Our Bodies, Ourselves (148 page)
Read Our Bodies, Ourselves Online
Authors: Boston Women's Health Book Collective
Violence against women and racism are profoundly
connected. Rape, for example, has been used as a means of dominating other races and a tool of cultural genocide in wars, military and colonial occupations, and throughout the history of slavery.
©Jesse Begenyi
HOW VIOLENCE AGAINST TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IS RELATED TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
GUNNER SCOTT
MASSACHUSETTS TRANSGENDER POLITICAL COALITION
I was born female and now live and identify as male. For the first half of my life I lived as a woman and I was the target of men's violence through harassment, intimidation, domestic violence, and demeaning of my feminine gender expression.
Violence against trans people represents a form of “gender terrorism” whose underlying motivation is to maintain the social system in which men dominate women through the use of emotional, verbal, and physical acts of force, and in which the line between the genders must be rigidly maintained to support the social construct of a world that privileges masculinity over femininity.
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In fact, antitransgender violence is a form of violence against women, because this violence targets gender whether that transgender person is a transgender woman or a transgender man. For someone who is female-to-male like myself, the message is that I will never be a “real man” and for male-to-females they will never be “real women.” Many transgender people are past, present, and future women.
The above remarks are adapted from Gunner Scott's speech at the Jane Doe organization's White Ribbon Day rally in March 2010.
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This concept was adapted from the study “Conflicting Identities and TransGender Violence,” by Tarynn M. Witten and A. Evan Eyler, 1999.
Samhita Mukhopadhyay, executive editor of Feministing.com, writes that while “it is illegal to rape a black woman, since rape is officially illegal,” many things “make it difficult for black women to prove they have been raped.” These include stereotypes of women of color as hypersexual, the rape of enslaved African-American women over three centuries of U.S. history, and continuing racial and class inequity. No wonder,
she writes, “the rape of a woman of color rarely makes the front page of any national newspaper.”
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Women of color who call the police for protection against violence may ask themselves, “Will I be treated fairly by a police officer of another race or culture?” or “Will I be accused of betraying our âpeople'?”
The man who raped me was white, and the cops here are all white. I didn't report it. I just told a few people I trusted. It helped, but I still feel scared knowing he's out there and that nobody would do anything about it.
Those of us who are gender nonconfirming also face high rates of physical and sexual violence, and may often hesitate to involve the police for fear that they will mock our identities, dismiss our complaints, and/or become violent toward us themselves.
Other marginalized women also face high levels of assault and abuse. For more information, see
“Violence Against Immigrant Women,”
, and
“Violence Against Women with Disabilities,”.
For more on the abuse concerns of older women, see
“Elder Abuse and Neglect,”.
VIOLENCE AGAINST NATIVE WOMEN
It has been a little-known fact to all but Native communities that American Indian and Alaska Native women experience by far the highest rates of rape and sexual assault in the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates they are 2.5 times more likely than women in general to be sexually assaulted and nearly 1 in 3 will be raped in her lifetime. Most victims who do report their assaults describe their attackers as non-Native.
Why are sexual crimes against indigenous women so frequent? In 2007, Amnesty International released “Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA,” a groundbreaking report that outlined the various barriers to justice that Native women face.
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The report discusses chronic underresourcing of law enforcement and health services, both in tribal lands and in surrounding areas; confusion over jurisdiction (tribal police are not allowed to arrest non-Natives and must report crimes by non-Natives to the federal justice system, which rarely takes action); erosion of tribal authority (tribal courts are not allowed to give sentences long enough to fit violent crimes like rape and sexual assault); discrimination in law and practice; and indifference to the suffering of Native women.
In sum: “The United States government has created a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that often allows perpetrators to rape with impunityâand in some cases effectively creates jurisdictional vacuums that encourage assaults.” Sarah Deer, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and a tribal law specialist, names history as a further factor, specifically the rape of Native women and children as a tool of colonization.
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Amnesty International issued a follow-up report in 2008 citing some promising initiatives but also identifying many crucial areas where change still needs to
occur. In a statement to Congress urging more funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS), Deer termed these epidemic levels of sexual violence “violations of our human rights on many levels,” adding that they are “but one example of the significant disparities that exist for American Indian and Alaska Native peoples in accessing health services and justice in the United States.” Among her recommendations is the recognition of the right of tribal authorities to prosecute crimes committed on tribal land, regardless of whether a suspect is Native or non-Native.
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The federal government has taken some steps to improve ties with tribal communities and increase protections for women. In 2010, President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, which strengthens tribal law enforcement authority and requires the Justice Department to disclose data on cases in Indian Country that it declines to prosecute. Tribal and BIA officers will have greater access to improved criminal databases. The bill also aims to reduce domestic violence and other crimes through enhanced programs to combat alcohol and drug abuse and to help at-risk youths. Amnesty International welcomed the legislation.
In early 2011, the Justice Department announced the formation of the Violence Against Women Federal and Tribal Prosecution Task Force. One of the task force's objectives is to produce a trial practice manual on the federal prosecution of acts of violence against women in Indian Country. It will also explore concerns raised by experts and recommend best practices in prosecution strategies involving domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Still, much work remains to be done at the tribal, state, and federal levels to reduce the rate of violence against Native women. Deer says opportunity must also be provided for Native women to speak and be heard. “Our issues,” she notes, “have been invisible for too long.”
“Native women have been resisting rape in North America for over five hundred years. It has been an invisible problem to the larger dominant culture because of myths and misconceptions about Native people. We are an extremely marginalized population but Native women are strong and capable. We have always been leaders in our communities.”
We usually experience violence as a private crisis. Many survivors feel isolated because of a lack of support, and because of the shame that surrounds sexuality and victimization in our culture. Isolation is one of the tools used by child abusers and abusive intimate partners. This creates a difficult set of reactions that may be experienced by women who have been raped, battered, sexually harassed, abused as children, robbed violently, or hurt by other forms of violence. Such reactions are common to many people who have experienced trauma, including soldiers in wartime.
It helps some of us to recognize the commonality in our experiences. The mental health
professions have classified some of the common reactions listed below as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This term is used to describe the reexperiencing of trauma and the recurrent, intrusive, and distressing recollection of the event in images, thoughts, or perceptions. It can include flashbacks, hallucinations, nightmares, dissociation (feeling of detachment from one's body or surroundings), an intense negative response to reminders of the trauma, troubled sleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, and hypervigilance.
Some common reactions to experiencing violence include:
⢠Self-blame and feelings of shame and guilt
⢠Fear, terror, and feeling unsafe
⢠Anger and rage
⢠Anger turned inward, depression, and suicidal feelings
⢠Substance abuse
⢠Eating disorders
⢠Physical symptoms
⢠Self-harm
⢠Grief and loss
⢠Loss of control, powerlessness
⢠Changes in sexuality and intimacy
Although these are common reactions, they may vary greatly from one person to another. Four women speak about the impact of sexual violence on their lives:
I was in a sexually abusive relationship in my early twenties, and that has had an impact on my physical health as I have a very difficult time with internal exams. I had cervical cancer at 22, so I know how important my annual exam is but I have to summon my strength every time.
How do you come to love your own body after sexual abuse? There was a point in my life that I hated my body. I hated myself. I had no self-confidence, and I hid under a green oversized Columbia jacket, one that could fit my father, while I was barely one hundred pounds. I would wear it in every season, summer through winter, indoors or outdoors. It was my protection. I didn't fit that saucy Latina image; I was a lost bird that wore oversized clothing.
If a person I am with gets angry or has a behavior that seems aggressive, even if they are playing around, I get very nervous and can have panic attacks. I consider myself to be a very strong person, but when something triggers me I can feel so small and insecure again, regardless of how far I have come.
In a relationship, I have trouble giving up control. Sexually, I cannot let go enough to really enjoy myself, and I am therefore content to abstain from sex.
As we move through the healing process, different reactions may increase or decrease in intensity.
Recovery is a gradual process. Reflecting on the following points can help us move through the healing process:
The violence was not your fault.
Myths about violence against women get expressed in destructive ways: “It must have been her behavior, she must have provoked him somehow, it must have been what she was wearing, where she was ⦔ These things have nothing to do with responsibility for the assault. You did not ask to be hurt and violated, and you did not deserve it.
You made the best choices you could.
Whatever dicisions you made before, during, and after the assault were limited by the situation.
There is no right way to feel or heal.
Your reactions and healing process are connected to who you are as an individual. Culture, economic background, and prior traumatic experiences can influence the healing process in both positive and negative ways. We all take different paths to healing, and we must respect the choices each survivor makes.
Healing takes time, and there may be setbacks.
Even when you have healed significantly, an event such as learning about a similar victimization or being in the environment where the violence occurred can temporarily trigger trauma symptoms. This does not mean you have lost all the healing that has occurred. Some of us experience real doubt about whether we will ever fully feel comfortable again in our own bodies:
Recommended Reading:
For a candid discussion among several women about sexual violenceâhow it has affected their relationships and what has helped them healâ in
Chapter 5
,
“Relationships.”
I don't know for sure if the feeling of guilt and disgust will all totally vanish. There are times when I can't stand myself, when anxiety takes over, but these feelings have been lessening as the years have passed.
VIOLENCE AGAINST IMMIGRANT WOMEN
Immigrants and refugees in the United States experience high rates of violence and sexual abuse. Many immigrant women crossing the U.S.-Mexico border will make birth control provisions in advance, since sexual assault is so prevalent.
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Some immigrant women and girls are trafficked into the United States and forced into sex work as payment for their travel expenses. Others are brought to the United States by international matchmaking agencies that market women as “mail-order brides.”
Immigrant women are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault.
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School-aged immigrant girls are almost twice as likely as their nonimmigrant peers to have experienced recurring incidents of sexual assault.
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Further, Latina college students experience the highest incidence of attempted rape compared with white, African-American, and Asian women college students.
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This increased vulnerability may stem from increased isolation
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or from younger immigrant girls being actively targeted by sexual assault perpetrators who see them as legally and socially vulnerable.
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Women with undocumented or temporary immigration status often fear that reporting crimes will lead to deportation
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or that disclosure about sexual activity may affect relationships in their cultural community or with family members.
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This is especially true for women who are dependent on a spouse, parent, adult child, or employer to attain legal immigration status, or who lack access to accurate legal information.
With the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 and
more recent legislation, access to protection and legal services has been greatly expanded. Immigrants who experience domestic violence can receive custody, child support awards, and protective orders from family courts. For example, immigrant parents whose partners are abusive generally are awarded child custody even when the abuser is a U.S. citizen. A full range of services is available, including shelters, transitional housing programs, and other services necessary to protect the health and safety of women and children. Some community and migrant health clinics provide health care regardless of immigration status.
Despite these legal remedies, immigrant women often encounter a system that is not knowledgeable about their legal rights, is insensitive to their needs, and, in the worst cases, is discriminatory. Few advocates, attorneys, and justice system personnel understand the lethal danger of immigration-related abuse.
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For example, threats of deportation against an immigrant spouse or intimate partner almost always exist when physical or sexual abuse is also present.
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Immigration-related abuse in relationships that do not yet include physical or sexual abuse can be a predictor of future violence.
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To locate an advocate or lawyer with expertise in immigrant victims' issues, consult the state-by-state directory provided by Legal Momentum, iwp.legalmomentum.org/reference/service-providers-directory. The Immigrant Women Program at Legal Momentum also offers technical assistance to legal professionals. Information is also available at the National Women's Health Information Center (womenshealth.gov/violence).