Global Feminism Post

"The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World" threw me off guard. While the subject of female oppression has come up in some of my classes throughout my high school and college career, this book was the first time I had ever seen and facts or in-depth research on the subject. I was extremely impressed by the range of topics Seager covered, from Ms. Universe pageants to the Olympics to the amount of time women spend fetching water.

Two maps I found particularly interesting were the ones on domestic violence (p 28-9) and murder(p 30-1). The fact that approximately one quarter (22-35%) of all women who visit the emergency room in the United States due so because of domestic violence shocked me. In the UK one domestic violence incidence is reported every minute. In Russia 36,000 women are beaten everyday by their partner. These numbers are staggering, but the part that really got to me is that I had never heard them before. Well there are several countries where women consider violence committed by husbands against their wives to be permissible (94% of women in Egypt hold this belief) there are also countries where the vast majority of women are against such violence. Why is it that these women are not educating women of the world, or that the vast majority of popular media ignores the issue?

While domestic violence may be pushed to the back burner, I do not understand how murder can be. In Papua New Guinea women can still be, and are, killed for practicing witchcraft. 50% of all murders committed in Bangladesh are husbands murdering their wives. And, the statistic that hit home for me because of where I reside, was that for over a decade an average of 23 women per week have been killed by their intimate partners in the United States. I can't help but wonder if these statistics were publicized and the general public more educated if domestic abuse would be addressed more often?

I remember last year in my Self and Society class Professor McCormick asked how many people had witnessed or heard about an incident of abuse within a relationship. Several people raised their hands, but not everyone could say they had done anything about it. Would this change if people realized the extent to which abuse occurs? Or how many women are killed at the hands of their husbands or partners each year?