What is Sexual Harassment

Source: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/whatissh.pdf

What?

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of a woman’s employment, or
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such woman or
• Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an woman’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

Unwelcome behaviour is the critical word. Unwelcome does not mean "involuntary." A woman may consent or agree to certain conduct and actively participate in it even though it is offensive and objectionable. Therefore, sexual conduct is unwelcome whenever the person subjected to it considers it unwelcome. Whether the person in fact welcomed a request for a date, sex-oriented comment, or joke depends on all the circumstances.

Sexual harassment includes many things…

·  Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault.
·  Unwanted pressure for sexual favours.
·  Unwanted deliberate touching, leaning over, cornering, or pinching.
·  Unwanted sexual looks or gestures.
·  Unwanted letters, telephone calls, or materials of a sexual nature.
·  Unwanted pressure for dates.
·  Unwanted sexual teasing, jokes, remarks, or questions.
·  Referring to an adult as a girl, hunk, doll, babe, or honey.
·  Whistling at someone.
·  Cat calls.
·  Sexual comments.
·  Turning work discussions to sexual topics.
·  Sexual innuendos or stories.
·  Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences, or history.
·  Personal questions about social or sexual life.
·  Sexual comments about a person’s clothing, anatomy, or looks.
·  Kissing sounds, howling, and smacking lips.
·  Telling lies or spreading rumours about a person’s personal sex life.
·  Neck massage.
·  Touching an employee’s clothing, hair, or body.
·  Giving personal gifts.
·  Hanging around a person.
·  Hugging, kissing, patting, or stroking.
·  Touching or rubbing oneself sexually around another person.
·  Standing close or brushing up against a person.
·  Looking a person up and down (elevator eyes).
·  Staring at someone.
·  Sexually suggestive signals.
·  Facial expressions, winking, throwing kisses, or licking lips.
·  Making sexual gestures with hands or through body movements.

The impact of sexual harassment varies from person to person and is dependent on the duration and severity of the harassing behaviour. The impact of sexual harassment on the person being harassed is often much greater than one may think. It can impact a person physically, emotionally, economically and socially and affect one’s career and academic performance or potential.

Some of the potential effects are:

• Anxiety, frustration, depression, sleeplessness and/or nightmares, difficulty concentrating, headaches, fatigue, shame and or guilt, feeling powerless, helpless or out of control, feeling angry towards the harasser, loss of confidence and self-esteem, withdrawal and isolation, suicidal thoughts or attempts
• Retaliation from the harasser, or colleagues/friends of the harasser, should the woman complain or file a grievance (retaliation can involve revenge along with more sexual harassment, and can involve stalking the complainant)
• Having to drop courses, or change academic plans; it may impact grade performance
• Increased absenteeism to avoid harassment, or because of illness from the stress
• Having one’s personal life held up for public scrutiny – the victim becomes the “accused,” and their dress, lifestyle, and private life will often come under attack.  (Note:  this rarely occurs for the perpetrator.)
• Being objectified and humiliated by scrutiny and gossip
• Becoming publicly sexualized
• Defamation of character and reputation
• Stress impacting relationships with significant others, sometimes resulting in the demise of the relationship; equally, stress on peer relationships and relationships with colleagues
• Impact on references/recommendations
• Loss of career – threatened or actual
• Feeling unsafe to leave one’s home and/or enter work/school where the harassment took place
• Physically and emotionally withdraw from friends, family, and coworkers
• Difficulty interacting with others
• Alcohol or drug use/misuse
• Change in appetite 
• Stomach aliments
• Threatened or actual loss of income/benefits/promotions/opportunities

 1-855-687-1868

Intake and Crisis Line

Emotional support, information, referral, legal advocacy

16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Girls and Women

November 25 to December 10, 2011

The 16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence was created out of the Global Campaign for Women’s Human Rights in June 1991. The campaign highlights the connections between women, violence, and human rights from November 25^th to December 10^th. This time period includes other significant dates such as November 25^th, the International Day Against Violence Against Women; December 1^st, World AIDS Day; December 6^th, the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre – The National Day of Remembrance & Action Against Violence Against Women; December 10^th, Human Rights Day.

The 16 Days of Activism is observed and honoured internationally by a variety of organized events, demonstrations, talks, performances, and public education forums. More than 800 organizations in over 90 countries participate in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

The goals of the 16 Days of Activism are to not only create a movement that is solid and strong to raise awareness around violence against women, but to also call for better protection, responses, and ultimately the elimination of violence against women.

Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) works each and every day to end violence against girls and women. For the 16 Days, BWSS will be sending out and sharing how our ending violence workers take action on the elimination of violence against girls and women.

So follow us on Facebook,  Twitter and our Ending Violence Blog. Please share what you or your community is doing to honour and participate in the 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women.

Here are some links to what some local folks are doing for the 16 Days:

Women Against Violence Against Women – http://www.wavaw.ca/

Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter – http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/

Simon Fraser University – http://www.sfu.ca/pamr/media-releases/2011/sfu-researchers-celebrate-anti-violence-campaign.html

Vancouver Status of Women – Presents: Performing Real Life: Personal stories of Low income Single Mothers in Vancouver A Psychodrama Workshop with Gabriela Reynoso, Saturday, Dec. 3^rd, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House – http://www.vsw.ca/

City of Vancouver – http://cfapp.vancouver.ca/communitypages_wa/index.cfm

Some International Activities:

16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women March on Zuccotti Park, Take Back the Night http://t.co/ZHAMcE0f , http://occupypatriarchy.org/2011/11/11/an-addended-and-updated-announcement-about-a-day-of-womens-action-november-25/

World YWCA – http://www.worldywca.org/Events/Calendar/16-Days-of-Activism-to-Stop-Violence-against-Women2

United Nations Women Watch – http://www.un.org/womenwatch/calendar/

For more information about the origins of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, you can go to http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/news/vawd.html.

Statement by Women’s and Community Groups regarding RCMP Sexual Harassment Allegations

(Vancouver, BC) November 17, 2011 – We applaud the courage of Catherine Galliford, Krista Carle and the other women members of the RCMP who have broken the brotherhood code of silence revealing the ongoing sexism they experienced in the form of sexual harassment within their employment as members of the RCMP.  Sexual harassment is a form of male violence against women  and is appalling in every instance.  It holds particular grave significance when it occurs within this a federal agency with provincial jurisdiction the primary task of which is to protect the public and to promote safety, including the safety of women.

Sexual harassment of women thrives in environments that are male dominated, hierarchal and demand strict adherence to codes of silence such as the RCMP.  Further, and similar to when women report rape, women who report sexual harassment are at great risk of retaliation and backlash risking hostility and isolation from supervisors and colleagues.

“Sexual harassment constitutes discrimination and is a violation of women’s human rights. It undermines women’s equality and women’s ability to participate in public life, be it as employees, tenants, or simply as members of the community. It is deeply disturbing to consider what effect a culture of sexist attitudes and misogyny might have had on the RCMP’s conduct of the missing women’s investigation. If the RCMP can’t even ensure the safety and integrity of its own female members, what faith can we have in its ability to ensure the safety of vulnerable and marginalized women in the community?” Laura Track Legal Director West Coast Legal Education & Action Fund

Hilla Kerner from Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter, “Sexual harassment is an aggressive and calculated sexist tactic to exclude women from a “man’s world”. The men who are sexually harassing their female colleagues are not operating in a vacuum. They are encouraged by other men who either passively allow, or actively encourage them to act in such a cowardly and appalling manner.”

These instances highlight the systemic and institutional mindset of male domination consistent with RCMP response to all forms of male violence against women.  For decades we have noted the RCMP failures to respond to women who by necessity resort to relying on the RCMP.  The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has written to the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP to ask them to initiate a public interest investigation into the RCMP’s relationship with women staff, and policies relating to women generally including RCMP strip search policies, investigations of women’s complaints, and domestic assault complaint investigations.

“The climate of fear and danger for women inside and outside the institution of policing is becoming clearer and clearer as women in the RCMP report being violated by sexual violence & harassment and we hear from the Missing Women’s Inquiry about police demanding sex from  poor and marginalized women in the Downtown Eastside.  Is there any wonder why women who are raped avoid reporting to police? How safe are women in this society when institutionalized sexism and misogyny continue unabated within the only institution we can turn to for our protection?”  said Irene Tsepnopoulos-Elhaimer, Executive Director of Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre

RCMP and other police services play a critical role in the safety planning for women.  For decades we have noted how RCMP failures compromise and endanger the lives of girls and women:

• · failure to investigate disappearances of women from Vancouver
• · ineffective and passive “Highway of Tears” investigation where Indigenous girls and women have gone missing in the region between Prince George and Prince Rupert
• · criminalization of women for their attempts to defend themselves from male violence
• · active dismissal of rape and violence against women in intimate relationships
• · male RCMP officers conducting strip searches of women in police custody

“There is little to no evidence that the RCMP is able to effectively review their own conduct and misconduct as evident in numerous inquiries and complaints in recent years.  The RCMP act with impunity, without transparency and without accountability” said Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director, Battered Women’s Support Services.  “These reports of sexual harassment demonstrate in the gravest manner the betrayal of trust and the extent to which women are at risk both within and outside the RCMP.  Where women and addressing violence against women are concerned this police agency through their own actions severely eroded the public trust.”

The following individuals and groups have endorsed this statement:

Aboriginal Front Door Society

Aboriginal Women’s Action Network

Atira Women’s Resource Society

AWCCA Program, George Brown College

BWSS – Battered Women’s Support Services

BC Civil Liberties Association

Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres (CASAC)

Deshkan Ziibi, Native Women’s Association of Ontario

EVE (former Exploited Voices now Educating)

Justice For Girls

Kelowna Women’s Shelter

Lee Maracle

PIVOT

Union of BC Indian Chiefs

Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter

WISH

WAVAW – Women Against Violence Against Women

West Coast Legal Education & Action Fund

Contact:

Irene Tsepnopoulos-Elhaimer, Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre -  604-771-1715

Hilla Kerner, Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter – 604-872-8212

Angela Marie MacDougall, Battered Women’s Support Services – 604-808-0507

For more information:

http://www.canada.com/news/Sexual+harassment+concern+RCMP+commissioner+Harper/5708967/story.html

: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Once+again+Mounties+live+down+their+reputation/5686204/story.html#ixzz1dKWhmeSC

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Former+police+spokeswoman+claims+sexual+harassment/5686338/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/11/08/bc-rcmp-harassment.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/pickton/article2243947.ece

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Cops+watched+porn+skipped+work+instead+investigating+missing+women+Galliford/5752470/story.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PEERS VANCOUVER, THE ONLY ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO HELPING SEX WORKERS

EXIT THE SEX TRADE FORCED TO CLOSE ITS DOORS DUE TO PROVINCIAL EMPLOYMENT

PROGRAM CHANGES IN 2012

(VANCOUVER) November 14, 2011 – Over the last 10 years, PEERS Vancouver Resource Society has helped hundreds of clients exit the sex trade and transition into healthier and safer lifestyles. Through programming, public education and peer support we have worked tirelessly to facilitate long-term life-changes for women, men, and transgender individuals involved in the sex industry.

Under the provincial government’s new Business Transformation model, our Bridging to Employment program will not be receiving any direct funding from the Ministry of Social Development. As of April 2012, PEERS Vancouver will no longer be able to provide the comprehensive programming that is necessary to ensure our client’s personal and professional success in the mainstream world.

An organization that assists individuals in a survival state cannot operate in a similar state itself. Our successes are due to the relationships of trust we have built with our clientele and with exiting being a process not an event, core funding is mandatory. We have many smaller project funders that enhance our programming by supporting our outreach, public education and prevention efforts but we cannot exist on these alone.

It is hard to ignore the unfortunate irony of the timing of this press release, during the Missing and Murdered Women’s Inquiry and shortly after the City’s release of the report "Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Protecting Vulnerable Adults & Neighbourhoods Affected by Sex Work: A Comprehensive Approach and Action Plan".  The report clearly identifies the need for a coordinated approach that specifies the inclusion of investments in social services and supports, including adequate resources to assist individuals to exit sex work. There was significant press on the report, none of which covered what is being done for sex workers and the solution-based models in place for them such as PEERS.

"It is inspirational working at PEERS Vancouver. Helping sex workers realize that their value does not come in a dollar amount and not only are they able to be productive members of society but they have a right to be is incredibly rewarding." – Ty Mistry, Executive Director

It is undeniable that the closure of PEERS Vancouver will be a tremendous loss for the entire community and will create a serious gap along the continuum of support for individuals involved in the sex industry.

-30-

Contact for PEERS Vancouver

Ty Mistry, Executive Director

Office: 604 681 3017

Cell: 778 838 3017

admin@peersvancouver.org

www.peersvancouver.org

Joe Paterno, Herman Cain, Men, Sex, and Power

By Kevin Powell

Reprinted from Kevin Powell Blog

Joe Paterno. Herman Cain. Penn State football. Presidential campaigns. Men. Sex. Power. Women. Harassed. Children. Abused.

These are some of the hash tags that have tweeted through my mind nonstop, these past several days, as multiple sexual harassment charges have been hurled at Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain; as Jerry Sandusky, former defensive coordinator for Penn State’s storied football program, was arrested on 40 counts related to allegations of sexual abuse of eight young boys over a 15-year period. Sandusky’s alleged indiscretions have not only brought back very ugly and unsettling memories of the Catholic Church sexual abuse mania a few short years ago, but has led to the firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno and Penn State president Graham Spanier, plus the indictments of athletic director Tim Curley and a vice president, Gary Schultz, for failing to report a grad assistant’s eyewitness account of Sandusky allegedly having anal sex with a ten-year-old boy in a shower on the university’s campus in 2002.

In the matter of Mr. Herman Cain I cringed, to be blunt, as I watched his press conference this week denying accusations of sexual harassment against him, which has swelled to four different women, two identified and two anonymous, for now. I was not there, so I don’t know, only he and the women know the truth. But what was telling in Mr. Cain’s remarks is that he was visibly defensive and defiant, rambled quite a bit about the media’s smear campaign and, most curious, only once mentioned sexual harassment as a major problem in America, and it was just one quick, passing sentence. Then he went back to discussing himself, which he is particularly adept at doing.

What Herman Cain and the disgraced male leaders of Penn State have in common is the issue of power and privilege we men not only wield like our birthright, but which has come to be so inextricably linked to our identities. So much so, in fact, that many of us, regardless of race, class, religion and, in some cases, even sexual orientation or physical abilities, don’t even realize what a disaster manhood is when it is unapologetically invested in power, privilege, patriarchy, sexism, and a reckless disregard for the safety and sanity of others, especially women and children.

Every single year, it seems, some well-known man somewhere gets into trouble because of sex, money, drugs, or violence, or some combination thereof (and God only knows how many unknown males do likewise). It is always the same themes, just with a new cast of characters. Yesterday it was priests of the Catholic Church. Today it is the male leadership of Penn State. Yesterday it was Anthony Weiner and Charlie Sheen. Today it is Herman Cain. I remember earlier this year, in fact, in the wake of Mr. Weiner’s sudden and rapid fall from grace, a report was published that said over 90 percent of sex scandals in America feature us men as the culprits. That very few women engage in that mode of self-destructive behavior.

The question begs itself: Why not? I feel it has to do with how we construct manhood from birth. Most of us boys are taught, basically from the time we can talk and walk, to be strong, tough, loud, dominating, aggressive, and, yes, even violent, even if that violence is masked in tales of war or Saturday afternoon college football games. Without anything to counteract that mindset like, say, that it is okay for boys and men to tell the truth, to show raw emotions and vulnerability, to cry, to view girls and women as our equals on every level, we are left with so many of us, far into adulthood, as fully formed physically but incredibly undeveloped emotionally. And if you are a male who happens to have been sexually assaulted or abused yourself, and never got any real help in any form, highly likely you will at some point become a sexual predator yourself. And if you are a man who still thinks we are in pre-feminist movement America where it was once okay to, well, touch, massage, or caress a female colleague inappropriately, to talk sex to her, as she is either working for you or attempting to secure a job (and has not given you permission to do so), then you are also likely to be the kind of male who will deny any of it ever happened. Again and again and again—

The bottom line is that our notions of manhood are totally and embarrassingly out of control, and some of us have got to stand up and say enough, that we’ve got to redefine what it is to be a man, even as we, myself included, are unfailingly forthright about our shortcomings and our failures as men, and how some of us have even engaged in the behaviors splashed across the national news this year alone.

But to get to that new kind of manhood means we’ve got to really dig into our souls and admit the old ways are not only not working, but they are so painfully hurtful to women, to children, to communities, businesses, institutions, and government, to sport and play, and to ourselves. Looking in the mirror is never easy but if not now, when? And if not us in these times, then we can surely expect the vicious cycles of manhood gone mad to continue for generations to come, as evidenced by a recent report in the New York Times of a steadily climbing number of American teen boys already engaging in lewd sexual conduct toward girls. Where are these boys learning these attitudes if not from the men around them, in person, in the media, on television and in film, in video games, or from their fathers, grandfathers, uncles, older brothers, teachers, and, yes, coaches?

For sure, nothing sadder and more tragic than to see 84-year-old Coach Joe Paterno, who I’ve admired since I was a child, throwing away 46 years of coaching heroism and worship (and 62 total years on the school’s football staff) because the power, glory, and symbolism of Penn State football was above protecting the boys allegedly touched and molested by Sandusky. Equally sad and tragic when Mr. Cain’s supporters are quick to call what is happening to him a lynching when this man, this Black man, has never been tarred and feathered, never been hung from a tree, never had his testicles cut from his body, never been set on fire, as many Black men were, in America, in the days when lynching was as big a national sport as college football is today. Anything, it seems, to refute the very graphic and detailed stories of the women accusing Mr. Cain of profoundly wrong, unprofessional, and inhuman conduct.

But, as I stated, when our sense of manhood has gone mad, completely mad, anything goes, and anything will be said (or nothing said at all), or done, to protect the guilty, at the expense of the innocent. We’ve got to do better than this, gentlemen, brothers, boys, for the sake of ourselves, for the sake of our nation and our world. It was Albert Einstein who famously stated that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Then insanity may also mean men and boys doing the same things over and over again, for the sake of warped and damaged manhood, and expecting forward progress to happen, but then it all crumbles, once more, in a heap of facts, finger-pointing, and forgetful memories when convenient.

If any good can come of the Cain and Penn State disasters it is my sincere hope that spaces and movements are created, finally, where we men can really begin to rethink what manhood can be, what manhood might be. Manhood that is not about power, privilege, and the almighty penis, but instead rooted in a sense of humanity, in peace, in love, in nonviolence, in honesty and transparency, in constant self-criticism and self-reflection, and in respect and honor of women and girls, again, as our equals; in spaces and movements where men and boys who might not be hyper-macho and sports fanatics like some us are not treated as outcasts, as freaks, as less than men or boys. A manhood where if we see something bad happening, we say something, and not simply stick our heads in the sand and pretend that something did not happen. Or worse, yet, do something wrong ourselves, and when confronted with that wrongness, rather than confess, acknowledge, grow, heal, evolve, we instead dig in our heels and imagine ourselves in an all-out war, proclaiming our innocence to any who will listen, even as truth grows, like tall and daunting trees in a distant and darkened woods, about us.

A manhood, alas, where we men and boys understand that we must be allies to women and girls, allies to all children, and be much louder, visible, and outspoken about sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse and molestation. Knowing that if we are on the frontlines of these human tragedies then we can surely help to make them end once and for all, for the good of us all.

That means time for some of us to grow, and to grow up. Time for some of us to let go of the ego trips and the pissing contests to protect bruised and battered egos of boys masquerading as men. Before it is too late, before some of us hurt more women, more children, and more of ourselves, yet again—

Kevin Powell is an activist, public speaker, and author or editor of 10 books. His 11th book, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, and The Ghost of Dr. King: And Other Blogs and Essays, will be published by lulu.com in January 2012. You can reach him at kevin@kevinpowell.net, or follow him on Twitter @kevin_powell

Press release

Proposal for Conditional Permanent Residence Would Increase Violence Against Women

10 November 2011

Women’s organizations, newcomer advocacy groups and ethno-specific organizations today expressed concern over the federal government’s plan to introduce “conditional permanent residence” for some sponsored spouses.

The organizations believe that the proposal will increase the risk of spousal abuse, especially among newcomer women.

“Women will be forced to stay in violent or abusive relationships for fear of deportation,” said Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director of Battered Women’s Support Services in Vancouver.

According to the proposal, if a sponsored spouse leaves a relationship within two years of arrival in Canada, he or she could be stripped of status in Canada and deported.

The problems of sponsored women being abused by their partners is nothing new for those working in the settlement sector like Sarah Amies, Program Director at Lethbridge Family Services – Immigrant Services, who is frustrated that this measure will make newcomer women even more vulnerable to abuse. “We regularly serve sponsored women fleeing violent partners. If this measure passes, these women will no longer have the option to escape, and will be forced to withstand abuse in order to avoid being deported,” Ms. Amies said.

“The sponsorship system already makes sponsored spouses dependent, but this measure would open the door to situations of manipulation and control,” said Alexa Conradi, President of the Fédération des femmes du Québec.

There are already provisions in place to address misrepresentation by immigrants, including any who falsely claim to be in a relationship. “There is no evidence that this is a significant problem that needs to be addressed with further legal measures, especially one that increases the risk of violence against women. This proposal is part of an increasingly negative government discourse unfairly linking newcomers to fraudulent behaviour,” said Wanda Yamamoto, President of the Canadian Council for Refugees.

The organizations are also concerned that people from certain countries of origin may be targeted and the measure may be applied in a discriminatory manner. “The Indian community is being unfairly targeted – the claims of ‘marriage fraud’ by Indians are exaggerated. Given this stereotyping we fear that Indians will be discriminated against in the application of the proposed new measure,” stated Shalini Konanur of the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario.

Women’s organizations have denounced the impact of similar measures already in place in Australia, the UK and the United States. Women who have precarious status often feel forced to remain in an abusive relationship for fear of being deported, and in some cases separated from their children.

Citizenship and Immigration minister Jason Kenney has recently stated that he intends to introduce the measure before the year’s end.

Fifty organizations across Canada have signed on to a statement of opposition to the proposal.

Contacts

Canadian Council for Refugees: Colleen French, Communications Coordinator, tel. (514) 277-7223 ext. 1, 514-476-3971 (cell), email: cfrench@ccrweb.ca

Battered Women’s Support Services: Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director, tel. (604) 687-1613, email: director@bwss.org

South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario: Deepa Mattoo, tel. (416) 487 – 6371 ext. 43, email: mattood@lao.on.ca

Fédération des femmes du Québec: Alexandra Pierre, tel. (514) 876-0166 ext. 1503, email : apierre@ffq.qc.ca

Background information

For the joint Statement on Proposed “Conditional Permanent Residence” for sponsored spouses:

http://ccrweb.ca/en/statement-proposed-conditional-permanent-residence-sponsored-spouses

For more information:

http://ccrweb.ca/en/conditional-permanent-residence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 4, 2011

 
For more information contact:
Jana L. Walker
(406) 449-2006
email: jwalker@indianlaw.org

 
International Commission Holds Historic Hearing on Violence Against Native Women in the U.S. – U.S. Officials and Native Advocates Agree Violence Must End

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — During an historic hearing dedicated to their missing and murdered Native sisters throughout the Americas, Native women and tribal advocates resorted to an international human rights body to raise global awareness on the epidemic of violence against Native women in the United States.   Representatives of the United States appearing at the hearing admitted that this level of violence against Native women is “an assault on the national conscience.”

“The right to be safe and live free from violence is a fundamental human right that many take for granted—but not Native women in the United States,” said Jana Walker, Director of the Safe Women, Strong Nations project at the Indian Law Resource Center.  “Through this unprecedented hearing—the first of its kind—the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has made it clear that others in the world are now focusing on this crisis too.”

The thematic hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) created by countries to protect human rights in the Americas, was the first ever to focus specifically on violence against Native women in the United States.  The Commission, located in Washington, D.C., took testimony during an hour long hearing from representatives of the Indian Law Resource Center, National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Clan Star, Inc., and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc.  

A Human Rights Crisis

The epidemic of violence against Native women in the United States is a human rights crisis that Indian country has been aware of for far too long.  “It was imperative for this panel to make clear to the Commission how systemic legal barriers in U.S. law and chronic lack of enforcement is allowing rapists and batterers to commit crimes against Native women without fear of punishment whatsoever,” noted Juana Majel Dixon, First Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians and Co-Chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women.

According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, 1 out of 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime and 3 out of 5 will be physically assaulted while their offenders escape prosecution under the color of discriminatory United States law.  In this human rights crisis, Native women are murdered at rates 10 times the national average, and subjected to domestic violence and assault at staggering rates — rates 2½ times higher than any other group in the United States.

These distressing statistics are linked to systemic barriers imposed by United States law—barriers that prevent Indian nations from effectively safeguarding their citizens and adequately responding to crimes.  Unlike local communities or state governments, Indian nations and Alaska Native villages are legally prohibited from prosecuting non-Indians.  Furthermore, federal law has greatly restricted the sentencing authority of tribal courts for offenders committing acts of sexual and domestic violence that occur within tribal lands and communities.  In effect, United States law condones violence in Indian country and Alaska Native villages, where 88% of the violent crimes against Native women are committed by non-Indian perpetrators.  Very few of these Native women have access to meaningful justice and ever see their assailants prosecuted.   According to a recent United States Government Accountability Office study, U.S. attorneys failed to prosecute 52% of all violent criminal cases, including 67% of sexual abuse cases and 46% of assault cases occurring on Indian lands. 

“In most non-Indian communities in the United States, county or city governments have by-and-large unquestionable authority to investigate and prosecute both misdemeanor and felony crimes committed against women,” testified Dorma Sahneyah, Vice Chairperson, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center; and Executive Director, Hopi Tewa Women’s Coalition to End Abuse.  “United States law has left Tribal governments with inadequate legal authority to protect its citizens, allowing perpetrators to prey on Native women with impunity.”  

Lisa Brunner, Executive Director Sacred Spirits First Nation Coalition, described the devastating impacts of Public Law 280 on the safety of Native women and tribal justice systems.  “Many young Native girls and their mothers are forced to plan for a rape and how they will respond,” testified Brunner.  She described one pre-rape decision by a 14-year-old girl and her mother to not report the event when it happens for fear that nothing would be done and it would cause problems for their family.  “When the issue within Native communities becomes a matter of preparing your daughter to be raped, the United States has failed in its federal trust responsibilities to our tribes.”

 
Recommendations to Improve Safety for Native Women in the U.S.

The Native women and tribal advocates concluded by urging the Commission to issue strong recommendations  to the United States with respect to its obligations to Native women under international human rights law.  Terri Henry, Co-Chair, National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Native Women, and Tribal Council Representative, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians detailed the following recommendations targeted at the United States:

 
enact legislation that contains the Department of Justice’s legislative proposal to restore criminal authority of Indian Nations to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators on dating and domestic violence;
fully fund and implement the Tribal Law and Order Act, particularly as to bolstering capacity to exercise enhanced sentencing authority, ensuring federal prosecutors share information on declamations of Indian country cases, and providing training and cooperation among the tribal state and federal agencies;
launch a national initiative and consultation within Indian nations to examine and implement reforms to increase the safety of Native women living within tribal lands under concurrent tribal, state, and jurisdictional authority of Public Law 280;
increase federal technical and financial support to Indian nations to enhance their responses to violence against Native women;
create a grant program to provide sufficient federal support to non-profit government Native women’s organizations to provide effective services including shelters, transitional housing, and rape crisis centers;
incorporate tribal specific provisions in sex trafficking legislation, ensure Native women are prioritized in research on sex trafficking, and provide adequate resources and training for justice officials on how to respond to sex trafficking of Native women;
develop a national protocol and reporting system for handling and monitoring cases of murdered and missing Native women; and
create a forum for dialogue collaborating and cooperating among tribal, federal, and state courts on the issue of violence against Native women. 

 
Henry also urged the Commission to conduct site visits to Indian nations throughout the United States to further investigate these ongoing human rights violations against Native women and its implications for U.S. international human rights obligations.  Additionally, Henry asked the Commission to issue a special report or country report on how the United States, in consultation and collaboration with tribes, could better protect the human rights of Native women.  The panel of advocates also urged the Commission to include information related to this hearing in its press release on the 143rd Ordinary Period of Sessions and in its Annual Report to the Organization of American States General Assembly.

Representatives of the United States appearing at the hearing acknowledged that much more needs to be done to protect Native women.  Virginia Davis, U.S. Department of Justice, explained that, for many reasons, the current legal structure for prosecuting crimes of violence against women in Indian country is just not working.  The Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior are recommending legislation and refinement to existing laws to better protect Native women, and both Departments support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and proposed amendments.  Jodi Gillette, U.S. Department of the Interior, echoed Ms. Davis’ comments, adding that the goal is to move towards a system that will eliminate the devastating problem of violence against Native women.

 
Taking Action—Next Steps

The Violence Against Women Act is up for reauthorization in the U.S. Congress and, since the thematic hearing, on October 31, 2011, Chairman Daniel Akaka of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs introduced S.1793, the “Stand Against Violence and Empower (SAVE) Native Women Act.”   Given the epidemic of violence against Native women, it is crucial that the United States do something quickly to restore safety and justice for Native women and to strengthen Native nations and communities. 

For more information about the Violence Against Women Act, SAVE Native Women Act, and to view or read about the thematic hearing on violence against Native women, visit www.indianlaw.org.

Partner Organizations

 
About the Indian Law Resource Center

Contact:  Jana L. Walker
email: jwalker@indianlaw.org

The Indian Law Resource Center is a non-profit law and advocacy organization established and directed by American Indians. The Center is based in Helena, Montana and also has an office in Washington, DC. The Center provides legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations who are working to protect their lands, resources, human rights, environment, and cultural heritage. The Center’s principal goal is the preservation and well-being of Indian and other Native nations and tribes.  For more information, visit www.indianlaw.org.

About the National Congress of American Indians
Contact: Katy Jackman, Attorney
(202) 466-7767, email: Katy_Jackman@NCAI.org

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments. As the collective voice of tribal governments in the United States, NCAI is dedicated to ending the epidemic of violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women. In 2003, NCAI created the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women to address and coordinate an organized response to national policy issues regarding violence against Indian women. The NCAI Task Force represents a national alliance of Indian nations and tribal organizations dedicated to the mission of enhancing the safety of American Indian and Alaska Native women.

About Clan Star, Inc.
Contact: Terri Henry
(828) 497-5507
Clan Star, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization incorporated under the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in 2001, devoted to improving justice to strengthen the sovereignty of Indigenous women through legal, legislative, and policy initiatives, and, education and awareness. Clan Star provides technical assistance, training, and consultation throughout the United States to Indian tribes and tribal organizations in the development of public policy strategies addressing violence against women. For more information, visit www.clanstar.org.

About the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center
Contact: Lucy Simpson, Executive Director

Email: lsimpson@niwrc.org

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) is a nonprofit organization that provides technical assistance, policy development, training, materials, and resource information for Indian and Alaska Native women, Native Hawaiians, and Native non-profit organizations addressing safety for Native women.  The NIWRC’s primary mission is to restore safety for Native women.  For more information, visit www.niwrc.org.

Porn-Addled Teenage Boys Do Rule The World

by Soraya Chemaly

From The Huffington Post 

November 1, 2011 06:34:24

Feminists, stop whining and go home.

It’s so much easier than thinking about the information so excellently encapsulated by the movie, Miss Representation, a documentary about the debilitating influence of media on girls and society that aired recently on the OWN network.

We are so screwed. Feminist should stop whining about sexism in culture and women should go home like we keep telling them to. This is too hard. It’s easier to ignore the problems of gender inequity and it’s definitely more fun too. I mean, who wants all this striving for equality. Girls get it. They’re not stupid. That’s why they’re receding from public life.

Besides, it’s not so bad here, is it? Women aren’t thrown on pyres when their husbands die. Our girls aren’t subjected to the torture of genital mutilation. So what if we don’t have a female head of state for the next 500 years. Go get a facial. You’ll feel better. If that doesn’t work and you’re still distracted by a vague feeling of injustice, develop a hobby. I hear recreational pole dancing is really fun.

So what if girls "opt-out" of leadership roles and think public life is the exclusive arena of boys and men? It’s unpleasant out there in the big bad leadership world.

So what if boys think of them primarily as accessories that they acquire like so many shiny, molded cars? That’s why I had girls. Duh.

And if boys feel pressure to grow up and take care of women, like they’re children? That’s what they’re here for, right?

So what if the best thing my girls and yours think they can aspire to is the real life paper-doll cut-out of the object of a 15 year-old boys wet dream, which is the image of girls and women promulgated by our gaming, media and entertainment industries?

What if all that makes them happy? What is wrong with that? After all, this isn’t human rights we’re talking about. It’s women’s rights.

And, really, if more than 50 percent of our population is effectively denied the ability to pursue public service, to the detriment of the greater good, by a system of informal, entertaining bias, it’s not like it’s a major problem for a democracy or anything.

I mean, why do our girls need to understand the effects on their health, jobs … life, of having no gender representation in Congress? It’s homecoming weekend, after all.

The last spark of a feminist in me this morning is compelled to point out that all of this not making any of us happy. Twice as many girls experience depression as boys, beginning in adolescence. And the entire nation is focused on bullying, but won’t talk openly about the fact that much of it’s root cause is misogyny. That’s just too much to wrap our tattooed-Barbie-benumbed brains around. Bullying is the norm in a culture that denigrates what is female (what do you think street harassment is?). It’s why boys in religious private schools say they experience bullying at a higher rate than boys in public or non-religious private schools, for example. There are dots screaming and turning blue in the face to be connected.

I give up. No, I don’t.The wealth disparity in our country is one of the largest in the industrialized world and continues to grow. Look into which countries have the largest wealth gaps and compare that to a ranking of those with the least gender equity. We need to educate ourselves, and our children, about the importance of these issues as a society. Like THAT’s going to happen. Ok. I give do up. Aren’t you glad?

Besides, it’s boring. How do I compare with my friends, really excellent moms who aren’t thinking about it much and are cheerfully taking their girls for a weekly manicure and the next showing of "Bad Teacher"? And dads who are proud of their girls and coach their soccer teams. These are the friends that I need most now, because misery loves company. They can be depressed with me.

There is no way to watch the movie without feeling the enormity of the issue at hand. Our country is cobbled by a structural misogyny that permeates every dimension of life. As a new friend, Emily Hoechst, a professor of Political Philosophy at both Georgetown University and George Mason University, pointed out during a recent screening of the movie, it’s not men that are bad, it’s the structure of our culture and the nature of our economy.

Louder now, so the fear of a female planet people can hear: Men are not sitting around in man-caves, watching football games and plotting devious ways to undermine women’s equality, just like feminists are not trying to destroy boys’ ability to be masculine. What we have instead is something much more insidious and difficult to deal with — a systemized, traditional, destructive and amorphous bias that polarizes masculinity and femininity in extremely harmful ways.

There is no way to think deeply about the information imparted in Miss Representation without realizing its vast implications. Changing the status quo means literally changing everything from the way toys are packaged to the structure of capitalism. I’m stating for the record that the last statement is not a joke, it’s not meant to be sarcastic or an exaggeration for effect. It’s so pervasive that even those of us who have been ardent lifelong feminists, who want to change the world and work hard to do it, struggle with where to start and how to continue. It’s exhausting.

Forget about teaching kids about women’s history. At this point, I’ve been reduced to thinking about Barbie. The one I’m worried about doesn’t look like Pink and wear tattoos, she wears an apron and is looks like Grace Kelly.

In the end however, in the words of a savvy girl who recently saw the movie, "those people (women fighting for the right to be fully human) aren’t glamorous and they don’t look like they’re having fun."

That pretty much says it all.

If you’re looking for more about MissRepresentation:

MissRepresentation:  The Media is the Message and the Messenger a film review by Dana Gore

MissRepresentation Highlights Youth Efforts Fight Sexism in Media a film review by Avandi Wallace

Women on the Front-Line

Ending Violence Workers at Battered Women’s Support Services

Annie Zhang

“I believe that BWSS’ work plays an integral role in tearing down some of the barriers women face in the social and legal system” Annie Zhang, Legal Advocate

While completing my law degree at UBC, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend a summer working as a student legal advocate at Atira Women’s Resource Society.  That experience opened my eyes to the many disadvantages faced by women involved with the legal system. I decided that I would like to use my legal knowledge to support women in navigating the system and help them advocate for their rights.

Women’s inaccessibility to justice is a deeply pervasive and problematic issue. It’s easy for players in the legal system to overlook the intersection of barriers many women face in accessing its services, particularly women who are racialized, living in poverty, immigrants, or otherwise socioeconomically underprivileged.  Women who have experienced violence and abuse face yet more barriers when seeking justice from their abusers. The legal system favours the privileged — women are often without the same resources as their partners, and are forced to represent themselves through a complex, user-unfriendly judicial system while their partner has the benefit of legal counsel. In light of this imbalance of power, I think it’s important for women to have access to free, low-barrier legal and emotional supports from organizations like ours, Battered Women’s Support Services, to guide and empower them through this challenging and stressful process.

I believe that BWSS’ work plays an integral role in tearing down some of the barriers women face in the social and legal system. I think it’s important for women struggling through the justice system to have accessible legal information, advocacy, and support, in a safe environment where they can feel validated, non-judged, and heard. Through the variety of programs offered at BWSS, we are able to provide many forms of support to women who need it most, accepting them “where they are at” and empowering them as the expert of their own lives.