I’ll get to Arnold Schwarzenegger later. For now it’s enough simply to observe that over the past few weeks, the world has been cracked open to reveal–and we hope come to revile–the sexual hubris that has enabled so many men to feel entitled to power over women’s bodies. I’ve made the “power over” versus “power to” distinction in No Excuses. What more direct way to rob women of their power to?
There are many kinds and facets of sexual abuse and assault. This week’s roundup is a sampling of recent news about some of those facets. Why do I feel hopeful? Because now there are names for this abuse of power. Because when you name it you can fight it. Because young women know it’s wrong and they aren’t going to take it any more. That’s what’s cracking the world open. It’s not just the way things are any more.
IMF Head Arrested for Sexual Assault: What Happened, What it Means.
Military Veteran Opens Up About 1970s Sexual Assault.
Wear jeans for more than comfort.
Peace Corps-50 years, more than 1,000 rapes?
And let me end with a particularly heartwarming success story from Hollaback, an organization that fights street harassment around the world:
Back to Arnold…Nah, I’d really rather think about Maria Shriver, his wife.
Gloria Feldt
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Gloria, your first two links are the same.
One might expect serving in the Peace Corps to be less dangerous for women than the military, but it appears this is not the case, and raped women seem to have precious little recourse in either service. Over 1000 rapes reported in the last ten years in the Peace Corps, and what is being done about it? About as little as the over 1000 rapes per day in the Congo, as Eve Ensler reported for the Ms. Blog. 1,100 Congolese Women Raped Each Day: I Am Over It
Aletha, thanks for sharing that link from Eve’s blog post. I had already planned to do my roundup on this topic before the news broke about DSK and Schwarzenegger. Clearly it’s a bigger story, and getting bigger by the moment, so I wrote the one I posted on Heartfeldt Friday. Here’s that link if you haven’t seen it: http://gloriafeldt.com/2011/05/20/sex-power-irony-and-why-maria-shriver-will-be-back/
And I’ll check the duplicates you noted.
I’m glad you are posting about sexual abuse in the military. Since my book (Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse In America’s Military) on the subject came out in 2007 I have been repeatedly interviewed, but when the reporter takes the story to the editor or producer it is cut as “not newsworthy.” Please do all you can to keep attention on the issue.
Not newsworthy? I think that says it all about our mainstream media. Even after that huge scandal about Jamie Leigh Jones, gang raped by Halliburton employees in Iraq, the mainstream press would prefer to sweep anything that stains the shining reputation of the military under the carpet.
I might have something to say about the Governator later. The only thing I find surprising about that scandal is that he managed to finish his time in office before something about his sexual indiscretions came out that he could not deny. I do not think I should take the bait of someone raving about what a fantastic team the Clintons make.