‽istis reclaims gentle-men (weekending 2nd October 2021)
This week ‽istis listened to the impact statement that the parents of Sarah Everard read to the court (1) in the trial in the UK of the man, a serving police officer - charged, tried and convicted of her death... and pondered violence against women, specifically violence perpetrated by men.
And what of the statistics? ...here are just some from the United Nations' violence against women web pages and reports (2):
Globally, an estimated 736 million women—almost one in three—have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). This figure does not include sexual harassment.
In 2018: 1 in 7 girls and women (aged 15-49) experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband in the past 12 months
In 2017: 87,000 women who were intentionally killed globally, more than half (50,000) were killed by intimate partners or family members.
15 million adolescent girls worldwide, aged 15–19 years, have experienced forced sex. In the vast majority of countries, adolescent girls are most at risk of forced sex (forced sexual intercourse or other sexual acts) by a current or former husband, partner, or boyfriend. Based on data from 30 countries, only one per cent have ever sought professional help.
Then what of the experiences, the feelings and thoughts of those who are represented in the research and data...?
Then what of the uncounted; those unable to report; the terrified; perhaps the slow-burning dread-fullness of memories; the silenced; the ignored or disbelieved - and maybe the impact on how you think and feel and behave, and may fundamentally be...?
‽istis does understand that men too experience domestic abuse and violence, are murdered and harassed; that domestic abuse and violence occur in same-sex relationships and these experiences are perhaps both qualitatively and quantitatively under-researched as well as under-reported; that binary and gendered narratives may only tell part of the story...
...but, men: what are we?, what have we perhaps always been - or what have we become? what makes us, and influences us, and permits us, and does not seem to stop us? (3)
And if this is what so many of us are like, can we wonder why things are as they are in so many other areas of interaction and influence and life - out in the open and behind closed doors?
So, what are we to become? at what cost and at whose expense over and over and over, now... and now... and now... every year, every month, every week, every day, every minute, every second?
Shame on us!
© Pistis
(1) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/30/he-stole-her-future-sarah-everard-family-impact-statements (2) https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures To find up-to-date data, visit UN Women’s Global Database on Violence against Women and the Women Count Data Hub. Many other sources of information and statistics are available...
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
