Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

The Angst Of The Dehumanized: Ubuntu For Solidarity, Lillykutty Abraham, Krishna V. P. Prabha

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article attempts to delve into the multiple forms of violence experienced by South African women, within the theoretical framework of the ecological model of abuse proposed by Lori L. Heise (1998). The objective of the article is to explore how the communitarian dimension of ubuntu is absent when the womenfolk is in question. Their existence itself appears to be insignificant compared to their counterparts. Ubuntu cannot be lived or practiced while some are excluded from this concept. Gender inequality and inequitable status of existence cannot be part of ubuntu, as “I am, because you are” or the meaning …

The Communal Violence Bill: Women’S Bodies As Repositories Of Communal Honour, Zara Ismail

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines the measures taken under the various iterations of India’s Communal Violence Bill to tackle sexual violence in communally charged areas. It focuses on the 2002 violence in Gujarat to illustrate ‘sexual impunity’ in India, the workings of izzat (honour) within the discourse around communal violence, and to argue that citizens of India are not always equal before the law. Using decolonial, feminist and postcolonial theory, the author builds on a rich history of activism and scholarship to argue that not only are the measures proposed under the government’s draft of the Communal Violence Bill inadequate, but also …

Domestic Violence Against Women In Ghana: The Attitudes Of Men Toward Wife-Beating, Ellen Mabel Osei-Tutu, Ernest Ampadu

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study examines the issue of domestic violence against women; specifically, men’s attitudes toward wife beating. The data used was obtained from the 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The results presented in this study come from a total 3,052 males from across all the 10 regions in Ghana. It is interesting to note that, although majority of the participants do not endorse wife beating, there was a significant number of these men who thought wife beating was justified for various reasons. That is, the attitude of men toward wife beating is complex to explain as the participants had divergent …

International Dimensions Of Discrimination And Violence Against Girls: A Human Rights Perspective, Yvonne Rafferty

Journal of International Women's Studies

In many cultures, being born female can consign the girl child to the peripheries of society where her safety is denied and her human rights are routinely violated. At each and every stage of development, girls are more likely than boys to confront a host of disadvantages associated with discrimination and violence, although the social norms and cultural rules that influence girls are most intensely felt as she struggles to develop into adulthood. At the onset of puberty, or even before, some girls are pulled out of school and forced into early marriage and high-risk pregnancy. Others become victims of …

Sorting Out Voices On Women’S Rights In Morocco, Sumi Colligan

Journal of International Women's Studies

From the Article:

In this chapter, I intend to expand on the theme of developing “our listening capacity, to be sure that we hear everything” in an attempt to avoid perpetuating the stereotype of the passive, victimized Third World woman whose only hope of liberation is through the consciousness raising and activist efforts of Western feminists. Much of the current writing on human rights and women’s rights in North Africa and the Middle East suggests that world-wide endorsement of such principles and platforms is most likely to be successful if the people to whom they apply feel a sense of …

Poverty Among Women In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review Of Selected Issues, Hazel M. Mcferson

Journal of International Women's Studies

Gender discrimination resulting in greater poverty among women is widespread throughout the developing world. However, the incidence of women poverty, as well as its depth and their vulnerability, is particularly marked in Sub-Saharan African countries of the tropical belt, albeit with significant rural-urban differences. The article reviews the interaction of traditional restrictions on women property rights, weak governance and violent civil conflict in perpetuating gender discrimination and women poverty in those countries. Statistics show some progress in women development indicators in Sub-Saharan Africa during the last decade, partly associated with improvements in governance and the end of civil war in …

A South African Perspective On The Clash Between Culture And Human Rights, With Particular Reference To Gender-Related Cultural Practices And Traditions, John Cantius Mubangizi

Journal of International Women's Studies

South Africa is infamous for its history of disenfranchising most of its population under the dehumanizing policy of apartheid. A country of almost 50 million people, South Africa has a diverse array of languages, races, religions and ethnic communities, and has faced significant challenges - political, cultural and socio-economic – since the advent of democracy in 1994. The writers of the 1996 Constitution faced the unenviable task of accommodating the diverse viewpoints that inevitably derived from South Africa’s fractured history and society. The Constitution is one of the most progressive in the world, and notably includes a Bill of Rights, …

Unveiling The Veil Ban Dilemma: Turkey And Beyond, Adriana Piatti-Crocker, Laman Tasch

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines Turkey’s veil ban policy, which has been in place since the 1980s. The dilemma is whether Muslim-veil bans impinge on the rights of expression and religion at both national and international levels or, whether states may legally justify a ban on the basis of secularism and women’s rights. Even though the idea of freedom “from religion” in Turkey has been closely linked to the European notion of secularism during most of Turkey’s republican history, more recently, secularism and veil bans in Turkey and in the West have been construed quite distinctly. This shows an increasing gap between …