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/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/sep/12/women-being-assaulted-abused-murdered-misogny

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Women are being assaulted, abused and murdered in a sea of misogyny Women are being assaulted, abused and murdered in a sea of misogyny
(about 4 hours later)
Fourteen-year-old schoolgirl Alice Gross is missing. Leighann Duffy, 26, has died in hospital after being stabbed in front of her six-year old daughter. A 64-year-old woman has been stabbed multiple times at a support centre for care workers in south London. An 82-year-old woman has been beheaded in a north London garden. Pennie Davis, 47, has been found stabbed to death in the New Forest. Suhail Azam has been jailed for stabbing his estranged wife, Kanwal Azam, to death. These reports are from the past couple of weeks alone. Leighann Duffy, 26, has died in hospital after being stabbed in front of her six-year old daughter. A 64-year-old woman has been stabbed multiple times at a support centre for care workers in south London. An 82-year-old woman has been beheaded in a north London garden. Pennie Davis, 47, has been found stabbed to death in the New Forest. Suhail Azam has been jailed for stabbing his estranged wife, Kanwal Azam, to death. These reports are from the past couple of weeks alone.
You probably haven’t seen them all listed one after another like that. But when we start to connect different pieces of information, or even just consider them side by side, we begin to see patterns and links between them.You probably haven’t seen them all listed one after another like that. But when we start to connect different pieces of information, or even just consider them side by side, we begin to see patterns and links between them.
For example, the Evening Standard reports that domestic abuse is on the rise, with Metropolitan police figures showing 28,000 recorded offences in the 12 months leading up to June 2014. Meanwhile, the charity Women’s Aid has been forced to issue an emergency appeal as the number of specialist refuges has declined from 187 to 155 since 2010. Frontline women’s services are at “crisis point”. On one day alone in 2013, 155 women, with 103 children, were turned away from the first refuge they approached.For example, the Evening Standard reports that domestic abuse is on the rise, with Metropolitan police figures showing 28,000 recorded offences in the 12 months leading up to June 2014. Meanwhile, the charity Women’s Aid has been forced to issue an emergency appeal as the number of specialist refuges has declined from 187 to 155 since 2010. Frontline women’s services are at “crisis point”. On one day alone in 2013, 155 women, with 103 children, were turned away from the first refuge they approached.
The news is peppered with reports of women being assaulted, abused and murdered. The campaigner Karen Ingala Smith reports that so far this year, the rate of women killed through suspected male violence has been one every 2.38 days. We know that on average two women a week are killed by a current or former partner – 51% of all women murdered in 2011 and 2012, according to the Office of National Statistics. Yet we continue to report these crimes, if they are reported at all, as if they are isolated incidents. We don’t look at the bigger picture.The news is peppered with reports of women being assaulted, abused and murdered. The campaigner Karen Ingala Smith reports that so far this year, the rate of women killed through suspected male violence has been one every 2.38 days. We know that on average two women a week are killed by a current or former partner – 51% of all women murdered in 2011 and 2012, according to the Office of National Statistics. Yet we continue to report these crimes, if they are reported at all, as if they are isolated incidents. We don’t look at the bigger picture.
The reason we don’t consider the abuse and murder of women to be a newsworthy epidemic is because we are used to it. We don’t connect it to the backdrop of sexism and gender inequality. We continue to think of it as something “other” and unusual that happens to women somewhere else; women who are victims of strangers and monsters, not men like the ones you know. Even though women are most likely to be assaulted in their own homes or workplaces. Even though there’s a 90% chance a victim already knows her rapist. Even though, statistically, one in four of the women you know has been or will be a victim of domestic violence.The reason we don’t consider the abuse and murder of women to be a newsworthy epidemic is because we are used to it. We don’t connect it to the backdrop of sexism and gender inequality. We continue to think of it as something “other” and unusual that happens to women somewhere else; women who are victims of strangers and monsters, not men like the ones you know. Even though women are most likely to be assaulted in their own homes or workplaces. Even though there’s a 90% chance a victim already knows her rapist. Even though, statistically, one in four of the women you know has been or will be a victim of domestic violence.
Joining the dots between these incidents matters because it is only when we see the problem as a whole that we can effectively work to tackle it. It also matters that we acknowledge a widespread and serious trend of women being killed by men, and that we set this trend within the wider context of normalised and ingrained sexism and misogyny.Joining the dots between these incidents matters because it is only when we see the problem as a whole that we can effectively work to tackle it. It also matters that we acknowledge a widespread and serious trend of women being killed by men, and that we set this trend within the wider context of normalised and ingrained sexism and misogyny.
When I started the Everyday Sexism Project, people asked why I included incidents of rape and violence alongside testimonies of street harassment or media sexism. The answer is simple. They demonstrate a spectrum. Women aren’t killed in a bubble. They’re killed in a world that disenfranchises them, positions them as other, and disadvantages them. They’re killed in a society that sends the message, clearly and repeatedly, that they are sexual objects for men’s gratification and possession. The cultural elements that help to create these messages aren’t the cause of violence against women, but they are the context in which it happens. They help perpetrators to see women as objects. They frame violence against women as titillating, funny or excusable. They help us to blame victims when they come forward. They hamper justice.When I started the Everyday Sexism Project, people asked why I included incidents of rape and violence alongside testimonies of street harassment or media sexism. The answer is simple. They demonstrate a spectrum. Women aren’t killed in a bubble. They’re killed in a world that disenfranchises them, positions them as other, and disadvantages them. They’re killed in a society that sends the message, clearly and repeatedly, that they are sexual objects for men’s gratification and possession. The cultural elements that help to create these messages aren’t the cause of violence against women, but they are the context in which it happens. They help perpetrators to see women as objects. They frame violence against women as titillating, funny or excusable. They help us to blame victims when they come forward. They hamper justice.
While we fail to join the dots, women are dying. This sounds like an exaggeration, but isn’t. These are not isolated incidents. You know that two women a week on average are killed by a current or former partner, but here’s another statistic you might not have heard. Every day, according to the charity Refuge, almost 30 women attempt suicide as a direct result of experiencing domestic violence. Every week, three of them die.While we fail to join the dots, women are dying. This sounds like an exaggeration, but isn’t. These are not isolated incidents. You know that two women a week on average are killed by a current or former partner, but here’s another statistic you might not have heard. Every day, according to the charity Refuge, almost 30 women attempt suicide as a direct result of experiencing domestic violence. Every week, three of them die.
• This article was amended on 12 September 2014. An earlier version began with the words “Fourteen-year-old schoolgirl Alice Gross is missing,” before going on to list several cases in which women have been killed or assaulted. At the time of writing, Alice remains missing, and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain unclear.