ARE WOMEN AND GIRLS HUMAN YET?

By Raquel Rosario Sanchez, Spokeswoman for FiLiA

November 25th is the International Day to End Violence Against Women. A result of the efforts of Caribbean and Latin American feminists, the date became officialised as an international Remembrance Day by the United Nations in 1999. November 25th was chosen to mark the date of the assassination of the Mirabal sisters (Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa), three Dominican political activists, by dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in 1960. The United Nation’s office for women and girls’ rights, UN Women, has argued:

“We still do not know the true extent of violence against women, as the fear of reprisals, impact of not being believed, and the stigma borne by the survivor—not the perpetrator—have silenced the voices of millions of survivors of violence and masked the true extent of women’s continued horrific experiences.”

Human Rights Day is observed on 10 December, to commemorate the United Nations General Assembly which, in 1948 adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United Nations state that this represented a milestone in that it proclaimed:

“The inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.”

Uniting both commemorative dates for the advancement of social justice, UN Women has designated the period between 25 November until 10 December the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. UN Women states:

“The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.”

 While important, the visibility of the violence against women and girls plight worldwide has not placated the wrath of male violence and abuse towards females. On the contrary, as the political sphere around the world move towards repression and totalitarianism, it is women and girls who are bearing the brunt of societies veered towards extremes.

The inhospitable political sphere, in which intolerance towards perceived enemies and minorities is fomented through the increasingly preoccupying political rhetoric of ‘othering’, is proving too abusive for the women who seek to represent us. Female political leaders, who oftentimes seek to infiltrate the system to help those underprivileged outside, are leaving the field after being subjected both to virulent misogyny and to the complacency of institutions who enable their abuse.

Speaking on this matter, the Women’s Equality leader, Mandu Reid, has recently argued:

“Politics has become a hostile environment for women – in which we are harassed, demeaned, and threatened as a matter of course,” she said. “Not only does this affect the individual women targeted, it also contributes to a culture in which women’s voices are not welcomed or respected.”

A dearth of female policy makers carries distinct consequences for the lives of women and girls. Without female leaders at the table, the policies and laws which affect women, tend to work to their detriment. The hounding of women out of politics is matched by the aggression directed at women in academia, as universities fail in their duty of care to female students and staff who deviate from approved scripts. Both politics and academia play an instrumental role in the democratic process. It is alarming that, at a difficult time of societal upheaval, far from growing a spine and standing up to the bullying of women, both political parties and universities are acquiescing to their demands to abuse women out of the public sphere.

While the exodus of women from the political sphere is worrying, it is also distressing to bear witness to the abuse committed against women involved in activism. Around the world, female activists and campaigners seeking to create a better society for all are routinely murdered, with their deaths leading to impunity and cover ups.

At the same time, the abuse taking place in ever more violent pornography sets has made its way to the Courts of Law, as men have quickly realised that far from empowering women, sexual violence represents an easy, get out of jail free card to excuse their male aggression towards women.  After being murdered by men they trusted, countless women have their lives subjected to further degradation: having their murders be blamed on their own shoulders and their potential sex lives turned a salacious spectacle of clickbait entertainment. Only in a patriarchal society, would a human being’s murder be dismissed and trivialised as the victims own sexual desire. Therefore, we ought to ask ourselves, are women and girls human yet?

In spite of the increased social awareness of sexual harassment and abuse, rape oftentimes is not taken seriously by courts of law. Victims and survivors who take the brave step to come forward, as oftentimes subjected to degrading rituals which place the focus squarely on their behaviour, as opposed to the behaviour of their attacker. Recent statistics released by the Home Office show that, out of the cases reported to the Police, a pyrrhic single-digits end in charges or summons, let alone prosecution. Is rape legal?

What kind of society creates laws and policies, encouraging women and girls who have been violated to come forward and demand justice for the abuse they have suffered, only to endlessly drag them through the so-called justice system in vain? Are women and girl’s human yet?

While we are led to believe that rape and sexual abuse is illegal, there is one industry which exist to facilitate it through the exchange of money. Prostitution, with its inexorable effect of increasing the human trafficking of girls and women, is being enabled through the passage of permissive legislation. Having successfully captured the minds of privileged students in the Global North with appeals to ‘choice’ and ‘empowerment’ narratives, the pimp lobby seeks to seduce policy makers worldwide with the enticement of large revenues produced on the backs of overwhelmingly destitute women of colour from the Global South. Far from advocating for their liberation, reputable human rights organisations promote legislation which would disenfranchise them further. Are women and girls in the sex trade human yet?

While this in ongoing, we are witnessing the worldwide erosion of women and girls sex-based rights through the stealth of backdoor lobbying. The rug has been pulled from women, who perhaps mistakenly felt confident in the gains of the women’s liberation movement. In reality, while women were seeking to advance the human rights of their daughter’s generations, the basis on which their own human rights were cemented has been practically erased without their consent. This is the relentless wheel of a patriarchal backlash.

The fight to end male violence against women and girls is at the core of FiLiA’s mission and vision. We are the daughters of the women who came before us and we fight so that our daughters may be free. We envision a world free from patriarchy, where all women and girls are liberated. We commit ourselves to contribute to the women’s liberation movement by building sisterhood and solidarity among women, by amplifying the voices of women less often heard or those purposefully silenced and to defending women’s rights.

Among our charitable aims, we commit ourselves to promoting the human rights of women and girls. But where do we begin? All around us, the virulence of patriarchy exacerbates at a breathtaking pace, distorting and shapeshifting into ever novel ways to keep females subjugated. This is a bleak moment in time for women and girls.

At the same time, we are witnessing the rise of an energized women’s liberation movement filled with passion, courage and rage. Yes, rage: the time is right for women all over the world to rage back at a patriarchal system which dehumanizes our mothers, our sisters, our nieces, our aunts, our friends and us. Throughout history, women’s anger (particularly that of women of colour) has been incessantly policed and controlled by men, as a way to contain the necessary fury which is oftentimes needed to enact social change.

Women’s anger, however, contains a transformative power when united with the courage and passion of women who, like us, feel overwhelmed by the atrocities committed against our sisters worldwide. In Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly argues:

“Anger is an assertion of rights and worth. Anger is freedom, independence, expansiveness and entitlement. Anger is a demand of accountability. Anger is the expression of hope. How much anger is too much? In the coming years, we will hear that anger is a destructive force, to be controlled. Watch carefully, because not everyone is asked in equal measure. Women, will be told to set our anger aside in favour of a kinder, gentler approach to change. This is a false juxtaposition. Reinvisioned, anger can be the most feminine of virtues: compassionate, fierce, wise and powerful. The women I admire the most -those who have looked to themselves and the limitations and adversities that come with our bodies and the expectations that come with them- have all found ways to transform their anger into meaningful change. In them, anger has moved from debilitation to liberation.”

On Human Rights Day 2019, we commit ourselves to transform the rightful rage that we feel about the male violence and abuse of women and girls into a unifying force within feminism. We commit ourselves to continue to walk alongside women, as we move through this difficult stage to proclaim loud and clear that women and girls’ rights are human rights. There can be no social justice movement without the voices and experiences of women and girls, front and centre.

Raquel Rosario Sanchez is Spokeswoman for FiLiA