* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Sandra Dickson is a feminist working to prevent sexual violence and other forms of violence against women in Aotearoa, New Zealand. She helped establish the counter-trafficking Poppy Project in London in 2003, and is now a member of the Roundtable on Violence Against Women in New Zealand. Sandra has also been involved in the Women’s Refuge movements in the UK and New Zealand, and has written a number of research papers about male violence against women. She blogs as Luddite Journo. The opinions expressed are her own. Thomson Reuters is hosting a live blog on March 8, 2011 to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.
In the year marking a century of activism focussed on International Women’s Day, this New Zealand feminist is tempted to take some kind of gender pulse of various key events.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange divided global popular opinion in 2010, not because of differing opinions of how safe his international relations leaks were, but primarily due to becoming probably the most high profile man accused of sexual violence in the world.
Media leaks and the Swedish state conspired to produce an unusual spectacle. How many men accused of sexual violence are tracked into other countries and held on house arrest? The Julian Assange case gave those whose primary sympathies lie with men accused of rape plenty of fodder – despite the fact the states involved behaved so atypically.
More typical were the justifications marshalled by Julian Assange, who denies the allegations, and his supporters. Film-maker Michael Moore, journalist John Pilger and feminist Naomi Wolf have been among Assanges’ apparent defenders. One of the concerns raised was whether Assange’s behaviour in Sweden “counted” as sexual violence, or was it really just ordinary, consensual, sexual activity?
More recently, Geoffrey Robertson QC, the lawyer acting for Assange in the extradition hearing in the UK, was even more explicit in defining the nature of sexual relationships. The resistance of the women concerned was “inarticulated”, the position one described of being pinned down while her legs were forced apart was “usually termed the missionary position”, and most chillingly:
“Sexual encounters have their ups and downs, their ebbs and flows. What may be unwanted one moment can with further empathy become desired.”
It’s been a long time since “no means no” has been so blatantly challenged in such a public forum. Almost like the second wave of feminism never happened.
Meanwhile in Italy a million women took to the streets to protest not only PM Silvio Berlusconi’s purchase of sex with a minor, but his television network’s use of women as sexualised adornments. In the European country with the highest rates of men buying sex, according to ProCon.org, Berlusconi’s behaviour has become the representative touchstone for sexist oppression and concerns about women’s rights.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, gender controversies abound.
New Zealand Police released, then withdrew, a recruitment campaign which reminded many that high profile officers Clint Rickards, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton had been acquitted in 2006 of raping a teenaged Louise Nicholas – though the jury did not know that Schollum and Shipton were, at time of trial, in prison for a gang-rape with similar characteristics.
More recently, Prime Minister John Key used his weekly spot on Radio Sport to talk about his envy of cricketer Shane Warne and golfer Tiger Woods, not for their sporting prowess, but because of their impressive multiple conquests of “hot women”. Was this was sexist objectification or ordinary human behaviour? For many in New Zealand what tipped the balance was his radio host companion, Tony Veitch. Most famous for pleading guilty to breaking bones in his female partner’s back, so avoiding a court case in which other assaults over a long period of time were alleged, Veitch was considered by many a spectacularly poor choice for blokey bragging.
Then there was local radio “The Rock” running a competition for listeners to “Win A Wife”:
“But we’re not going to give this opportunity to just anybody … If you’re interested in holy matrimony with a potentially hot foreign chick, fill it out to the best of your abilities. If we pick you, you’ll be heading to the Ukraine with 12 nights’ accommodation with $2000 spending money to meet the lucky lady!”
The Rock was described as “breeding date-rapists”, and greeted with outrage over an increasingly active feminist New Zealand blogosphere and elsewhere. Radio advertisers were targeted, the Ukrainian Embassy wrote to register their dismay, and feminists in Ukraine protested being treated as available for purchase.
Just a pebble in international gender relations The Rock may be – but feminist responses to this controversy and others this centennial Women’s Day year highlight the importance and effectiveness of social media and the internet.
Feminists now respond globally to events which concern us, in real time. We support one another, challenge one another, together grow our analysis and our power to fight back against rape myths and sexual objectification and many other feminist concerns, and we do this at a pace not possible for earlier generations.
For this feminist, that’s worth celebrating on 8th March 2011.
