letters of the living

A recent CNN report on women in Afghanistan revealed that as many as 90% of Afghan women are victims of domestic violence: "Abusers are rarely prosecuted or convicted, and many women do not know their rights or who to turn to."

Huh. What about in the good ol' US of A?

“What is almost as horrifying as rape is how normative it is in our culture: FBI crime statistics tell us that close to 40 % of all men living intimately with women have battered their partners during the course of the relationship. By "battering" we mean the use of and repeated threat of physical force to dominate and control a woman. From this definition and these statistics, we might conclude that battering is "normal" behavior in this culture. Seventy-five to ninety percent of rapes are committed by male acquaintances: family members, co-workers, classmates, dates, boyfriends, husbands. Battering and rape aren't, as many of us would prefer it, being committed by pathological freaks. Women are most often victimized by men they once trusted and loved.”

(Male Violence and Male Privilege, Bathrick, Dick; Kaufman, Gus Jr., Ph.D.)

40%. In the "Land of the Free." Why do we have no problem extending a sin-covering eye towards ourselves with such a high number? Add to the 40% statistic the unaccounted-for intimate violence perpetrated against women by men they do not live with- whether in the form of dating violence, stalking, or sexual violence, and the number would become astronomically higher. Women can usually expect their attackers to be men that they know, friends, family, lovers, husbands. But stranger violence also occurs. One in 2.5 American women is a victim of sexual assault in her lifetime. One in three girls is sexually abused before she turns 18. I'll let you tally up the percentages there. What's more, according to the CDC, violence against women is the second leading cause of death among 20-24 year old American females, and the third leading cause of death among 15-19 year old girls. Well, thank God we're not in Afghanistan, eh? Kind of makes you want to raise a glass to making it past 24.

Speaking of Afghanistan- it turns out rates of "spousal aggression" by US soldiers are climbing. It has become so intense Congress created a task for to investigate domestic violence on military bases:

"One of the first places it visited was Fort Bragg in North Carolina, which became notorious only two years later when four army wives were killed by their husbands or ex-husbands in a six-week period; three of the cases involved Special Operations soldiers who had been in Afghanistan, and two of the perpetrators killed themselves as well. In all, there were 832 victims of domestic violence at the base between 2002 and 2004, according to the army's own figures."

Operation Enduring Freedom, was it? I'm not sure how much longer we can be expected to endure. Not to mention the female soldiers being raped by their male "brothers" while in the line of duty- what vision of enduring American freedom was it they are bleeding to uphold? How again was their being raped going to free Afghan women? Or was it supposed to find Osama bin Laden, I forget....why are we still there again? 60% of women in the US Military Reserves and National Guard report Military Sexual Trauma. My question- if you get raped by Uncle Sam, does that get reported as family violence or a war crime? Again, I forget.

A friend told me today she thinks it's like the guidelines the FDA uses to decide how much rat hair, insect fragments, and feces are acceptable levels of contaminants in any given food product that will be consumed in the US before it's pulled from the shelves. These guidelines are called the "Action Levels." They measure exactly how much shit Americans are willing to swallow. Example: 3 rodent hairs in that vat of Apple Butter? No problem. But, four rodent hairs means the processing plant has to throw it out. A 40% wife-beating level is apparently okay with Americans, no problem in fact. Maybe we'll all benefit from the hidden extra protein- besides, what we don't know won't hurt us. But a higher percentage? One we actually have to talk about and think about and see the broken fragments of on CNN? One that's perpetrated by folks who pray to Allah and not good ol' Apple Pie? Well, that's down-right un-American.