This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/22/discussion-of-reeva-steenkamp-killing-has-sidelined-male-violence
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Reeva Steenkamp was a victim of male violence. That is the real story | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| There are several ways to “disappear” women. One is to shoot them in the head and cry about the bloody aftermath. Another is not to mention their names while writing about such a shooting. There is no moral equivalence here; I am merely noting that it is possible to talk about the killing of Reeva Steenkamp without bothering to mention her. It is possible to do it in this venerable organ. | There are several ways to “disappear” women. One is to shoot them in the head and cry about the bloody aftermath. Another is not to mention their names while writing about such a shooting. There is no moral equivalence here; I am merely noting that it is possible to talk about the killing of Reeva Steenkamp without bothering to mention her. It is possible to do it in this venerable organ. |
| It is possible to ask what this killing, and the subsequent meting out of “justice” to the man responsible, tells us about all sorts of things. Except the one thing it really does tell us about: the worth of a woman’s life. | It is possible to ask what this killing, and the subsequent meting out of “justice” to the man responsible, tells us about all sorts of things. Except the one thing it really does tell us about: the worth of a woman’s life. |
| The first BBC bulletins on the day of the Oscar Pistorius sentence chose to talk immediately to the corporation’s sports correspondent. The urgent questions were about how long it would be before Pistorius could compete internationally and whether he would be able to train in prison. Sport is more important than justice for women who are raped or killed, whether by way of murder or manslaughter. That much we already knew. Some then used this case to ask what it all tells us about post-apartheid South Africa, its justice system, the advances that have been made. This kind of “political” analysis scrupulously avoids gender in favour of the bigger picture. In that picture, women are somehow just out of focus, like fading smears of blood. | The first BBC bulletins on the day of the Oscar Pistorius sentence chose to talk immediately to the corporation’s sports correspondent. The urgent questions were about how long it would be before Pistorius could compete internationally and whether he would be able to train in prison. Sport is more important than justice for women who are raped or killed, whether by way of murder or manslaughter. That much we already knew. Some then used this case to ask what it all tells us about post-apartheid South Africa, its justice system, the advances that have been made. This kind of “political” analysis scrupulously avoids gender in favour of the bigger picture. In that picture, women are somehow just out of focus, like fading smears of blood. |
| Or we can have an ill-timed discussion about prison reform. Anything, really, except the one about dead women and who makes them dead. | Or we can have an ill-timed discussion about prison reform. Anything, really, except the one about dead women and who makes them dead. |
| We always have to change the subject because the subject is hardly even considered newsworthy. The killing of Steenkamp was, because she was killed by a famous athlete. In her country, one woman is killed daily. In our country, it averages out that two women a week are killed by their partners or ex-partners. We rarely learn their names. No one seems shocked by this. It is just a backdrop to how we get on with our lives. Best not dwell on it. | We always have to change the subject because the subject is hardly even considered newsworthy. The killing of Steenkamp was, because she was killed by a famous athlete. In her country, one woman is killed daily. In our country, it averages out that two women a week are killed by their partners or ex-partners. We rarely learn their names. No one seems shocked by this. It is just a backdrop to how we get on with our lives. Best not dwell on it. |
| Instead, change the subject. It’s a big one all right: the violence that men do to women. Easier to accept that it is just the way things are, unless perhaps you worry for yourself or your child or your sister. Easier not to take the shortcut home because it is so ill-lit than think about what happens to women in their own homes. Easier to talk about other more violent gun-toting societies from the US to South Africa. | Instead, change the subject. It’s a big one all right: the violence that men do to women. Easier to accept that it is just the way things are, unless perhaps you worry for yourself or your child or your sister. Easier not to take the shortcut home because it is so ill-lit than think about what happens to women in their own homes. Easier to talk about other more violent gun-toting societies from the US to South Africa. |
| It is not only easier; for many women it’s a necessity, because once you start looking at the figures it is hard not to become paralysed by fear or anger. It is hard not to dwell on your own experience. | It is not only easier; for many women it’s a necessity, because once you start looking at the figures it is hard not to become paralysed by fear or anger. It is hard not to dwell on your own experience. |
| The indomitable Karen Ingala Smith has started counting Britain’s dead women. At the time of writing she has got to 114 killed through suspected male violence in the first nine months of this year; that’s one every 2.36 days. Unknown women in an unknown war. | The indomitable Karen Ingala Smith has started counting Britain’s dead women. At the time of writing she has got to 114 killed through suspected male violence in the first nine months of this year; that’s one every 2.36 days. Unknown women in an unknown war. |
| So as the world watched the Pistorius trial, somewhere in the back of our heads was an understanding: that this is how it is, and this is how it ends, with a shorter sentence than for killing a rhino. Women are not an endangered species, after all. | So as the world watched the Pistorius trial, somewhere in the back of our heads was an understanding: that this is how it is, and this is how it ends, with a shorter sentence than for killing a rhino. Women are not an endangered species, after all. |
| It is is unfair to talk of men as a class. It makes nice men uncomfortable. Not all men are abusers or killers. But the knowledge that too many are – that there is a spectrum – continually bubbles to the surface of public discussion until something more exciting happens. The scale of the violence and abuse of girls and women keeps on trying to make itself heard. We don’t want to know. No, let’s talk about Ebola or Isis. Distant, scary threats. | It is is unfair to talk of men as a class. It makes nice men uncomfortable. Not all men are abusers or killers. But the knowledge that too many are – that there is a spectrum – continually bubbles to the surface of public discussion until something more exciting happens. The scale of the violence and abuse of girls and women keeps on trying to make itself heard. We don’t want to know. No, let’s talk about Ebola or Isis. Distant, scary threats. |
| Just as some were putting the wickedness of Savile and his ilk in a box marked “long ago”, Rochdale broke and the abuse of children in care was revealed. Senior policemen told us that this was the tip of the iceberg. This was headline news for at least two hours – as was the information that there are apparently so many men watching child porn – ie, evidence of a crime committed against a child – that there is no chance of prosecuting them all. So for all the panic about paedophilia, men who want to pay an impoverished 10-year-old girl in the Philippines to perform “sex acts” on a webcam will continue to do so. | Just as some were putting the wickedness of Savile and his ilk in a box marked “long ago”, Rochdale broke and the abuse of children in care was revealed. Senior policemen told us that this was the tip of the iceberg. This was headline news for at least two hours – as was the information that there are apparently so many men watching child porn – ie, evidence of a crime committed against a child – that there is no chance of prosecuting them all. So for all the panic about paedophilia, men who want to pay an impoverished 10-year-old girl in the Philippines to perform “sex acts” on a webcam will continue to do so. |
| Do we simply accept that this is the product of technology combined with overwrought masculinity? That gamergate represents angry wounded men? Do we say that male violence is innate? | Do we simply accept that this is the product of technology combined with overwrought masculinity? That gamergate represents angry wounded men? Do we say that male violence is innate? |
| Surely, if we care about men at all, and certainly about women, we seek to unpick the causes and the normalisation of this violence. This means making it visible. It means naming women who are its victims. | Surely, if we care about men at all, and certainly about women, we seek to unpick the causes and the normalisation of this violence. This means making it visible. It means naming women who are its victims. |
| Women also murder and abuse, but 94% of murders in this country are carried out by men and a third of the victims are women. This familiar violence is called domestic violence. Occasionally when the man also kills the children this will make the headlines and is called family annihilation. | Women also murder and abuse, but 94% of murders in this country are carried out by men and a third of the victims are women. This familiar violence is called domestic violence. Occasionally when the man also kills the children this will make the headlines and is called family annihilation. |
| If the killing of Reeva Steenkamp can be used to extrapolate the political progress of an entire country, what does the regular murder of ordinary women tell us about ours? It is not every day, it is every couple of days and not newsworthy. | If the killing of Reeva Steenkamp can be used to extrapolate the political progress of an entire country, what does the regular murder of ordinary women tell us about ours? It is not every day, it is every couple of days and not newsworthy. |
| Those on social media appalled at the short sentence meted out to Pistorius may or may not know that. But some of us feel this knowledge like shards of ice in our bones. | Those on social media appalled at the short sentence meted out to Pistorius may or may not know that. But some of us feel this knowledge like shards of ice in our bones. |