With Karen Bigelow’s breakthrough as the first female to win a Directing Oscar I guess we can assume all is well with the plight of women in the world and International Women’s Day is no longer needed. NOT.
On a much more significant and serious note but with much less buzz here is a piece from Mother Jones that showed up in my mailbox this morning on violence against vulnerable women in the world. The hypocrisy of the American’s proposing to domestically pass such “international” legislation may be one focus to view this effort. Even though they will not, for example, sign on to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or the International Criminal Court I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that this “International Violence Against Women Act” is well intended, not just naïve and hypocritical as it appears at first blush.
The problem of violence against women and children is growing especially in poor and countries devastated by wars (Afghanistan) and disasters (Haiti). The evidence is that violence, exploitation and abuse of women and children is growing. I don't know what to suggest as solutions but I know others who do. I sure do recognize the seriousness of the problems but wonder where the pressure will come from to make serious changes on the ground and not just pandering political photo-op efforts.
Is Canada doing its share to help solve the problems? Prime Minister Harper mused months go about dealing with the problems at the upcoming G20 meeting in Canada this summer. Nothing much has come from his re-calibrated government on the subject since - except to say that foreign aid will be frozen. Will anyone follow up and stand up on these issues for women in Canada and abroad? Or are we just so disengaged and disillusioned with democracy that we just can't be bothered!
The Reboot Alberta survey of progressive’s values found that 85% of us a concerned about abuse of women and children around the world as one of the Creative Culture questions we canvassed. Of course there is an amazing amount of work to do about these issues right here in Alberta too but the problems are not mutually exclusive due to geography or culture.
I wonder if anyone in the Reboot Alberta movement will be picking up on this concern of violence and abuse of women and children and making it a matter of political importance. In the meantime happy belated International Women’s Day.
You always speak as though Reboot exists in a vacuum and is the only citizen's movement.
ReplyDeleteTons of women have pressured the Harper government and continue to do so...Of course, our efforts were curbed when he removed "equality" from the mandate of Status of Women Canada and closed most of the offices.
As for the work needed in Alberta, have you educated yourself about the work that IS being done?
Wow, Ken, I agree with Polly. Asking if someone in Reboot Alberta will make violence against women/children "politically important" without citing any of the groundbreaking work that is being done by women in this province is at best shortsighted and at worst arrogant.
ReplyDeleteViolence against women/children is so much more than "politically important" - it is the reality that too many of us are living daily. It's the reality that many of us are trying to change amidst funding cuts and increased demand.
Based on this post and the report that only 60% of Reboot Alberta participants surveyed support women's equality, I'm not seeing a lot of difference between this movement and all the other players on the field. That's really disappointing because I do feel that Alberta is completely off track, but if this is the general attitude of the movement then I don't know where I'd fit.
(By the way, Alberta has the highest reported rate of domestic violence in the country, and there are 42 shelters in the province. You can find stats/info at the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters site, www.acws.ca, and there's also info on getting help in case anyone needs it.)
Polly and Trasie - your points are well taken but your assumptons about Reboot and me all wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt is not true that 60% of Reboot survey participants support women's equality. What is your soucce for that? I will be doing some more blog posts on the Reboot movement conjoint survey result on the priority values that drive and guide progressives. This survey did not eliminate certain values but did find what were the most intensely held values form those surveyed.
All values surveyed were found to be important but some were seen as more criticaly important to progressives compared to others, espeically when political and public policy decisions are being made.
It is not an either/or situation for progressive values. It is more yes/and when we look at the values that drive our behaviours and beliefs.
As for my arrogance for not citing the work being done I suggest you might be more effectve to try and educate me (and others) about the work that is being done. It would be more helpful if you (and Polly?) went to www.rebootalberta.org, signed up and wrote a blog post on the site to inform us.
You will find Rebooter people to be curious, engaging, very repectful of different opinions and open to meaningful conversations.
As an aside you might educate yourself a bit. Call Jan Reimer of ACWS and ask her about my support of their work and my role in the Alberta government's work on violence and bullying.
Keen to learn. There is a progressive community out there in Reboot land for you to teach.
Thank you for replying, Ken.
ReplyDeleteI have been following (and engaging with) the Reboot movement on Twitter, and I do see a lot that could be positive, so don't think I'm dismissing the movement or the participants. I respect that you and others are trying to get the conversation going and it can't be easy.
The source for the survey stat was a tweet made during the recent conference: http://twitter.com/shannonsortland/status/9759589343 - and it says 30%, not 60%, so that was my mistake and I'll own it. But still, that is a significant number of people who don't see equality as a major value that drives their behaviour, as you suggest. I'll be looking forward to more posts on the survey that explain what values are more important than equality and where they intersect with each other.
I appreciate the invite to blog at Reboot, but I'm also wary about taking on yet another project to educate people who have the ability and resources to educate themselves and just haven't. If I have to "teach" progressive people in Alberta about the importance of equality - well, I'm trying to think of something profound here, but really I'm reduced to shaking my head.
Trasie - I appreciate your passion on issues of equality but if you are going to change attitudes and culture you have to help people understand. Shaking your head isn't helpful to those ends.
ReplyDeleteWe all have our priority issues and concerns. They don't always align or overlap with each other. That does not mean the concerns of others are dismissed or devalued. It merely means energy and time and talents of some others are directed elsewhere.
If you want people to pay attention you have to get their attention and then give them a reason to engage. Gender equality is still a major economic and social problem but one of many that people are grappling with.
You don't have to "teach" progressives that there is a problem about equality. You have to teach them about what needs to be done to resolve it and what they can contribute to the solution.
You have said you have access to the work being done so why not share it with the rest of us. Why do we need to cover the same ground that you did to get it? Make it easy for people to learn and engage if you want their support.
Is violence against men a problem?
ReplyDeleteStats say 15% of domestic violence is against men and suspicion is actual numbers may be higher because men - like women - under report it - but for very differenct reasons.
ReplyDeleteI was the only male on the Alberta Domestic Violence and Bullying project a few years ago and my focus was on the male violence - both as victim and perp.
Trasie, Polly and anon,
ReplyDeleteHow did Ken writing that "I wonder if anyone in the Reboot Alberta movement will be picking up on this concern of violence and abuse of women and children and making it a matter of political importance" become a slight against all other movements and groups trying to achieve the same goals, of which, many are making progress? I took the "matter of political importance" statement to mean who will champion this important cause within Reboot?
This apparent quest for ideological purity is a bit astounding to me. Reboot is a group of people, roughly half of them women, that mostly share your views.
I live those values every day. Hell, all three of my bosses are women and more power to them. Achieving true gender equity remains an important issue, but the strategy of dismissing and marginalizing groups for the views of a minority of the members - instead of seeking allies in the fight - is not a productive one.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteI invited you and my readers to visit my blog where I have blogged about the issue under the category "violence against women." Also, having worked with RESOLVE Alberta as a reseacher, I'd be happy to direct anyone who emails me to relevant resources.
Violence against men is certainly an issue although careful examination of the stats reveals that women experience more serious partner violence, including murder. I do believe though than men face unique issues regarding stigma and this and other issues are discussed on my blog under "men's issues."
There are new programs in Alberta though that focus on helping men who have perpetrated violence rather than jumping to criminal sentences.
Ken, I have been blogging for 5 years under the pseudonym 'Polly.' People in the blogging community know me as that...and there is a clear link on my blog that my real name is Joanne Costello so please do not make an issue out of it...especially since (on the topic of violence against women), many women don't use their real names due to hate mail, etc.