Discussion Leading

Jennifer Smith
Nina Perez
WST 3015
2/24/10


Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. "Violence Against Women." Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th Ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 257-73. Print.


Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey are the authors of “Violence Against Women” which is the preface to Chapter Six. The reading focuses on violence against women in the United States at the micro, meso, and macro levels, and includes many excerpts from other readings that contribute to Chapter Six.

This reading starts off by asking the question, “What counts as violence against women?” There have been many debates of the exact definition, and the different ideas of what counts as violence against women is discussed throughout this reading. The United Nations Declaration on Violence Against Women of December 20, 1993, defined such violence as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty whether occurring in public or private life” (258). Unfortunately only certain acts of violence are considered punishable by law because the legal system demands demonstrable damage or there is nothing to claim (258).

An important section in this reading is when the effects of race, class, nation, sexuality, and disability are discussed. Children and adolescents, prostituted women, homeless women, women with mental disabilities, institutionalized, very poor women, and women in neighborhoods with high crime rates are rarely included in surveys that look into women’s experiences with violence (263). How can we get a clear image of the number of women affected by violence if researchers ignore a large percentage of them? Some women don’t even report violence against them. Andy Smith is quoted in this reading as noting how in “patriarchal thinking, only a ‘pure’ body can be really violated”(263). These ideas cause some women not to report any violence against them since they don’t fit the “pure” body image and are less likely to be taken seriously.

The body of this reading looks at the explanations of violence against women at the micro, meso, and macro levels. These sections look at how popular culture, news media, and advertisements reinforce and encourage a culture of violence against women. Economic, legal, and political systems are also discussed and how they are connected to the treatment of women.

Ending violence against women is emphasized last in this reading.