> Brian McKenna wrote: > > > I agree with Joanna. . .if you want to get a sense > of how kids were > > treated in prehistory, take a look at > pre-capitalist societies today > > -- the Maasi, the Kung San and others - pretty > good . . . .check out > > "The Continuum Concept" > > > > Brian McKenna
This is probably not the forum to be discussing these issues. Sorry about using that sig. It's just that I've been thinking of late about how the cycle of abuse perpetuates itself in time and winds its way through the history we make. I think these cycles of abuse are endemic to the dominance and submission social psychological character structures "nurtured" in all class societies and even to an extent in pre-class societies. To the extent that these d&s psycho-structures are common to any particular society and therefore considered normative behaviour, to that extent the project of developing class conscious desire to realize freedom among the majority is blocked. This is not to say that we're not working on it. Here below is just one of the many examples and it just happens to focus on the Maasi: ****************************************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kenya Violence against women must end by Beatrice Akinyi (1,042 words) Wife- beating is a major problem in Africa due to the low income levels most women have to live under. This means the wife is treated like a child to be taken care of by the husband. Our correspondent reports that this is no longer the case and many women are rising against this abuse of their rights. Agnes Syonkai Risa, a young Maasai woman is a rare lady by Kenyan standards. Her decision to institute wife-beating charges against her husband of 12 years depicts courage on the part of this rural-based woman and sends chilling signals in this highly patriarchal society. The case, at Kajiado law courts is a pointer to growing cases of domestic violence, deeply rooted in Kenyan society. For a rural woman coming from a community where women have no voice to stand up against legendary wife-beating, seeking solace from a court of law shows that years of intense campaign by gender activists is bearing fruits. Women in Kenya have stepped up their fight against the heinous act by breaking the silence over the evil. More and more women are now openly expressing their concern at growing cases of domestic violence reported in daily newspapers more so because violence meted out takes a more brutal and severe form. A study done by Women's Information Network for Development, a project of women's Resource Centre, shows that cases of domestic violence rose from 4,546 in 1993 to 5,480 in 1994 and 4,889 in 1995. Statistics show that 3,674 cases of violence against women were reported in the first half of 1996, most of them in domestic settings. Going by police accounts, about ten Kenyan women, report cases of domestic violence, according to police information is mainly directed at women in the role of wives. A preliminary survey conducted in 1995 under the auspices of the Public Law Institute, an analysis of incidents of domestic violence in leading local dailies reported that 52.3 per cent of assault cases in the country were by husbands against wives. The report showed that 55 women were killed by their husbands in 1995 in domestic settings. On its part, the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), a women's movement that brings NGO's working on gender and development issues to lobby against gender violence says the commonest forms of domestic violence comes in form of wife battering, child abuse, rape, defilement and incest, psychological and verbal abuse. Forms of violence meted against women, in most cases by their husbands are often brutal and swift, they range from mere punching, pushing or pinching to burning, clobbering or mutilation of a woman's body parts. Weapons often used include knives, swords, hammers, walking sticks, blunt objects and paraffin or boiling water. Reasons for violence rage from such flimsy excuses as delaying food to burning a maize cob. In case of suspected infidelity, brutality by which the violence is meted often results to death. COVAW which campaigns against violence on women in different parts of the country, believes that the problem cuts across boundaries such as clan, tribe, culture, race, education, class and religion. According to COVAW chairperson Anne Gathumbi, much as violence against women was itself a human rights violation, authorities have done little to stop it. The judiciary and law enforcement officers have been reluctant to protect women who seek their protection while the two departments cite withdrawal of cases by women as a factor that discouraged police officers from taking up such cases for prosecution. COVAW traces wife beating as a tradition which was accommodated in every community. According to Ms Gathumbi, the traditional Africa set-up justified wife beating as a means of chastising one's wife. She points out that some men beat their wives for stepping out of their roles as "cooks" in order to "clip their wings" or and put them in their right place. In some societies such as the Maasai, women are regarded as inferior to men and are categorised as children , so like a child, she is to be disciplined to make her straight. In the Borana community, a woman being beaten by the husband was not supposed to scream, this culture of silence is extremely dangerous as it perpetuates domestic violence and denies victims access to support. Ms Gathumbi says she wants to encourage women to break the wall of silence that has made this brutal act a private issue. "The silence has prevented Kenyans from recognising women as people who deserve respect and want to break the silence that has for a long time hindered social, economic and political advancement of women," says Ms Gathumbi. She adds that myths associated with wife beating such as a man who does not beat his wife is sat on is a weakling or feeble or that wife-beating is a way of expressing husbands love to his wife should be discarded. The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya Chapter, a non-governmental organisation bringing together women lawyers committed to enhancing the legal status of Kenyan women through legal aid, monitoring of women's rights and advocacy is currently on the war path against domestic violence. Apart from representing Ms Risa in court, the organisation's lawyers are dealing with 2,000 cases on behalf of women countrywide ranging from rape, murder, assult, divorce, separation, custody, maintenance, succession and unlawful dismissal. In addition, the organisation has a support group for battered women, the first of its kind in Kenya. FIDA legal officer Ms Jacqueline Anam who has been involved in legal education to sensitise women,on their legal rights says wife-beating tends to flourish because the society tends to penalise the victim rather than the culprit as, even when a woman is injured, she is normally prevailed upon by relatives to go back home and be a better wife. She adds that seeking justice in cases of domestic violence whether physical or sexual is often cumbersome and complex and it takes a strong woman to face up to the stigma involved. FIDA chairperson, Ms Nansy Baraza says it is high time the government criminalised wife-beating. She points out that the legal system does not specifically criminalise wife-battering no matter how cruel it takes but classifies it under common assault, a factor which tends to dilute the crime. However, she says women could still press charges for acts that cause grievious harm which carries a maximum of five year jail term. Any form of intimidation or molestation she says carries a three-year penalty while common assault can land the culprit one year in jail. On the other hand, actual bodily harm is punishable by a jail term. http://www.peacelink.it/afrinews/24_issue/p1.html __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/
