Let's Keep Fighting! My Body - My Rights!

Maybe we live in 21^st century, but Poland refuses to progress from Middle Ages. And many Polish people are proud of it.

Another day of Polish women struggle for their reproductive rights. Inanna and I are actively monitoring and reading new words that has been produced either for or against abortion in Poland.

After reading it all, it was really comforting to see that some doctors still abide the law and do the procedure when a women has a legal ground to ask for it.

It warms my heart to see all of those women sharing their stories, their strength and hopes for a better future. It’s amazing how many of them get support from their partners, who decided that the well-being of their woman is the most important thing in the world.

At the same time, it’s extremely depressing to see how many people spread hate and are first ones to insult other people. And it’s even more daunting how many people put the blame on women. For fighting for their rights. For wanting a better life. For wanting to be heard. For having needs. For having desires. For having dreams.

I really don’t get it how somebody, who claims to believe in a God, the merciful and almighty God, can have so much resentment toward another human being. How can somebody judge another person without knowing the whole story? Judging only based on partial information about sex life and choices. Didn’t Jesus said that “he who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (when defending an adulterous woman)? How can somebody, who claims to be a man/woman of faith can have so much hatred in their hearts?

Over the past few days I’ve read tens of articles about the situation in Poland, opinion essays, comments. I encountered billions of comments insulting women’s conscience and almost calling them monsters, if they even considered having an abortion.

Where did all of those people get the idea that somebody’s body and life is a public matter? Since when woman’s body is a public property? Since when anybody’s body is a public property?

I am a religious person, I believe in God, but right now I wouldn’t step into the church in Poland. I’ve heard to many sermons with too much judgement in it, too much hatred, too much negative messages. I’ve listened to priests who though that as they are so self-righteously pious they word is above the word of God. God can be your salvation, but a church will bring you down on your knees and be your judge. I couldn’t stand it. I believe that a God is love, he gives us strength and teaches us to show sympathy to other people and try to understand them, regardless of how different our situation is from theirs. And if we can’t, then we should stop criticizing. It’s not our place.

That case of an 11-year old girl still haunts me. How can people be so cruel and judgmental? She is a child, for crying out loud! She should be protected at all costs, her welfare should be a priority to all of us: her parents, family, neighbours, doctors, government! But we’ve heard so much bullshit from priests and politicians. About an abortion being another rape, about a girl’s maternal instincts waiting to be awaken.

"11-year-old girl should be under the care of psychologist and other doctors
and she should give birth to this child. This child we'll be on high demand
for adoption or maybe there will be a case, when the maternal instincts
will awaken in girl" Czesław Hoc

Yeah, sure, force her to be a mother. When the kid gets older, they can play together in hide and seek, help with homework and steal toys from each other. Instead of spending her allowance on sweets, she will be worrying about diapers and baby milk. Yeeeey! Who wouldn’t want that? Kids at that age should be learning about responsibility by having a puppy or kitten. Not a baby. And whoever claims that it’s the way it should be, tell it to your kid. Have them have a child right now. Is he 13? He will be a brilliant father! Is she 12? Who cares about her dreams and aspirations! Let her have babies!

Many people say that she should have the baby, but no one ask whether it’s good for her. She went through so much and all we can do is still disallow her desire to have a normal life. Or anybody else’s desires. Politicians say what she should or shouldn’t do, but can anybody guarantee their help throughout her life? She will go through some tough times, are you, Mr. Politician ready to pay for her therapy? For a babysitter when she will want to go back to school? For all the expenses that she will need for her education and for the child’s welfare?

We are spinning like crazy towards the pit, we can’t find a way out from our own hypocrisy and ignorance.

Few years ago there was a high profile case in Yemen, where 12-year-old girl died  after she had given birth to her child. She wasn’t raped, she was a child bride, whose husband couldn’t wait with sex until she gets older. There was an uproar all over the world, there were countless quotations of doctors who said that girls at this age should not have children. That it’s dangerous to their health and life. Their bodies are not ready for pregnancy.

I can’t even count the amount of comments condemning the situation in Yemen. How could parents be so heartless and marry off their child? How can a grown up man have sex with a child? It’s paedophilia, abomination, backward culture. But all of this happened in a faraway country, in another reality and we were so quick to decry them. There were so many voices saying how we are different from THEM. How we are more civilised. How we are better. How our religion is better.

I think this whole circus shows us that Polish society is no different than an orthodox Muslim societies that we are so eager to criticize.

"If you knew anything about women, you would know,
that you always slightly rape a woman" Janusz Korwin-Mikke

Maybe I am looking at this all wrong. Maybe we should follow different examples. Maybe we should marry off young girls as soon as they can menstruate, because if she is bleeding, then she can have babies and there is no time to waste. And we should cover all women! We have to prevent these few-years-old seductresses from leading astray those God fearing, virtuous boys! And we should marry off raped girls to their perpetrators! The problem of “unwanted” babies will be solved, child won’t be fatherless, and basically the rape will cease to exist, because everybody knows that you can’t rape your wife. Wouldn’t life be sooooo much easier?

Okay, sorry for that. Jokes aside.

We want women (and girls) to take responsibility for their sexual acts, but we don’t educate them. We won’t provide them with an opportunity to choose, have easy choice and their fully conscious choice. Doctors and politicians make an access to contraception so difficult at a times and so expensive that it’s impossible to make an informed decision about your own reproductive health. And after stripping women from the power to determine their own fate, everyone is so eager to judge their lack of responsibility for their actions.

What is worse we don’t educate boys to acknowledge that they also have to take responsibility for their actions. Heck, the society is ready to take the blame of their hands at any time, when things get tough for them. Because it’s woman’s responsibility to not have sex with a man. Because if she had control over her own desire, there wouldn’t be any problem.

Are you all freaking serious?

"We have such a low birth rate caused by feminist culture,so each child, even from rape,
is worth a fortune! If we have 200 rapes a day, it doesn't mean that as many
women conceived. They have been raped, usually because of their stupidity,
and sometimes they were asking for it" Krzystof Oksiuta

Our government wants people to have more children, but they are not ready provide a dignifying life conditions for those who want to have children. Those who could provide Poland with “more hands to work”. Wouldn’t it be easier to provide better care for mothers and their children? Wouldn’t it be better to take better care of single mothers? Wouldn’t it be better if all children were wanted? There are some people in this world who would love to have loads of children, but simply can’t afford it. So maybe instead of forcing women who don’t want to have children to breed and breed and breed, maybe it would be wiser to provide better incentives? Like, better “back to work” initiatives, more available upskilling courses, paternity leaves.

When will government and clergy realise that Poland is not a good place to live for many of its citizens and it’s time to do something about it? We have so many countries around us who have successes in areas that we are failing miserably, but in our arogance we are refusing to follow their example. When will they understand that social development is as important as economic development? That without improving social sphere, we will not be able to improve any other sphere?

The struggle in Poland is not over and is far from over. We’ve raised our voices, but we can’t be silenced! Not now.

Stay strong, sisters! Keep fighting!

Spread the word! If you haven’t done it yet, SIGN THE PETITION!

Written by Vespertilio

Sexual violence in conflict has to stop!

Yesterday was the last day of Summit in London to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. For the past few days various influencers spoke about the issues concerning atrocities during conflict and were trying to attract more attention to ending sexual violence during conflict. Speakers included famous persons such as Angelina Jolie, John Kerry and William Hague. The summit was supported by other events all over the world.

Sexual violence during conflict is somehow omitted problem by many politicians, treated as a “spoils of war” and inevitable part of warfare. There has been many misconceptions regarding conflict-related sexual violence both in the political sphere, social sphere as well as in the academic research.

The main problem is that media and influencers bring attention to the greatest atrocities that involve sexual violence during conflict. They share the terrifying stories of women raped, violated, abused and mutilated. We hear the dreadful stories and we feel horror for the victims. But such attention brought to the high profile cases has one unforeseen consequence… We’ve learned to think that sexual violence is an inseparable part of the conflict, because it happens everywhere.

WRONG!

Conflict-related sexual violence is neither inevitable nor common. It is not a widely used weapon of war. In fact, there are number of groups that do not use sexual violence against civilians. For example, in all of Africa’s conflicts from 1989 – 2009, only 29% of conflict actors perpetrated sexual violence. More, there are few groups that forbid the use of sexual violence. Research shows (Wood, 2004; 2006; 2009) that actually more strategic to the war advances is not to use sexual violence against civilians, especially when a particular group rely on supplies or support from civilians.

It is not to say that wartime sexual violence is not a serious issue. It is. And it need to be prevented. It has to stop. My argument is that if it isn’t common and evidence suggests that many conflict do not witness terrible atrocities and sexual violence perpetration, then it can be prevented. We can learn from a more positive stories and try to apply them in other contexts.

When I was writing my thesis on conflict-related sexual violence, I had many awkward conversations with people who were trying to show me that my research is pointless, because everything is already known about this subject. The major misconception I encountered is that rape committed by armed groups is a psychological response to trauma, release of stress and uncontrolled biological response. I remember one friend of mine cited her teacher, who said that soldiers rape, because during fighting the part of their brain responsible for procreation gets activated and they feel compelled to rape. It’s pure biology. And for her that response was sufficient enough.

There is much we don’t know about reasons for committing wartime rape, but for sure we know it’s not biology. If it really was biology, then EVERYBODY would rape. Everybody. All soldiers would rape anything that resembles a women and no soldier would be blameless. However the fact that majority of soldiers are able to refrain from committing rape and in fact many groups do not rape and condemn sexual violence, speaks for itself.

Also if it was a biological response, only women in the height of their reproductive time would get raped. The logic would suggest that desire and willingness to extend ones species should take part. It couldn’t be further from the truth. For example, in conflict in Sierra Leone the age of rape victims varied from 7 years of age up until 70. No women could feel safe. Majority of girls aged 12-15 were taken as brides. Many instances of sexual violence involved use of force, mutilation, humiliation and sadism.

Furthermore, it isn’t a psychological response to trauma connected to the battle and tough life of during a conflict that pushes men to rape the women. Sexual violence happened in many conflicts during periods of relative tranquillity, when there is no regular battle and the soldiers are mostly inactive. Research by Nordas and Cohen (2012) states that “sexual violence is relatively less common in the most-lethal conflicts than in conflicts with fewer annual casualties”.

It also isn’t a weapon of war directed against opposing side/culture/enemy group. Unfortunately, many conflicts see indiscriminate violence against all of the representatives of female group, regardless of their ethnicity or affiliations.

Feminists also had their say about conflict related sexual violence. Gender inequality theory says that sexual violence is not about sexual desire, but a desire of men to “exert dominance” over the female population (Gottschall, 2004). The soldiers perpetrating sexual violence “vent their contempt for women” and in the same time they enforce and perpetuate “patriarchal gender arrangements” that are beneficial to all men (Gottschall, 2004).

I can’t agree with feminists on this issue as their claims are not supported by evidence. Current warfare has seen the emergence of most gruesome ways of inflicting terror on the people. Sexual violence is no longer committed only by men on women. There are instances of men raping men, women raping men and women raping women. Also the use of rape is not consistent across conflicts, even in the settings with similar cultural backgrounds. Even in the countries with a widespread use of sexual violence not all areas are affected. For example, in DRC sexual violence was rarely committed in areas supervised by UN Peacekeepers. However other areas were not as safe.

What we do know about conflict-related sexual violence is more appalling than previous claims, but it also shows that sexual violence can be prevented. In most African conflicts, sexual violence has been perpetrated mainly by government forces. Only 30% of unorganised or semi-organised militias committed acts of sexual violence, mainly when they were supporting pro-government forces which allowed or even encouraged perpetration of rape. Most of those militias, who engaged in acts of sexual violence, widely recruited child soldiers.

Research conducted by E. J. Wood shows that the group organisation and belief system has a great impact on perpetration of sexual violence by this group. If the members of the group believe that they cannot rape (for any reason) and commanders condemn and punish perpetration of rape, the group will rarely perpetrate rape in fear of being punished. However, if a group shares a belief that rape is acceptable and commanders do allow or even encourage soldiers to rape, sexual violence will be prevalent and almost unavoidable.

We cannot forget about foreign forces and their involvement in this crime. In few conflicts where foreign security forces where involved and there was little or no control of their action outside of official manoeuvres, soldier raped and engaged in other violations, as they knew that no punishment will be imposed. For example, a high profile case from former Yugoslavia shows that UN Peacekeepers where involved in prostitution and human trafficking. In Sierra Leone, foreign forces were responsible for more rape cases than government forces.

Finally, there are armed groups who do not allow to rape. For example, Tamil Tigers, despite their wide spectrum of human rights violations, they never allowed to rape in the areas which they controlled. There has been reports stating that Tigers, who did rape a women, were severely punished in most of the cases. Evidence suggest that clear condemnation of perpetrating sexual violence and widespread group belief that sexual violence is unacceptable did have a positive impact on soldiers behaviour.

The conclusion is clear: sexual violence during conflict is not determined by “outside” forces beyond one’s control. It is deliberate and conscious decision made by individuals. No perpetrator can be excused. And as in many cases perpetration of sexual violence is granted by governments and perpetrated by their security forces, international spectators are able to put a pressure and prevent it from happening. Wartime sexual violence CAN be stopped and HAVE TO be stopped.

It is up to us whether we will allow for it to happen.

Written by Vespertilio

References:

• Gottschall, J. (2004) ‘Explaining Wartime Rape’ The Journal of Sex Research 41(2): 129-136.
• Nordas, R., Cohen, D. K. (2012a) ‘Sexual Violence by Militias in African Conflicts’ CSCW Policy Brief 01-2012.
• Nordas, R., Cohen, D. K. (2012b) ‘Sexual Violence in African Conflicts, 1989 – 2009’ CSCW Policy Brief 02-2012.
• Wood, E. J. (2004) ‘Sexual Violence During War: Explaining Variation’, Order, Conflict and Violence, Yale University, 30^th April – 1^st May. New York: Santa Fe Institute.
• Wood, E. J. (2006) ‘Variations in Sexual Violence During War’ Politics Society 34: 307-341.
•  Wood, E. J. (2009) ‘Armed Groups and Sexual Violence: When is Wartime Rape Rare?’ Politics Society 39: 131-161.