognized and underreported, but it is one of the most significant epidemics in the world today: gender violence, manifested primarily as violence against women.”
The main reasons why some women keep silent about their abuse is, they are ashamed and they are afraid of the repercussions. In the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, David Thompson relates the story of Janine Latus who was too ashamed to publicize her abuse. Latus, whose book, If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister's Story of Love, Murder and Liberation, “recounts the domestic violence experienced by her sister Amy, and her mother. Latus was raised with an abusive father and became involved in an abusive relationship. In 2002, her younger sister, Amy, was murdered by her boyfriend. Latus admitted that she “came from a tradition where women were treated with contempt," and she also states "I came from a tradition where women were desperate to keep their husbands."
Latus affirmed the fact that domestic violence occurs more often in society than most people know. Another reason many women remain in abusive relationships is lack of self-worth and they often feel that they deserve the abuse they endure. Also they are too ashamed to report the abuse or seek help. Latus herself has had her nose and ribs broken by her doctor boyfriend. From this relationship, she moved on to marry an abusive man, another doctor; who was “emotionally, sexually and economically controlling and abusive.” This secret she kept for years, until her sister was murdered by her boyfriend. “No one suspected Amy and Ron Ball were having problems, not even her closest friends and family members. Then one day, Amy disappeared.
One of the worse types of violence against women is women sold into sex slavery. Often the television presents documentaries about women mostly from poor countries, even if their countries are not poor they experienced poverty at home are tricked to come to the United States or the United Kingdom. They are lured with jobs and better living than what they have in their own land. Parents are willing to let their children go, to give them the life that they cannot give them. Gladly parents consent to put their children’s lives in the hands of these unscrupulous people. By the time these young girls realize what is happening to them they are trapped. They are in a new land without money relatives or friends. They have nothing and they are solely at the mercy of these perverted men.
BBC News reports, in 2003, that the home office estimates that “4,000 women were trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation.” They are sure that the figure has grown since. From Cornwall to Northumbria, police have rescued women and arrested the traffickers responsible for bringing them to England to work as sex slaves. “Charity workers in Manchester told the BBC they believed British women working in massage parlors’ have been sold abroad, because they owed their “owners money.”
It is not only foreigners in a strange land that keep quiet about their abuse. Prostitutes are most afraid to report an assault. They are not treated fairly; as a matter often times they are treated with contempt by the police, should they report a sex or physical crime against them. The times are changing but changing too slowly, by the time these changes are implemented and prostitute are recognized as people some of these abused prostitute will be long gone.
Abuse against women respects neither economics nor academic status; even the agencies of the government are not excluded. Channel Seven ABC News in Denver, a United States television station, investigates allegations made by female cadets at the air force base academy, who states that when they report rape, they are themselves punished.
Ruth was a cadet in the air force, and was told before she was raped that she should never report a case of rape. If she did, they would find a way to dismiss her. This warning came from one of her upper-class trainer and later from other cadets. Ruth got raped but heeded her fellow cadets' warning, and even though she went into counseling provided by the air force, her rape was never recognized. In the end Ruth left the air force, the rape and the fact that she did not report it, were too much stress for her. Ruth said she would not have feared any better if she had reported the crime. The only difference, not telling, she beat up herself, and telling she would be beaten up by the air force.
Sadly in a time of advanced technology, super- sonic travel, and medical through, women are still fighting for liberation. The right to violate women is a privilege that is given to no one. Yet, around the world there are men who think that they have earned the right to treat women as property. They prey upon their women’s weakness and unleash their cowardice on them, to prove that they are “the man.” More and more these acts of violence are gaining stride. This global pestilent is attacking the world from every side and it can no longer deny this humiliating epidemic.
Automated Bibliography
Adams., Niki, Lopez-Jones, Nina. 1995 The Guilty Victim: Rape and the CPS, BBC News. September 22, 2009. Socialist Lawyer Autumn [Online} Retrieved from
hthttp://www..postitutescollective.net/RapeCPS
This article describes the unfair treatment of women who are raped, especially prostitutes. She says that prostitutes have voices too and should be given fair treatment as any other person in England.
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Cesar, Chelata. Inter American System. 2009, 1 May. Retrieved from Online Library
This article describes violence against women and demand that the government of the Americas do more than they are doing at present to spot the brutal attracts on women.
Sex Slavery Widespread in England. [Online] Updated 2007, 19 Sept. Retrieved from
http:/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6459369.stm
This article explains the plight of young girls who are taken from their homes with the lure of a better life; only to realized that they are going to be used as sex-slaves. She explains further that English girls who work in message parlor are treated the same way.
Thompson, David. “Author Recounts Story of Abuse.” 2011, 8 April. Retrieved from
SunGazzette.com
This is an article that retells a book written by a woman who grew up in an abusive home; and choose men just like her father. She was awaken to her abusive t life when her sister was murdered by her boyfriend.
