An article in Women Under Siege said:
Democracies with high levels of violence against women are as insecure and unstable as non-democracies. Whether a country is a democracy or not is irrelevant.
Gender is the fundamental construct for how a society understands difference. Regardless of which state we are talking about, tolerance for street harassment, rape, domestic violence, and restrictions on reproductive freedom are among several indicators of gender inequality rooted in such difference. These behaviors correlate to state security in multiple dimensions. In the simplest terms, states in which women are subjected to violence and uncontested male rule at home, where they are not allowed equal freedoms and rights to bodily integrity, privacy, and equal protection under the law, are those most likely to engage in violence as nations, the authors report. Microaggression against women in private connects to macroaggressive national behavior. The larger a nation’s gender gap in equality between men and women or the more violently patriarchal their structures, the greater the likelihood that a nation will resort to force and violence in the form of aggressive nationalism.
So true!
In most countries in the world, there is no physical security of women only because they are women. You will not call a place a home if you do not feel safe and secure. A country is not your country if most people belong to the country believes that it is OK to oppress you because your genital organs are not the right organs. Most women in this patriarchal world are homeless. They truly have no country.
Your view is true. I also feel insecure when I am at work, at home, or anywhere in the country, cause I am a girl.
Gives more meaning to the blog name “No Country For Women”…
Thanks for taking the responsibility to take care of the interests of a Women by expressing the challenges faced by a women. The British empire flourished in 18th/19th century cause women in their Society’s were heard and both Men and Women were treated as equals. However, certain sections of Women in general have lately mis-used the freedom given to Women lately or the Womens brother or the husbands enemy within his own family or Wife’s family mis-used the lately given freedom of Women against Husband through the Husbands Wife which works against the cause of Women since Husband becomes the Victim is such cases. Therefore, lately you may have come across of News of Wife’s atrocities against Husband. The time has come one should address realistically the truth of both as Wife is mis-used by Men and Women of her family or outside in the name of Sympathy to Women/Wife against Men/Husband.
Thank you Prem, for something completely incoherent.
I question how they determined levels of security for this map. While I don’t disagree with the sentiment, I want to know exactly (for example) why they think that women in Spain and Italy have a higher security level than in the UK. I’ve been in those countries. Harassment of women is endemic there; and Italy is famous for court decisions such as the one where a teenage girl could not possibly have been raped, because she was wearing tight jeans, which would have required her cooperation to take off, therefore it could not possibly have been rape(!). Also, access to birth control and abortion are not so good there. So what exactly ARE the criteria for security?
Was asking myself the same thing. Following the link you get more information, notably:
“The book’s findings and conclusions are compellingly derived from the authors’ creation and use of the WomanStats database. Containing more than 130,000 datapoints, the database includes more than 375 variables for 175 countries, all of which have populations of at least 200,000 people. It is, according to its website, the most comprehensive bank of data on the status of women in the world today. During the course of 10 years, researchers used this resource to analyze various aspects of women’s live in areas such as domestic violence, maternal mortality, rape, and women’s political participation.”
Can´t check the entire list but it sounds better already.
“maternal mortality”
Ah, this must be one of the reasons Ireland isn’t a lighter shade of green on that map. That and political participation levels are pretty abysmal.
…futher to the above response would like to add I was able to retain my marriage inspite of the above mentioned odds mentioned by me because having studied Law n having soft corner fr Women which they deserve n also due to my brothers,sisters n parents support to forgive n forget any mis-deeds done by Wife or her family since other male or Women Members or Police nt all always try to take advantage against Husband n Wife of the situation of strained relation between Husband n Wife. The Husband or Wife tries to avoid the finality of divorce if they have a child however the so-called sympathizers of Husband or Wife shows to Husband or Wife of their victimisation by either Husband or Wife against other n if any of them falls prey to such so-called sympathizers the marriage stands on rock n childrens are the worst suffers while the so-caaled sympathysizers of Husband or Wife have fun at the expense of such broken house.
…further I pity those Husbands n Wife who r not fotunate like me n do nt hv educated legal background n good family backing to retain the marriage. I am survived with a Wife n a daughter, whom I wl educate the most to earn fr modest repectful living n also to understand the difficulties n challenges faced by Husband n Wife wherein the Wife or Husband gets easily tired of Work/responsibilies upon marriage th4 blame each other n also of bresking relations with Husbands or Wife’s relative to ensure to save the Marriage for which either the Husband or Wife blames eachother fr the distance kept by Husband/Wife with their relatives or friends n in such a situation to ensure Marriage survives fr the sake of Child atleast.
Can we get a similar map showing the physical security men can expect, or children for that matter ? Or are we all to assume that physical violence is something only women suffer from in those countries.
Physical security is a human right, and I’m tired of people always making it about women.
# 7 Oeke said:
You might be happier at another blog not named “No Country for Women”!
Matthew 25:40 (paraphrase) “What you have done to the least of my children [or my brethren], you have done also to me.” This is a call to recognise that any inequality of treatment based on anything but past behaviour, is unfair and not to be tolerated among adherents of Christianity. It seems a good rule for anyone else wanting to be considered a civilised person.
It seems also that dealing with the problems of those treated most inequitably (women and girls) would be the most logical place to start in developing a fair and just society, as this would yield the best results the soonest and thereby encourage the extension of good treatment to others situated not so unfortunately but still holding the dirty end of a stick.
What is the source of the map? How was it compiled, by whom?
http://www.womanstats.org/
I wonder why the Netherlands is doing relatively poor compared to other European countries, with only ‘medium levels of security’. I always imagined it to be quite safe here.
Seems like I lucked out. If my family were the standard there wouldn’t be any violence whatsoever, my parents are very wise, forward thinking, open minded and sweet people, who raised my brother and I with patient and excellent values.
Then again I’ve lived in a quaint, semi-rural area all my life, so what do I know?