Originally posted at http://minneapolitanmademoiselle.blogspot.com/
So I've been blowing up my Facebook wall with stories about violence against women (go figure) and thought a nice round up of some recent articles, stories, etc on the topic would be nice. Here we go...
Starting things off, the CDC released the results of the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Some key findings include the following:
As many as 1 in 3 women have experienced rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetimes, compared to about 1 in 10 men.
1.3 million women were raped during the year preceding the survey.
Approximately 80% of female victims experienced their first rape before the age of 25 and almost half experienced the first rape before age 18.
28% of male victims of rape were first raped when they were 10 years old or younger.
Both men and women who had been menaced or attacked in these ways reported more health problems. Female victims, in particular, had significantly higher rates of irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, frequent headaches and difficulty sleeping.
As I said on Facebook, for those of you out there who don't think violence against women in this country is an important issue, let this serve as your wake up call.
Next up we have an article in the NY Times, about how women and men who have been sexually assaulted are often victimized again, by people they know, by the legal system and by the media. Not really big news among those of us who are DV/SA advocates, but great that the Times is giving the issue some much needed coverage. It's a short, good read.
Another example of systems failing rape victims...According to the WaPo, "A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against former defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates by 28 military members and veterans who said they were victims of sexual assault." Thankfully, the plaintiffs' attorney plans an appeal, because we need action taken on this hugely important issue. According to the article, there were "more than 3,000 reports of sexual abuse in the military in fiscal year 2010, but only 529 went to trial." That is only one of a number of issues that exist with sexual assault in the military.
For more information, please check out the Service Women's Action Network.
And finally, a fraternity at the University of Vermont thinks it's legit to ask new members who they'd like to rape. The University doesn't think so and has suspended the organization. Here's a brief write up about that.
Sources for statistics:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Fact sheet: National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/...
"CDC Survey: 1 in 4 Women Attacked by Partner." National Public Radio. Available at: http://www.npr.org/...