Flavors of Violence II

Domestic Violence- Physical, verbal and emotional abuse from a family member such as a spouse or parent. According to Silent Witness National Initiative the overall trend of domestic violence was going down but their stastics end before the current recession started. With job loss and economic hardship I think it is unlikely the downward trend has continued. Add to that people are stuck in marriages they do not want to be in. So the cycle continues. To reduce this form of violence will take nothing less than a total transformation of our culture. For more information see The Domestic Violence Resource Center.

Sexual Violence- From the WHO -
"Sexual violence is a serious public health and human rights problem with both short- and long-term consequences on women's physical, mental, and sexual and reproductive health. Whether sexual violence occurs in the context of an intimate partnership, within the larger family or community structure, or during times of conflict, it is a deeply violating and painful experience for the survivor." 

I'd like to add men and children also can be victims of sexual violence.

It is not about sex but power. Here in the USA, being powerful and aggressive is valued and encouraged for men while these same traits are discouraged in women. In some circles having sex is equated to a "conquest."   However, this is only one of many causes. Another is dehumanization. Women or other victims are reduced to "objects" rendering them undeserving of basic rights and protections. This occurs often in high conflict areas such as wars. The sad cold truth is sexual violence is still culturally acceptable. If you are on this website, you are only a few keystrokes and clicks away from images and videos of torture, humiliation and rape of women men and even children. Continued gender stereotyping is everywhere. "When she says NO she really means YES."  As stated before sexual violence can include both male and male and female and female as well as male and female. Sexual violence can be against children as well. Again, will take a huge culture change to greatly reduce the often hidden amount of sexual violence that takes place every day.

Structural Violence- Cultural and governmental structures put into place which do harm to communities and peoples by putting into place a built in inequality. Israel's treatment of Palestine is a clear example. Even so called free societies are not free of structural violence but it can be more subtle. American "culture wars" is a more subtle form. Women and members of the LGBT community are singled out for unequal treatment based mostly on religious beliefs. This denial of equal treatment under the law not only harms others but also keeps the existing power structure in place. Gays are denied the same basic rights and freedoms as married heterosexual couples. The most powerful use "culture wars" to help maintain their positions. While you are voting "against" gays, you are unknowingly voting for the removal of social safety nets, more war profiteering and increasing income inequality.  Neoliberalism.

Slow Violence- Slowly unfolding harm done to entire communities or peoples. The poisoning of air and water that leads to suffering and illness. Some examples of this include areas of unsafe resource exploitation, denying entire groups of basic rights and freedoms and manufacture and distribution of unsafe products.   

Johan Galtung

"I understand violence as the avoidable impairment of fundamental human needs or, to put it in more general terms, the impairment of human life, which lowers the actual degree to which someone is able to meet their needs below that which would otherwise be possible. The threat of violence is also violence."




[Johan Galtung, Kulturelle Gewalt; in: Der Bürger im Staat 43, 2/1993, p. 106]

LINK

Back soon!

I've had a few things come up. Look for another post in the next few days.

-Paul

Flavors of Violence I

Violence

vi·o·lence

   [vahy-uh-luhns]  Show IPA

noun

1.

swift and intense force: the violence of a storm.

2.

rough or injurious physical force, action, or treatment: to die by violence.

3.

an unjust or unwarranted exertion of force or power, as against rights or laws:to take over a government by violence.

4.

a violent  act or proceeding.

5.

rough or immoderate vehemence, as of feeling or language: the violence of his hatred.

Violence is an easy term to understand. But it also comes in many flavors. They are all harmful in one way or another. Let's consider a few. 

Direct Violence - This is the version we are all most familiar with. Violent crime or person on person violence. The amount of direct violence we witness every day via the TV is unreal. Consider this, by the time a kid reaches elementary school, they have seen 8,000 murders on TV and 100,000 acts of violence. No, I did not make this up, look here. Check out this as well. Violent acts make up a huge part of TV news as well both local and national. This helps build ratings and profits, yet only a fraction of violence makes the news. We rarely hear about the child facing verbal and physical abuse day in or day out or the wife or girlfriend caught up in an abusive relationship. Their suffering is no less tragic and needs addressing. Despite violent crime going down, fear of violence is alive and well.   

Here in the USA the fear of violence is a driving force. How can we call ourselves "The Home of The Brave" with a straight face?  Fear drives much of our obsession with guns and the military. People keep loaded guns in both their homes and cars, more often than not ending in tragedy. If you are a gun owner, you are statistically more likely to be harmed by your own gun than use it defending yourself. Simple truth. We would rather have the illusion of safety than real safety it seems.  More guns do not translate into less violence and a safer world. We Americans are proof of that. We have by far and away the most guns and the most murders in the entire world. I don't blame it all on the guns but easy access to firearms exacerbates other problems with deep roots in American history and culture. We are not only afraid of each other, we are are also afraid of everyone else. 

We outspend the rest of the entire world on our military. 9/11/01 gave the powers that be a justification for dramatic spending not only on the military but law enforcement as well. What sense does it make to fight terrorism with the terrorism of state sponsored war? Many died on 9/11 from some assholes flying planes into buildings. Many more have died in the wars that followed and are still on going. How does continuing The War of Terrorism  stop terrorism when war is terror by another name? State Violence anyone?

State Violence- Occurs when the state uses it’s powers to harm own citizens. There are the obvious examples, Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia and Pol Pot’s Cambodia. These are extreme examples of states turning on their own citizens. State violence can be measured on a spectrum with the three already mentioned on one side and Western Democracies on the other. Now, this is not to say Western Democracies are without their fair share of wrong doing. They too have plenty to be held accountable for but killing massive numbers of their own people is not one of them (except the US). The US practiced what we would today call ethnic cleansing and genocide on the native peoples of this continent. No one was held to account for this horrific wrong committed against an entire culture. I think one could argue this rises to the level of a Hitler or a Pol Pot but the passage of time along with the winners writing the narrative makes it somehow seem less so. If you disagree, I’d ask you to look here and here. The numbers are pretty bad. Murdering people in huge numbers is still a crime against humanity no matter when or where it takes place. States don’t just murder their own. They use other forms of violence as well.

Minority oppression is all too common among existing states. There may be countries that have no history of minority oppression right down to this day but I cannot think of one. While people may not be out right killed, in too many places (one is too many) minorities face beatings, police harassment and structural violence. There are numerous examples of this going on all over the globe as you read this. Vietnam and the Montinynards, Central American countries and indigenous peoples Israelis and Arabs, America and black Africans, the list could go on and on. The violence is similar in each case and while in many places progress is being made, there is still a very long way to go. State Violence can also be unleashed on people with different ideas.

The idea of a more equitable and just world put forward by Occupy movements the world over have met with violent reactions here in the US. When discrediting, mockery and ridicule fail to work the back up is force. Massive amounts of resources are arrayed against largely peaceful demonstrators. Police armed better than a lot of armies are deployed against loosely organized peaceful demonstrators. Demonstrations are broken up and key people are arrested (sometimes even before a demonstration occurs). The state uses media influence to put fourth an "official" narrative about what happens from the law enforcement / government's point of view. Few if any questions are raised about why the protests are happening in the first place.     

In the next post, we'll examine the following: 
Sexual & Domestic Violence

Structural Violence 

Slow Violence 

A little longer post soon.

Doing a little research on different types of violence. Look for a post in the next day or two.

-Paul

Readings September 14, 2012

A Terrifying Way to Discipline Children

 

Romney losing Deep Red?

 

14 reasons why this is the worst Congress ever

Japan unveils plan to phase out nuclear power

The Muslim Protests: Two Myths Down, Three to Go

Private Prison Industry Grows at Our Expense.

That's right friends, we can now make money off of putting people behind bars. Where else could lock 'em up and throw away the key laws come from? In case you have not got the memo on one of the more recent themes of the free market can fix EVERYTHING, we now have the Prison Industrial Complex. The date on the article will let you know right away this is not all that new anymore. Sad to say this is a growing profit center er, industry. Read for yourself here. This is wrong on so many levels and in so many ways, it is difficult to know where to even begin. Let's look at a basic level. One reason for government is to administer justice. If we have no legal system in place, justice becomes an eye for an eye, revenge and or an on going blood feud. It may be entertaining for some in badly acted Chuck Norris or Steven Seagal flicks but this is not a place we really want to be. These male revenge fantasy movies some may find entertaining but they are about anything but real justice. They are about  violent aggression, male power, privilege (mostly reserved for whites) and an abysmal oversimplification of justice. Just consider some of the war torn places around the world that have no set justice system. Yes, our system is deeply flawed (two systems really - one for rich and one for poor) but it is a system none the less. We need to have a functional independent justice system. What is that?

What is a justice system for? Deter crime, punish and rehabilitate those who have harmed others and keep us safe are a few things that come to mind. These should be functions of the state free from undue influence of for profit corporations. They can only make money and "grow" in an unhealthy society with too strong an emphasis on "punishment" or even movie style revenge. How can there not be a huge conflict of interest between helping criminals reenter society and profit maximization based on prison population? Helping produce good citizens (or even okay ones) is totally at odds with cashing in on profits based on the incarcerated population growing. This is the so-called free market solution? Markets may be great for making better cars or burgers but I'd rather pass on a market driven justice system. I hear ya, we got that now! True but that is for another entry later on. Putting private firms in such a position only makes our current problems even worse. Justice is for sale to the highest bidder as it is and those who cannot afford justice become fodder for profits of far away shareholders. Meanwhile, community stakeholders get the shaft.

When these privately run intuitions starts mixing with justice on the local level, the real fun begins. See an example here. Our poor youth, those with mental health problems and even school kids get sacrificed on the holy alter of the "Market Solution." Everything else is sacrificed right along with them. Decent health care, food humane facilities are all out the window. Yeah, prison is not supposed to be a spa but we are talking about flesh and blood living, thinking and feeling human beings. They too are entitled to certain level of safety and security. The rest of us gain nothing by treating them like animals or worse. "The Market" does not give a shit about human suffering. Even the low level people who work for "for profit" justice often lose. They are often underpaid and under trained for the work they are asked to do. The community loses as well picking up the tab for countless shattered lives and repeat offenders for decades to come.  

This will only get worse if we continue to privatize every function of government no matter how important or vital it may be. There is a reason, well many, there is both "government" and "business." Those who think the two are interchangeable do so at their peril.  But that's for next time.