Distinguished scholar Veena Das spoke out against violence toward women in India's poor households at the Pyle Center Friday.
Das is this year's J. Jobe Soffa and Marguerite Jacqmin Soffa Distinguished International Visitor.
Das focused on violence committed against women in the Indian household.
\The household is a place for these small hurts. Further, this violent behavior from men is normal, but not normative,"" Das said.
Das' extensive work and interviews in India's poorer neighborhoods emphasized the prevalence of violence throughout India.
""They reject the idea of police intervention and rather emphasize the idea of domestic citizenship,"" Das said.
""For a woman to complain that her husband was not adequate was really to dishonor and disrespect her family and that of her husband,"" Das said.
Das looked to raise awareness of violence and women's roles around the world.
""In some cases, the extent of the abuse surprised me. Poor women in India have to deal with the combination of love and violence,"" said Robert Dawson, a global studies teacher from Rockford, Ill.
""It is always unique to remember that entire worlds and customs exist outside of our small communities here that do not share the same privileges,"" he said.
""In the past decade more than 100 violent conflicts have occurred. ... Veena Das is someone who has helped reflect on these conflicts, by asking us about the prevalence of social violence,"" said UW-Madison Associate Dean of International Studies, Aili Tripp.
Currently Das is a professor of anthropology at John Hopkins University, and taught at the University of Delhi for 30 years. She is the author of numerous books focused on social suffering, violence, gender studies and feminism.
""Professor Das shows how the victims are pawns of powerful men who use their position to impose characterizations of shame and dishonor among women,"" Tripp said.
