It is a question that bothers me–WHY? WHY do we ask WHY? Especially when we are dealing with issues of women and abuse?

While this thought has occurred to me for a long time, two recent discussions on “BBC Africa Have Your Say” - “Is Mob Justice Justified?” and another on “Pambazuka News Podcast” -”Interview with women in North Kivu” triggered my attention back to this issue. In the February 7 2008interview with female victims of sexual violence and activists, women respondents narrate their ordeal to a Pambazuka field reporter. On, “Is Mob Justice Justified” aired on BBC Africa Have Your Say Tuesday 25 March, most callers supported mob justice arguably because of police corruption and distrust of the criminal justice system. Opponents argued that mob justice could target innocent people, it is barbaric or it interferes with the criminal justice system. Do we really need to ask for justifiability of mob justice against a criminal or perpetrators of violent physical and sexual crimes against women? to ask about justifiability? Should we ask victims to heinous crimes to narrate their ordeal in front of news cameras, courts of law or even researchers?

Believe me, I am a practitioner and activist for criminal justice and allowing the law to take its course. I believe in the constitution and in the inherent rights of people as humans. However, certain things are simply too disgusting for me to fathom. Why should we give a chance to people who violently abuse women, whether sexually or physically to tell us why and how they committed their criminal acts? Especially men who randomly and recklessly abuse females during war, using sex as a weapon of power. Do these men have female siblings, wives, grandmothers, mothers or female friends? Should we really give them a chance to face international criminal tribunals to narrate how they violently inserted male sexual organs, sticks, guns or rough objects inside women’s sexual organs? You will excuse me for being too graphic but this form of abuse bothers me graphically. Why should we grill female victims of this gross sexual abuse to narrate their ordeal to us on Pambazuka news or BBC Africa Have Your Say?
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I just read this morning that a true sista, supporter and inspiration to all her friends and readers, BrownFemiPower has shut down her blog. Devious Diva, another sista blogger explains why

My good friend and inspiration, brownfemipower, has taken down her blog. The reasons are complicated if you haven’t been following. They are simple if you have.

It started with three small words but those words had a whole history behind them that some people chose to ignore or trivialise.

Soon after that, a blogger who should know better chose not to credit bfp for being a source, an inspiration, a catalyst for her article.

Only new, inexperienced bloggers do not link. You only have to have been reading blogs for about five minutes to realise that links are important But this is not just about blogging.

This is about being ignored, marginalised, trivialised and hurt. Again.

Please read this incredible post from Problem Chylde*** which breaks down the whole issue far better than I could. An amazing work of love and impeccable research. The links in the main body of the post are to bfp’s work which is now down.

I feel full of sadness and anger that a beautiful inspiring woman of colour should be hurt in this way - much love to you dear friend and the memories of your words and the short time we spent together last summer will remain precious in my mind. The blogosphere is surely less of a place without your voice!

And while I am at it I’ll echo the words of Kevin over at Slant Truth -

I’m sick and tired of Obama supporters and Cllinton supporters–the hardcore partisan ones at least. You’ve all managed to turn the Oppression Olympics into the Oppression Wars. Nice that. If this is progressivism, I think I’ll go hang elsewhere.

*** PLAGIARISM EXPLAINED

Tags:
Blogging
Woman of Colour Blog

The UN decides Water is NOT a basic right.

The Harper government can declare victory after a United Nations meeting rejected calls for water to be recognized as a basic human right.

Instead, a special resolution proposed by Germany and Spain at the UN human rights council was stripped of references that recognized access to water as a human right. The countries also chose to scrap the idea of creating an international watchdog to investigate the issue, choosing instead to appoint a new consultant that would make recommendations over the next three years.

I don’t get this, how can this be possible - there is some seriously skewed up and frightening thinking going on here. This comment says it all

Interesting how the logic of psychopathic capitalism works. You are a human being. As such, you need water simply to stay alive. But if we recognize it as a human right, then we will not be able to bottle it and sell it to you. Therefore it is not a human right. If you cannot buy it and you incidentally die, that is not our problem.

British but the wrong colour - Black more on travel terror in Europe and the daily Question, are you really Breeish?

However to that police officer, that immigration officer, that airline worker and any other officialdom you come across as a citizen of the united Kingdom, it is a matter of Yes British but not the right colour and it seem frustrating that almost on a daily basis the posse ion of the UK passport is not enough as a tool of identity to an adopted homeland, You have to prove your commitment over and over again.

So here we are Black British and Proud but yet continue to face discrimination from British Institutions, Immigration officials questioning your possession of the British passport , British airline giving you 7 to 8 looks and interrogating you in spite of your possession of a valid British passport.

I am beginning to have serious thoughts about what People of Colour are doing in this country. Just maybe it is time for us all to rethink our lives and begin to consider returning home. It is only going to get worse. Already you have to show your passport if you: register at a doctor, rent accommodation, rent a van, rent storage, go to the dentist, even the gym asked for passport ID.

Nasra Al Adawi interviews Marian Douglas of Marian’s blog. Marian started the Facebook group “Women of Colour. Here she speaks about being an Afrodescendant of the Americas

I come from the population of the Americas which is the Afrodescendant people. Afrodescendants of the Americas are the largest population of African people outside Africa. We are all over the Americas, not only in the United States. My ancestors were trafficked from several different parts of Africa. They were the people who survived what is called “the Middle Passage” – that is, the ship voyage of thousands of miles and several weeks – 2 or 3 months, I think – across the Atlantic slave trade. Researchers say that Afrodescendants are 33% or one-third of the entire population of the Americas.

Queuing to vote via Bearded Man

Kids against war

Nigeria’s most beautiful - can you guess the winner?

Padlocked fences via The Road to the Horizon

Extra

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Zimbabwe
Burundi
Nigeria

An ex Albanian sex worker and drug dealer living in Greece, defends her choices - injured husband, no papers, no insurance and a family to support. She goes on to give her take on who is selling what in the “business of sex” and NGOs that work with governments to maintain structures of domination and undermine grassroots organising………..

Now I consider sex for money a lot like nursing: it helps people whose lives are incomplete for all sorts of reasons. It is not like sex for pleasure or love, it is a different type of sex. It’s a bit like the sex you have when you would prefer to sleep but your boyfriend wants sex, or when you like someone but not enough to have sex, but you feel sorry for them so you let them have sex. Or you want something from someone and they want sex so you arrange an unspoken contract for the exchange. Sex for money is more honest and direct. It was hard work, but not as hard as the farm work, and it paid much better.

Some women I know find the sex work soul destroying, but they also believed that women were second class people and sex for money made them unworthy of being wives. I couldn’t understand how eight minutes of sex, several times a day, should be the defining element of my spiritual identity.

Hmm those poor men with incomplete lives that need nursing - what stories do they tell? Where do I/we go if my life is incomplete for all sorts of reasons? I find empathy difficult in this case. BUT there are some uncomfortable truths in what she says regarding the hypocrisy and moralising around the sex act

Tags:
Sex Worker
Albania
Greece