Cross posted on the Just Read Blog:
http://justreadcomo.blogspot.com/2009/06/romanticizing-abuse.html
I find romance a very troubling cultural concept because social norms of chivalry provide an effective mask for manipulation. Chivalry is based on a man protecting his partner, but this can also have the effect of making her emotionally, financially, or otherwise dependent on him. Culturally, women are taught to value these traits in their partner, which could hide warning signs of controlling behavior. With kindness, romance, and manipulation so closely linked, it can be confusing for those in an abusive relationship to understand their experience in the context of abuse.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Parallels between Mental Heath and Sexual Violence Advocacy
Confidentiality
Someone says they've been sexually assault? You don't share that information!
Someone says they have a mental illness? You don't share that information!
The ONLY reason to break confidentiality is if that person is an immediate threat to themselves, and even in that case you only tell another professional.
Let the person seeking help do it at their own pace.
There are tons of reasons why someone doesn't want to leave their abusive partner, remember all those four letter words? Fear, love, cash, kids, hope? Advocates need to respect this and not further disempower a victim/survivor by taking away their power of choice.
There are also tons of reasons why someone with a mental illness doesn't want to seek help. Perhaps some of those same four letter words? Fear, cash, hope? It is extremely disempowering to force a person with a mental health problem to seek services and accommodations before they are ready.
Working with the system is painful, triggering, and confusing.
The legal system is not friendly to rape survivors, or other victims of gender based violence. A women is forced to tell her story repeatedly and her case is unlikely to ever make it to trial. Many survivors choose to not going through the court system because it's too difficult with very little payoff.
The disability services institutions are not friendly to the mentally ill. There are dozens of hoops to jump through to prove a disability. The process is time consuming and emotionally draining. In many cases registering a disability is difficult to take on alone, and there are too few advocates to help someone through the process.
Listen, Support, Believe. Lying is extremely rare.
Myth: Women lie about being raped. False reports of sexual assault are rare. Rape is also the most underreported violent crime in the country. Part this is related to stigma; coming forward as a victim of sexual assault opens a women up to a series of victim blaming questions. Why was she there? What was she wearing? How much did she have to drink? Many women choose to not go through this and hide their survivor status. Why would someone who has not been sexually assaulted decide to be put in this position?
In the same fashion, people rarely lie about having a mental illness. They may joke about having OCD, or misunderstand what is classified as clinical depression, but most people who come forward with a mental illness have a real problem. There is a stigma around mental illness as well; once people learn an individual is mentally ill that person is open to all kinds of speculation and analysis. Why would a person without a mental illness open themselves to that kind of judgement?
Sexual assault and domestic violence advocates: you clearly understand these concepts in relation to victims and survivors. It's not difficult to see the similarities and find empathy for people with mental illness as well. In everything in social justice there are intersections of oppression and as advocates we have a responsibility to recognize those intersections and address them.
Someone says they've been sexually assault? You don't share that information!
Someone says they have a mental illness? You don't share that information!
The ONLY reason to break confidentiality is if that person is an immediate threat to themselves, and even in that case you only tell another professional.
Let the person seeking help do it at their own pace.
There are tons of reasons why someone doesn't want to leave their abusive partner, remember all those four letter words? Fear, love, cash, kids, hope? Advocates need to respect this and not further disempower a victim/survivor by taking away their power of choice.
There are also tons of reasons why someone with a mental illness doesn't want to seek help. Perhaps some of those same four letter words? Fear, cash, hope? It is extremely disempowering to force a person with a mental health problem to seek services and accommodations before they are ready.
Working with the system is painful, triggering, and confusing.
The legal system is not friendly to rape survivors, or other victims of gender based violence. A women is forced to tell her story repeatedly and her case is unlikely to ever make it to trial. Many survivors choose to not going through the court system because it's too difficult with very little payoff.
The disability services institutions are not friendly to the mentally ill. There are dozens of hoops to jump through to prove a disability. The process is time consuming and emotionally draining. In many cases registering a disability is difficult to take on alone, and there are too few advocates to help someone through the process.
Listen, Support, Believe. Lying is extremely rare.
Myth: Women lie about being raped. False reports of sexual assault are rare. Rape is also the most underreported violent crime in the country. Part this is related to stigma; coming forward as a victim of sexual assault opens a women up to a series of victim blaming questions. Why was she there? What was she wearing? How much did she have to drink? Many women choose to not go through this and hide their survivor status. Why would someone who has not been sexually assaulted decide to be put in this position?
In the same fashion, people rarely lie about having a mental illness. They may joke about having OCD, or misunderstand what is classified as clinical depression, but most people who come forward with a mental illness have a real problem. There is a stigma around mental illness as well; once people learn an individual is mentally ill that person is open to all kinds of speculation and analysis. Why would a person without a mental illness open themselves to that kind of judgement?
Sexual assault and domestic violence advocates: you clearly understand these concepts in relation to victims and survivors. It's not difficult to see the similarities and find empathy for people with mental illness as well. In everything in social justice there are intersections of oppression and as advocates we have a responsibility to recognize those intersections and address them.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Macro, Mezzo, Micro
I think there is a societal perception that lobbying is inherently evil, but it is essential to many goals of the social or environmental justice movements and nonprofits. There is a clear benefit to allowing nonprofit groups, who are potentially experts in their field, to represent their cause in the legislature. It can bring widespread awareness to a particular topic and give a community the tools to improve their situation. Within limits there is a purpose to nonprofit lobbying.
In most cases however, lobbying means top-down change because one is addressing only lawmakers, but top-down is not always successful. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a great example of this. One provision in this federal law required that firearms be removed from the home of anyone arrested on a domestic violence charge. In Missouri, we have no specific law requiring this to be done, so Missouri law enforcement does not have the jurisdiction to remove the firearms. They must call a federal agent to remove the firearms, which rarely happens. The bill to change the Missouri law to match VAWA has failed to pass the Missouri legislature nine times. The top-down mandate didn't create tangible change on the ground level because it did not have the support of the local community.
Laws mean nothing if they are not enforced and convincing a community to enforce an unpopular law takes a culture change. Advocacy and grassroots organizing are crucial to the success of any cause. People need to believe that what you promote is in their best interest or the community's best interest. Culture change is a slow process; sometimes it means talking to individuals one at a time. This can be disheartening and we may never see the results of our work, but that does not make the work less important. We need the board room types and we need the people on the ground.
Even if you have only changed one mind today, you have still advanced the cause: one person closer to culture change.
In most cases however, lobbying means top-down change because one is addressing only lawmakers, but top-down is not always successful. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a great example of this. One provision in this federal law required that firearms be removed from the home of anyone arrested on a domestic violence charge. In Missouri, we have no specific law requiring this to be done, so Missouri law enforcement does not have the jurisdiction to remove the firearms. They must call a federal agent to remove the firearms, which rarely happens. The bill to change the Missouri law to match VAWA has failed to pass the Missouri legislature nine times. The top-down mandate didn't create tangible change on the ground level because it did not have the support of the local community.
Laws mean nothing if they are not enforced and convincing a community to enforce an unpopular law takes a culture change. Advocacy and grassroots organizing are crucial to the success of any cause. People need to believe that what you promote is in their best interest or the community's best interest. Culture change is a slow process; sometimes it means talking to individuals one at a time. This can be disheartening and we may never see the results of our work, but that does not make the work less important. We need the board room types and we need the people on the ground.
Even if you have only changed one mind today, you have still advanced the cause: one person closer to culture change.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Operation Cat Drop
One of my favorite cautionary tales about the interconnectedness of all things:
http://catdrop.com/
This is interesting and still relevant in the context of modern malaria prevention. We can't rush into a seemingly simple chemical solution (currently pyrethrin on nets and some DDT for indoor residual spraying) that will have potentially devastating long term consequences.
http://catdrop.com/
As part of anti-malarial campaign in the northern states of the island of Borneo in the late 1950’s, the World Health Organization sprayed DDT and other insecticides to kill the mosquito vector for malaria. During this campaign, DDT was sprayed in large amounts on the inside walls and ceilings of the large “long houses” that housed an entire village in these areas. As a consequence of this effort, the incidence of malaria in the region fell dramatically. However, there were two unintended consequences of this action. There was an increase in the rate of decay of the thatched roofs covering the long houses because a moth caterpillar that ingests the thatch avoided the DDT but their parasite, the larvae of a small wasp, did not. Also, the domestic cats roaming through the houses were poisoned by the DDT as a consequence of rubbing against the walls and then licking the insecticide off their fur. In some villages, the loss of cats allowed rats to enter, which raised concerns of rodent-related diseases such as typhus and the plague. To rectify this problem in one remote village, several dozen cats were collected in coastal towns and parachuted by the Royal Air Force in a special container to replace those killed by the insecticides.
This is interesting and still relevant in the context of modern malaria prevention. We can't rush into a seemingly simple chemical solution (currently pyrethrin on nets and some DDT for indoor residual spraying) that will have potentially devastating long term consequences.
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