Since Sept. 11, 2001, the national political dialogue and the social world we live in has been transformed by real and imagined threats of terrorism. Billions of dollars are being spent internationally in the \War on Terror"" and domestically in the Department of Homeland Security. Fighting terrorism has become the new American priority. But what kind of terrorism are we fighting?
Terrorism is the use of violence, targeted or random, to cause disruption or destruction and to send a message. This violence is intended to instill fear and cause behavioral and societal changes. Current policies are designed to fight one type of terrorism, yet there are citizens of this country who are terrorized everyday, who experience continual and pervasive threats to their physical and mental health and well-being but are given few tools to fight it.
Violence against women in this country is domestic terrorism. Incest, child sexual abuse, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and violence against domestic partners are all overwhelmingly crimes committed by males against females with devastating results on the lives of individuals and society overall. Most of us, men and women, do not need to hear the statistics because many of us have experienced this violence firsthand or through someone we love. So where is the ""War on Domestic Abuse?"" Where is the ""War on Rape?""
The public obsession with international terror-what many Americans imagine as attacks that will come from young men from countries we really do not know much about-is unproductive and overshadows domestic problems. The vast majority of Americans can do little to prevent terrorist attacks and the public has little control over intelligence and military operations.
We should be discussing what we do have control over-the domestic terrorism that occurs in our homes, our schools and our streets every second of every day. Women, solely because of the body they have been born into, are subjected to a constant, elevated level of danger. In the United States, ""every hour 78 woman are raped. That's 1,872 per day, 13,000 a week, 52,000 a month, 629,000 a year,"" according to the National Center and Crime Victims research and Treatment Center. Over a lifetime one in four women will be the victim of sexual violence.
Abuse within marital and romantic relationships is also pervasive. The leading cause of injury for women in America is intimate partner violence. Thirty percent of women report having been physically abused by a boyfriend or husband at some point in their lives. While men are most likely to be killed by strangers, women are more often killed by a partner or ex-partner.
Some may say international terrorism has greater catastrophic potential, but while the effects of continual violence are not spectacular, they add up to more damage, monetarily and socially. The long-lasting impacts on girls and women's functioning as a result of violence cannot be ignored. Women face economic hardships due to missed work and lost wages, doctor and emergency room bills or counseling costs. They also spend substantial time and emotional and physical energy trying to heal and move on with their lives. An individual woman can be devastated or troubled for years by a single attack and women in abusive relationships have their lives controlled for decades. Domestic violence also has long-term effects on children.
Violence against women in this country is a form of terrorism because it serves as a method of control, ""all forms of violence (against women) can be defined as issues of power and control where one person or a group takes power and control over another individual or group"" according to Worcester & Whatley.
Popular wisdom tells women that the best way to avoid violence is to restrict their own behavior-do not walk alone or drink or dress provocatively and so on. This advice is convenient because it serves to maintain the status quo and requires no action from anyone but the people likely to be victimized.
Those in power choose to place an overwhelming focus on the outside enemy of international terrorism rather than on than on domestic terrorism because making internal changes might threaten their own positions and because women's voices are still unequally represented in high-level policy making. The media chooses to focus on the catastrophes-rather than quiet, everyday suffering because its impacts are subtler, less obvious and harder to sell. We need to challenge the illogical hypocrisy of spending billions fighting elusive, unknown enemies while refusing to confront the violence occurring in our own homes and personal lives.
The worldwide campaign, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, began Nov. 25 and will run through Dec. 10. Dozens of local and student organizations are taking part in it. Go to www.womenshealth.wisc.edu/16Days/16_calendar.html for a list of events.
