My individual intellectual interests and concerns are that of women and children. I include Hooks because I believe that unless all women advance, none truly does. Her piece, “A Revolution of Values: The Promise of Multi-Cultural Change” is a microcosm of the struggle women of color, women in general faced. It shares the “promise” of a society where women are treated equally, and by extension, their children.
Plato’s” Apology” is a piece I include because it shows just how far women’s place in society has come. When Socrates elected to take poison instead of recanting his teachings, he made the women leave him and had only the men remain while he slowly succumbed to the hemlock. He didn’t want the women’s wailing to disturb his passing and had only the men remained to see him off. Apollodorus was already steadily weeping, and by drying his eyes, crying again and sobbing, he affected everyone present except for Socrates himself. He [Socrates] said, 'You are strange fellows; what is wrong with you? I sent the women away for this very purpose, to stop their creating such a scene. I have heard that one should die in silence. So please be quiet and keep control of yourselves.' These words made us ashamed, and we stopped crying. (Plato) I also add the Apology because the founding fathers of philosophy were not feminists. It does, however, give an accurate account of the way women were seen, and thereby demonstrates just how far we, as women, have come in our standard in society.
I include Book V of Plato’s Republic, as I also included this in one of my critical essays, because I am drawn to this piece, repeatedly. To me it is almost comical that these men, living in such a male-dominated society would even entertain women’s place within the new republic. I wonder if it is because they were just imagining, and that is why they considered women at all. It seems women did not hold such a high place in these men’s personal lives.
At this point it seems, even to me, that I am focusing on women, and not so much, children. I am, in my own off-hand way. Children, like women, were seen, and sometimes still are, as the property of men. The institute of marriage set up to protect men and their “property” to ensure the right of inheritance was, in fact, given to his offspring. I want to look at children as belonging to the mothers, just as much, if not more so, than to the fathers. In Ireland, for example, there were handfasting ceremonies, a trial marriage for 1 year and 1 day. If things did not work out, no harm, no foul, they went their separate ways, and the children stayed with their mothers. No shame involved. The word uncle is older than the word father. Father: c.1400, Uncle: late 13c. I think the way our society views women and children of unwed mothers is finally starting to make a full circle. It is a symptom of getting away from the property, male dominated hierarchy and more toward the matriarchal and thereby improving children’s prospects.
“Women & Child Rights Violations,” which includes the following: The largest rights violation that still seems to elude the most change for the good is the equality rights for women and female children. Everyday women are beaten as a form of ‘love’, arrested, whipped for petty crimes, forced into abortions and sterilized against their will, sometimes by their own government. Female babies and/or young girls are arrested, forced to marry, raped by older male siblings, family members and strangers, suffer female infanticide, forced to abort or be aborted, and killed in every possible form, simply because they are born female… Initiatives must be made to put forth a greater effort to change how women in general have been treated in our unforgettable past of pain and suffering. However, the most damage is being done by the unethical values based on their religion which is overriding the laws put down to protect human rights (even if they do exist). (Chatham)
A few of the countries that are mentioned along with the abuses are, and I quote the following: In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country’s counterinsurgency has caused “the use of gender specific violence in war by the mass rapes of women in Bosnia” (Brashear, 2018). These girls are tricked and then sold into 'slavery':
Stripped of their passports, physically abused and warned that escape is impossible, trafficked women and girls can only hope that after several months of providing sexual services to clients, 'owners' will declare their debt paid and allow them to keep half of their earnings, as promised. (Human rights Watch)
In Turkey, “reforming laws pertaining to murder of females, even rape victims subject to killing by the family’s males” (Toronto Star). “Women who are raped have four choices under the current law' Adam Sozuer, a medical doctor closely engaged in the issue. . . 'Marry the rapist, commit suicide, become a prostitute or be killed" (Toronto Star).
In Tanzania, 60% of Tanzanian mothers deliver at home, often without the aid of a skilled birth attendant, which puts in jeopardy both the lives of the mother and the child. "Nine thousand women die every year while giving birth or through complications during birth. There are 529 deaths in every 100,000 live births" (Muhunzi, 2020)
In Guinea, the girls are sent to host homes where they are treated horribly by those whom they are supposed to work for. Girl domestic workers interviewed by Human Rights Watch described working excessive hours, carrying heavy weights at a young age, working for no pay, starving while the host family eats, and being insulted, shunned beaten, sexually harassed and raped. (Human Rights Watch)
According to Human Rights Watch, “Libya: A threat to Society?”
In Libya, women and girls have been gathered in enormous numbers to be put into 'rehabilitation centers' for non-existent crimes or petty indiscretions, where their rights are violated on a regular basis. Libya is subjecting women to arbitrary deprivations of their liberty and a host of other human rights abuses by locking them up indefinitely in social rehabilitation facilities. By detaining women who have transgressed socially-acceptable norms and rape victims whose families have abandoned them, the government is choosing to prioritize chastity, virginity, and a traditional concept of family 'honor' over human rights. (Human Rights Watch, 2006)
In Côté d'Ivoire located in Africa, rebels carried out horrific sexual abuse against women in areas under their control, including rape, gang rape, sexual assault, forced miscarriages, and forced incest. Sexual violence was often accompanied by other acts of physical violence such as beating, torture, killing, mutilation, or cannibalism (Human Rights Watch). In China, thousands of women are forced by anonymous men into abortions of their female babies and sterilized to further prevent their country's overpopulation.
In India, female babies continue to be killed simply because they are girls and are unwanted. The child, the girl, 'cannot' be given up for adoption without fear that the child might be beaten or sold into prostitution.
In Palestine, women and girls suffer a wide range of physical violence at home from their husbands and other family members. Palestinian women rarely report violence to the authorities. This is true regardless of whether the crime is spousal abuse, child abuse, rape, incest, or 'honor' crimes. The low rate at which women report such crimes is a symptom of the significant social and legal obstacles still in the way of meaningful gender-based violence prevention and response in the OPT. (Human Rights Watch)
In Iraq, women are again treated like second class and suppressed by their husbands and male family members.
In Mexico is committing just as many atrocities against women as any 3rd world country. In the town of Ciudad Juarez near the U.S. and Mexican border, the trafficking of kidnapped women and girls has produced a startling number of their murders, "Some 320 women were victims of unsolved murders in Ciudad Juarez between January 1993 and July 2003” (Milz and Juárez).
In Canada, a woman was working at a drugstore, when the men in the back kept flirting with her. She kindly asked him to stop, when he continued, she called the head office of the company to resolve the situation. Later her manager asks her to come in to discuss it, when they locked her in the room and forced her to sign a confidentiality agreement, to prevent anyone from finding out about it and to allow the man to continue harassing her.
So, how can we expect society, as a whole, to elevate themselves if all the members of that society are treated equitably? I harken back to Plato’s Book V of the Republic.
In “Health-Related Outcomes of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Texas”, 2002, in which their conclusion was as follows: Childhood adversities are common among Texas adults. People with childhood adversities are more likely to be socioeconomically disadvantaged, less educated, and have difficulties maintaining employment in adulthood compared to people with no adversities. Moreover, childhood adversities appear to be associated with health problems such as current smoking, obesity, and poor or fair general health among Texas adults. (Dube, 2010)
And lastly, some sad statics found in the following survey by the CCRC in which: Researchers conducted the Developmental Victimization Survey to gather data on a range of victimizations from birth until adulthood over the course of one year. Among the findings were: Just
more than half of youth (530 per 1000) experienced a physical assault. The highest rate of physical assault victimization occurred during between ages six and 12. One in 12 (82 of 1000) youth experienced sexual victimization, including sexual assault (32 per 1000) and attempted or completed rape (22 per 1000). Child maltreatment was experience by a little less than 1/7 of youth (138 per 1000). The study divided maltreatment into five categories (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and family abduction) of which emotional abuse (name calling or denigration by an adult) was most frequent in occurrence. (Finkelhor) The link between abuse of women and children can be seen, the structure of society cannot be expected to be elevated when so many of its members are not allowed the opportunity to thrive and flourish, but “duck and cover” is the way they have learned to survive.
Works Cited Brashear, Madeline (2018) "“Don’t Worry. These girls have been raped once.” Analyzing Sexual Violence in the Bosnian Genocide and the Response of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia," Voces Novae: Vol. 9, Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/vocesnovae/vol9/iss1/5
Chatham, D. (2011, 5 6). Social Justice Issue, 4 Collegiate Dr. Chatham, Ontario, Canada, N7L 4R1 . Retrieved from Behance: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Social-Justice-Essay-Women-Child-Rights-Violations/1370327
Dube, Shanta R et al. “Health-related outcomes of adverse childhood experiences in Texas, 2002.” Preventing chronic disease vol. 7,3 (2010): A52.
Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R.K., Turner, H.A., & Hamby, S.L. (2005). The victimization of children and youth: A comprehensive, national survey. Child Maltreatment, 10(1), 5-25.
Freeman, Charles, The Greek Achievement (1999); Stone, I.F., The Trial of Socrates (1988).
Human Rights Watch. (2006, 2). Human Rights Abuses in Libya’s Social Rehabilitation Facilities. Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/libya0206/6.htm
Human Rights Watch. (2007, 6 15). Bottom of the Ladder Exploitation and Abuse of Girl Domestic Workers in Guinea. Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/06/15/bottom-ladder/exploitation-and-abuse-girl-domestic-workers-guinea
Human Rights Watch. (2007, 8). My Heart Is Cut Sexual Violence by Rebels and Pro-Government Forces in Côte d’Ivoire Volume 19, No. 11(a). Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/cdi0807/cdi0807web.pdf
Human Rights Watch. (2006). Social and Legal Obstacles to Reporting Violence and Seeking Redress. Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/opt1106/5.htm
Human rights Watch. (2002, 10 10). To the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Retrieved from Human rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/bosnia/Bosnia1102-03.htm
Health-Related Outcomes of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Texas, 2002
Plato's description appears in: Tredennick, Hugh (translator)The last days of Socrates: Euthyphro, The apology, Crito, Phaedo / Plato (1959)
Milz, T., & Juárez, C. (2022, 12 2). Oasis of horror. Retrieved from NZZ: https://www.nzz.ch/english/ciudad-juarez-more-than-2000-women-murdered-in-three-decades-ld.1714953
Muhunzi, Situ et al. “Prevalence, predictors and reasons for home delivery amongst women of childbearing age in Dodoma Municipality in central Tanzania.” African health sciences vol. 20,4 (2020): 1933-1942. doi:10.4314/ahs.v20i4.52
Shanta R. Dube, PhD, MPH, corresponding author Michelle L. Cook, MPH, and Valerie J Edwards, PhD Published online 2010 April 15. PMC http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2879984/
Social Justice Issue, 4 Collegiate Dr. Chatham, Ontario, Canada, N7L 4R1 http://www.behance.net/gallery/Social-Justice-Essay-Women-Child-Rights-Violations/1370327