Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

History of Feminism

Showing Original Post only (View all)

theHandpuppet

(19,964 posts)
Fri Sep 12, 2014, 09:58 AM Sep 2014

Remember Reeva Steenkamp, and the thousands of other women killed by men every year [View all]

(UK Blog)
The Independent
Karen Ingala Smith
Thursday 11 September 2014
Remember Reeva Steenkamp, and the thousands of other women killed by men every year
Two women a week are killed by a partner or former partner in England and Wales. We should be horrified by all the deaths of all women killed through male violence, regardless of who committed the crime

Fatal male violence against women is a worldwide problem, yet it is rarely headline news, like it is today. As we wait to find out whether Oscar Pistorius will be convicted of culpable homicide for shooting Reeva Steenkamp dead, I’m reminded of last week when news of the beheading of 82-year-old Palmira Silva was met with horror, yet very few people were aware that she was the third woman in London to have been beheaded in less than six months.

In South Africa, in 2009, 1024 women were killed through intimate partner violence, that’s one woman dead at the hands of her partner or former partner every 8 hours. You won’t hear about most of them. Yet last year Reeva Steenkamp’s death was news across the world within hours, because the man who killed her was an internationally famous athlete...

...The statistic that two women a week are killed by a partner or former partner in England and Wales is so well known that it rarely shocks. It should. Since January 2012, when eight women were killed through male violence in the first three days of the year alone - three shot, two stabbed, one strangled, one smothered and one beaten to death through 15 blunt force trauma injuries - I’ve been counting and naming the women in the UK killed through suspected male violence. This year, by September 4, at least 100 women had been killed. That’s one woman dead every 2.36 days. Few of their names are known outside their immediate circles.

There should not be a hierarchy of dead women. Male violence against women is an issue that should concern us all, and we must be more vocal in talking about it. Most women who are killed are killed by men. Most men who are killed are killed by men. Women make up around 32 per cent of murder victims in the UK but only six per cent of killers. Almost 94 per cent of murderers in the UK are men. We will never end male violence if we cannot name it.... MORE at http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/remember-reeva-steenkamp-and-the-thousands-of-other-women-killed-by-men-every-year-9727469.html


12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
K&R with sadness. brer cat Sep 2014 #1
... littlemissmartypants Sep 2014 #2
I'm so glad you got out, too!! theHandpuppet Sep 2014 #3
I too am very glad you managed to escape that situation. nomorenomore08 Sep 2014 #9
In the meantime ismnotwasm Sep 2014 #4
Was that here on DU? theHandpuppet Sep 2014 #5
That's not really fair elias7 Sep 2014 #6
Without significant long term historical context ismnotwasm Sep 2014 #7
Understood... elias7 Sep 2014 #8
But where do you think such an intense desire for "power and control" comes from? nomorenomore08 Sep 2014 #10
I don't think it's from hatred elias7 Sep 2014 #12
... nomorenomore08 Sep 2014 #11
Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»History of Feminism»Remember Reeva Steenkamp,...»Reply #0