Feminism around the Globe
In addition to diversity and multiculturalism within the United States, there has been a growing awareness of the rights of women around the world. Reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International make it clear that women and girls are victimized in various forms and to various degrees due to their status in societies throughout the world. Examples include domestic abuse and excessive restrictions in Afghanistan; genital mutilation in Africa and the Middle East; the stoning to death of women for adultery in Pakistan; the trafficking of women and their forced participation in the sex industry in eastern Europe; and the killing of women in India who do not bring an expected dowry amount for the groom’s family. These and other actions necessitate advocacy for women around the world. Even in countries where crimes against women are not noted to be rampant, there are still concerns regarding their access to power and economic independence.
While it is clear that there is much ground to make up for feminist theorists around the world, Baer (2006) argues that various cultural and political hurdles may exist. For instance, ‘‘mainstream feminists are criticized by minority and Third World feminists for unexamined and unrecognized biases of their own’’ (p. 2). This points toward the necessity for feminists to expand their theoretical critiques while presenting a series of co-occurring pitfalls and challenges. Nevertheless, just as with the need for multicultural feminist perspectives in the United States, a similar diversification of views will be necessary to accommodate the global community. This means that it is likely that feminism will continue to contain further subdivisions as feminist theory grows to reflect cultural and international diversity of feminists around the world.
Feminist Theory in Relation to Domestic Violence and Other Crimes against Women
As the women’s movement continued to gain momentum during the 1960s and 1970s, an increased awareness of domestic violence issues emerged within the United States. As women continued to demand equality within the professional arena, equality became an issue within the personal realm as well (Hanser 2002). Eventually, these personal demands extended to expectations within the marital relationship (Hanser 2002). Thus, feminist theory has provided a guiding framework for understanding and addressing domestic violence, as well as ‘‘explanations of how it has come about that men and women’s unequal status in society . . . and the differential socialization of male and female children [have] perpetuated violence and abuse in the home’’ (Frances 1995, p. 395). Feminist theory has been instrumental in raising the public consciousness about sex role conditioning and how such conditioning can lead to belief systems that justify sexism, male privilege, and gender socialization (Healey, Smith, and O’Sullivan 1998). It is through the transmission of these belief systems that acts of domestic violence can reflect the patriarchal organization of society, with the male partner exacting forced subservience from the female partner (ibid.).
These views on domestic violence are consistent with many schools of feminist thought (particularly radical feminism), which contend that it is the use of violence that keeps women subjugated in the home and in society as a whole. Crimes such as sexual assault, stalking, marital rape, and domestic violence have two key underlying similarities: The perpetrator is most often male and the victim is most often female. In addition, all of these crimes serve to exploit and/or control the sexual and social freedom of women to have a lifestyle of equality both inside and outside the home. Since these crimes target women and are most often committed by males, it is easy to see the connection to feminist theory. This theoretical perspective has been used in therapeutic interventions for women (providing a framework and rationale for empowering victims), as well as programs designed for perpetrators (providing psychoeducation on the rights of women and enforcing accountability in the recognition of those rights). Thus it is that from the women’s movement for equality in the broader society have come social changes impacting the responses to domestic violence issues.
Conclusion
While feminist theory has had a fairly lengthy history, it did not receive widespread acceptance until the 1970s. Even though feminist thought and critiques have faced many challenges in mainstream society, feminists have achieved substantial accomplishments that have considerably changed the social landscape as well as the personal dynamics between men and women. Throughout the development of feminist theory and against the backdrop of the substantive social change that has been generated, feminists themselves have not always agreed on their rationale or mode of operation. Indeed, there are a variety of subcategories to which a feminist may subscribe. As such, activists, researchers, and laypersons alike belong to various subcategory memberships. Regardless of their specific affiliation, all contend that women must have equality with men if society is ever to be free of oppression and discrimination.
Further still, women should be free of sex-based crimes and aberrant behaviors that provide men with the ability to exploit women. Crimes such as rape and domestic abuse are viewed as forms of specific and generalized control and therefore exploit women individually and collectively. Any society that is committed to equality between the sexes must then be particularly responsive to crimes that are based on sex or gender. It is with this in mind that feminist theory has impacted society on both the micro and the macro level, resulting in far-reaching and long-lasting change destined to change the course of human social development throughout generations to come.
Also check the list of domestic violence research topics and all criminal justice research topics.
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