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Begin New Search Topic Sexual Violence Political Geography North America

1. Servicewomen as Whistleblowers: Canadian Servicewomen and the Revelations of Military Sexual Violence

Author:
Claire Cookson-Hills
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This article documents the history of revelations of sexual misconduct within the military, and places that history in the paradoxical context of the responses of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). Starting in 1998 with the Maclean’s reporting, servicewomen have publicly shared their personal experiences of military sexual trauma. The history of these revelations has been written by journalists in conversation with servicewomen. Journalists have been supportive and ham-handed advocates of justice for survivors of military sexual violence. By contrast, both CAF and VAC have been reactionary in their responses to military sexual violence. Such focus on sexual violence stands in contrast to how servicewomen place the violence in the wider context of their career. After 2015, servicewomen have taken steps to advocate, organize, write their own stories publicly, and thereby put pressure on the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs to change.
Topic:
Armed Forces, Women, Sexual Violence, Whistle Blowing, and Military
Political Geography:
Canada and North America

2. Sexual Harassment in the “World’s Largest Store”: Managing Macy’s Department Store at the Start of the 20th Century

Author:
Mara Keire and Emma Day
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxford Centre for Global History
Abstract:
Shopgirl Betty Lou Spence was modelling a nightgown for a customer when she first noticed her handsome and wealthy new employer and heir to the “world’s largest” store in New York City, Cyrus Waltham Jr, passing through her department. Betty was just one among his many working-class female employees, and Cyrus was initially oblivious to her beauty and charm. But, upon introduction, Cyrus was quick to pursue her. Despite belonging to different social classes and company rank, Betty and Cyrus bonded on dates to Coney Island; their relationship quickly blossomed into a marriage proposal. Betty and Cyrus’s unlikely romance provided the plotline of the 1927 box office hit, It. The success of It marked the rise of the department store. Housed in ornate buildings selling a vast selection of desirable goods, stores attracted large clienteles of mostly elite women who shaped new habits of consumption in the early 20th century.1 The women who travelled downtown to department stores helped others to feel safe venturing out on their own to shop. On arrival, the women freely perused the pretty dresses and gowns, lace underwear and ribbons, shoes, silks, leather goods, hats, jewellery, furniture, appliances, carpets, rugs, table linens and anything else for sale. Reflecting their popularity among women patrons, neighbourhoods with rows of fashionable stores, like Broadway in New York City, became known as the Ladies’ Mile.2 Department stores not only offered virtually anything a customer might possibly want in one place; their bounteous interiors made a trip to the department store an enjoyable day out for the whole family, with such lavish facilities as a post office, barber shop, and theatre.3 Whether in New York City, Paris or London, the service and spectacle that these new stores offered helped coin the term “palaces of consumption”.4 Shopgirls like Betty Lou Spence kept these new and ambitious enterprises running. In 1875, 120 salespeople worked at Macy’s New York flagship store, of whom eighty percent were women. Across the United States, the number of women working as salesclerks ballooned from 8,000 in 1880 to over 58,000 in 1890.5 By 1900, saleswomen and store clerks constituted the second-most common occupations for native-born, single working women.6 In 1913, the National Civic Federation, a policy reform organisation of business and trade union leaders as well as reformers calculated that nineteen firms nationwide employed 33,000 workers, of whom two-thirds were women.7
Topic:
Women, Capitalism, History, Sexual Violence, and Management
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

3. Sexual Abuse, Violence, and Prostitution Toward Children in Mexico

Author:
César Niño
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Oscar was born in an illegal prostitution center where his mother was a sex worker (we are not certain if she worked there voluntarily). Oscar was first prostituted at age four, serving up to six “clients” daily at the same center where his mother worked. Both he and his mother were constant victims of rape and physical violence. This was the environment in which he was raised. In recent decades, according to a Reinserta study, violence against children in Mexico has intensi7ed nationwide.1 From 2006 to 2018, there were 325,699 homicides, according to data from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). Of these victims, 23,420 were men under the age of 19, a little over 7 percent of the total, and 6,022 were women under the age of 19, about 2 percent of the total.2 Children represent a particularly vulnerable group, as they are immersed in practices that violate their human rights and make it impossible for them to develop physically and psychologically in an adequate manner and according to their age. They experience physical violence, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and other forms of violence that are normalized from an early age.
Topic:
Human Rights, Children, Sexual Violence, Abuse, and Prostitution
Political Geography:
North America and Mexico

4. Establishing research priorities on violence against women and girls in the Latin American and Caribbean region

Author:
Carmen Porras Gomez, Ana Landa Ugarte, Ivonne Argueta Vasquez, and Beiby Vaca Parada
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
Abstract:
While it is recognized that violence against women and children is a multidimensional problem, it becomes necessary to establish research priorities to achieve better use of available resources and to advance more systematically in response to violence against them. In this way, SVRI promoted with its partner organizations to identify global research priorities on violence against women under an open, collaborative approach so that diverse voices and perspectives were included. Within this framework, a collective set of priorities for the Latin American and Caribbean region was developed based on the findings of the Global Shared Research Agenda, including violence against girls. This research considers different sources of information, both quantitative and qualitative. However, it aims to give visibility, presence, and reason to the voices of the experts consulted, with special attention to non-academic voices. Therefore, the Regional Agenda of research priorities of violence against women and girls considers the needs of civil society organizations working in this field. This, in opposition to traditional methodologies built from the priorities of funders or academia, surpassing the ‘expert’ judgment of a limited group of people. The process itself is as valuable as the results when it comes to a new approach. The following report is structured in three parts. The first section presents the objectives and background, the methodology, the scope and limitations encountered. The second part includes the results of the process of collective construction of the Regional Agenda. Finally, the third part displays the conclusions and recommendations.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Women, Gender Based Violence, and Sexual Violence
Political Geography:
Latin America, Caribbean, and North America

5. Framing the Future of the US Military Profession

Author:
Richard A. Lacquement Jr. and Thomas P. Galvin
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
The military profession needs to be redefined by examination of its expertise and jurisdictions of practice, whereas previously the focus was on securing its professional identity. Twenty years ago, the original Future of the Army Profession research project responded to growing concerns among officers that the Army was no longer a profession in light of the post–Cold War drawdown and the onset of global operations including Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the profession faces recurrent challenges raised by the changing character of war, the renewal of great-power competition, crises surrounding issues of sexual harassment and assault, the effects of a major global pandemic and associated social and political unrest, and the growing societal distrust toward professions in general. Richard Lacquement and Thomas Galvin propose that the questions of professional identity, while still important, are now less salient than those about the professions’ jurisdictions of practice and domains of expert knowledge. Clarifying them will help better prepare US military professionals to exercise discretionary judgment effectively. They also propose a new Future of the US Military Profession research effort that addresses these jurisdictions across service, joint, and defense enterprises to clarify the divisions of professional work and responsibilities. This is a must-read for any steward of the military profession.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Armed Forces, Military Affairs, Sexual Violence, Army, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

6. Engaging men and boys to prevent violence against women

Author:
Sexual Violence Research Initiative
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
Abstract:
While women must remain at the centre of and lead efforts to prevent the violence against them, men must join the movement as allies, and gender transformative interventions that engage men in thoughtful ways can be highly effective. The process of engaging men and boys in the prevention of violence against women has gained momentum over the past 20 years, with growing evidence that well-designed and holistic interventions involving both men and women can work. Interventions focusing solely on men are ineffective in shifting strongly entrenched social norms that drive violence against women, and we must support structural policy changes.1 Between 2016 and 2020, the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), in partnership with the World Bank Group, funded several studies into interventions that engage men in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and North African region. These studies address local gender norms and context-specific risk factors associated with men abusing women. The SVRI will continue supporting research that builds evidence for accountable, effective and sustainable programmes that engage men in preventing and responding to violence against women in low- and middle-income countries.
Topic:
Gender Based Violence, Youth, Violence, Sexual Violence, and Engagement
Political Geography:
North America

7. #MeToo and US Politics: Analyzing the Twitter Conversation

Author:
Vittoria Bernardini
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:
Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:
The #MeToo movement has had a profound cultural impact on US society, and notably on US party politics. While many studies have addressed the #MeToo-related controversy arising from the Brett Kavanaugh nomination to Supreme Court Justice in 2018, the relationship between #MeToo and US politics before this event has remained understudied. This article, therefore, addresses this gap by looking at the role of politics at the beginning of the #MeToo movement. Focusing on the first six months of online activity on Twitter (October 2017 – April 2018), over 2 million tweets with the #MeToo hashtag are analyzed to identify the main activity patterns across the dataset and to gain insight on user behavior and participation in the conversation. Results point to the weaponization of #MeToo in the political context from its inception. It is suggested that #MeToo reflects the polarized political climate in the US and that it can be conceptualized as part of the wider “culture wars” (Hunter 1991) that characterize the public debate.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Mass Media, Social Movement, Social Media, Sexual Violence, and Participation
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

8. The #FreeKesha Movement: Individual Rights & Corporate Responsibilities

Author:
Eli Banghart
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
The human rights laws in the realm of rape within the United States have come under higher scrutiny recently. Perhaps most notably, the case of pop-singer Kesha (formerly known as Ke$ha, real name Kesha Rose Seibert) against producer Dr. Luke. The singer wishes to be released from her contract that requires six albums with Dr. Luke’s work featured in at least six songs per album. An appeal for a legal injunction was denied on 19 February 2016, striking rallying movements under the #FreeKesha tagline and an outpouring of celebrity support. This case’s impact has moved beyond Kesha, in her own words, turning into a movement against staying silent towards abusers.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, Reform, and Sexual Violence
Political Geography:
United States and North America

9. Tourism’s Dirty Secret: The exploitation of hotel housekeepers

Author:
Diana Sarosi
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Tourism is booming and generates millions of jobs for women around the world. Yet the hotel industry exemplifies the vast inequality of today’s world. The women who make hotel beds and clean hotel toilets labour long hours for meagre pay, face sexual harassment and intimidation, are exposed daily to toxic chemicals and live in fear of arbitrary dismissal. Meanwhile, the top-earning hotel CEOs can earn more in an hour than some housekeepers do in a year. Such systematic exploitation is not inevitable. The hotel industry, consumers and governments must all be part of the solution to end the economic exploitation of women. This report examines the working lives of housekeepers in Toronto, Canada, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and Phuket, Thailand. In dozens of interviews with hotel housekeepers, representatives of workers’ organizations and hotel managers, Oxfam found five overarching trends common to the three locations: in non-unionized hotels, extremely low wages that are not sufficient to live on; serious health risks and high rates of injury; high rates of sexual harassment; difficulty organizing due to employer resistance and bad management practices; and a lack of adequate child care.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Governance, Tourism, Sexual Violence, and Exploitation
Political Geography:
Canada, Asia, Caribbean, Dominican Republic, North America, and Thailand

10. When No One Calls It Rape: Addressing Sexual Violence Against Men and Boys

Author:
Amrita Kapur and Kelli Muddell
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Abstract:
There is no doubt that the scope of the problem for male victims is large. The World Health Organization has identified sexual violence against men and boys as a significant problem that has been largely ignored by nongovernmental organizations, health care providers, government agencies, criminal justice authorities, and others. The violations can take many forms, including rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, enforced nudity, and being forced to perform sexual acts with others. Very commonly, sexual violence against men is committed in situations of detention. Studies have shown this pattern in contexts such as Chile, El Salvador, Libya, Sri Lanka, Syria, the United States, and the former Yugoslavia. Transitional justice mechanisms—including truth commissions, reparations programs, and criminal trials—are well placed to begin tackling some of these issues as part of efforts to address legacies of violence. Yet, although the problem has been addressed by some transitional justice efforts in certain countries, there is still wide variation and inconsistency in terms of the responses to these violations and attempts to involve male victims of sexual violence in these processes. The risk that male victims will remain invisible and left out of responses to sexual violence is significant, unless their rights and concerns are given a specific focus comparable to that now increasingly given to female victims. A number of factors contribute to the generally lackluster response by both state and nonstate actors involved in implementing transitional justice processes. One is the tendency to conflate sexual violence with violence against women and girls, which contributes to the perception that it is a women’s issue, thus limiting the responses available to victims falling outside of this group, including men and boys. This means that male victims’ experiences of sexual violence continue to be underreported, misunderstood, and mischaracterized in transitional justice processes. Another issue is under-reporting, which is particularly relevant for truth commissions as the statements they receive from victims not only inform their final reports, but also typically contribute to the creation of victim registries and the design of reparations programs, and even prosecutions. In many cases, male victims are reluctant to acknowledge the sexual nature of the violations committed against them. This can happen in order to avoid the social stigma attached to such acts or due to the fear of being perceived as weak, labeled homosexual, or being accused of having “wanted it.” Even in instances where men report acts of sexual violence, those receiving the reports rarely handle the report with the sensitivity and awareness they require. Medical practitioners, for example, may not be adequately trained to recognize, identify, or treat male victims or they may themselves accuse male victims of homosexuality or otherwise perpetuate social misconceptions about these crimes.
Topic:
Criminal Justice, Sexual Violence, Men, Reparations, Gender, Truth and Reconciliation, and Boys
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia, South America, North Africa, and North America