In Brazil, domestic violence endangers the lives and limits the aspirations of women across all age groups. One woman—Panmela Castro of Rio de Janeiro—has crafted a unique approach to speak out against the abuse she has witnessed her mother, aunts and friends experience, as well as experienced herself. By producing inspiring graffiti art with others who have survived or witnessed domestic abuse, Castro has united women in a common cause: to break the silence on domestic violence and protest its normalization. She is now the president of the Nami Network, an organization which promotes women’s rights through graffiti. Castro’s project has spread to Peru and neighboring countries, and she was named one of the 150 women who have shaken the world by Newsweek.
Pakistani Women Continue to Push for Societal Change
On March 8, Pakistani women’s rights activists took to the country’s streets for the Aurat March, which celebrates International Women’s Day and advocates for better treatment. The organizers of the protest immediately experienced backlash from the Taliban.
Pakistani woman sitting with friends. Vicki Francis. CC BY 2.0
Pakistani women, despite the presence of the Taliban in the country, still organized and marched on International Women’s Day. The Aurat March included pushing for accessible health care, basic economic rights and equal opportunities for women. After the marches, the Taliban posted a forbidding statement: “We want to send a message to those organizations who are actively spreading obscenity and vulgarity in our beloved Pakistan. Fix your ways.” The Taliban accused participants in the Aurat March of insulting Islam. The group falsified photos and videos, signifying that protesters held the French flag.
The social media organizer for the Aurat March in Karachi responded to the Taliban’s accusations of “obscenity and vulgarity” on Twitter: “Their attempts do not and will not deter us. We will continue to organize and speak out against the violence we are subject to. We will continue to build political power and fight back.”
Pakistan was ranked the world’s fourth worst-performing country when measuring women’s well-being and empowerment in their homes, communities and societies, according to the 2020 Women, Peace and Security Index. At least 28% of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence, according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey. In the same survey, 40% of men agreed that it was acceptable to beat one’s wife under certain circumstances. With no national data for comparison, the scale of the violence against Pakistan’s women is difficult to gauge with other countries.
The fight for women’s rights in Pakistan is not new. In 1983, over 200 women marched on the Lahore High Court in protest against former Gen. Zia ul-Haq’s discriminatory laws. In 1979, Zia enacted the Hudood Ordinance, which required four male witnesses for an accusation of rape. Under this same ordinance, women who filed accusations of rape without without the proper witnesses could be sent to jail for adultery.
In December 2020, President Arif Alvi signed into law an anti-rape ordinance that approved the speedy trial of rape cases with women and children as victims. The ordinance also include the creation of a countrywide registry of sex offenders. The law came months after a rise in social outcry across Pakistan because of a motorway gang-rape incident.
Inequalities are still seen between men and women in Pakistan through lower literacy rates, lesser wages and a smaller representation in government. Pakistan ranked 151 out of 153 countries on global gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020.
Despite the adversities facing women in Pakistan, they continue to organize and push for sweeping changes. In the words of Aurat March Karachi’s social media organizer, “Merely existing is a radical act of resistance.”
Kyla Denisevich
Kyla is an upcoming senior at Boston University, and is majoring in Journalism with a minor in Anthropology. She writes articles for the Daily Free Press at BU and a local paper called Urban Media Arts. Pursuing journalism is her passion, and she aims create well researched multimedia stories which emphasize under-recognized narratives to encourage productive, educated conversation.
Group of Aboriginal children in the early 1900s. Kay- Aussie~Mobs. Public domain
The Continued Abuse of Australia’s ‘Stolen Generation’
The term “Stolen Generation” was coined after deeply discriminatory government policies were passed in Australia between 1910 and 1970. This was due to the fact that many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes under the pretense of “assimilation” into “white society.” Assimilation was based on the “assumption of Black inferiority and white superiority, which proposed the Indigenous people should be allowed to ‘die out’ through a process of natural elimination or, where possible, assimilation into the white community.” This tragedy led to children being torn from their families, taught to reject their culture, forced to not speak their native languages and required to adopt white culture in new white families they were brought into.
Aboriginal people of white parentage, known at the time by the derogatory term “half-castes,” were most at risk of being removed from their homes since it was thought they would be easier to assimilate into white culture because of their lighter skin. Many were abused and neglected, and they received minimal education due to the assumption that the highest they would go was indentured servitude or work as manual laborers. The ensuing trauma has caused both the children and families mental trauma while the continued societal abuse such as stolen wages and racial discrimination was and still is prevalent. This is especially evident in statistics such as incarceration numbers and yearly wages. After George Floyd’s death, “debate raged about Australia’s own history.” By looking into the Australian national statistics, it was revealed the distrimination from back in the early 1900s has continued into the present.
Stolen Wages Still Prevalent Today
“Back in the early 1970s, Aboriginal people living in remote areas were being paid as little as 19% of the non-Aborginial population.” The average Indigenous income is roughly only 44% of the median non-Indigenous income, though the gap is starting to close for the 37% of the Indigenous population living in Australia’s major cities. 20% of the Indigenous population living in cities is still living in poverty, though, along with more than half of those living in rural areas. Even more concerning, “about 10% of the Indigenous population also received no income at all and that includes government payments. It is unclear how these people survive.”
Largest Incarcerated Population in the World
An even more shocking statistic was found in 2018 that “100% of children being held in youth detention in the (Northern) Territory are Aborginal.” They are currently the most incarcerated people in the world - not always for committing crimes. Tanya Day was arrested for sleeping on a train, later dying from repeated head injuries in jail. Additionally, a woman named Ms. Dhu was found dead in jail due to untreated injuries caused by prior family violence and abuse. The coroner said her medical care was “deficient” since the police refused to treat her, believing she was “faking it.” There have been serious concerns about racial profiling that have been directly correlated to arrests made - and the arrests not made. It was found that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up about 2% of the general population but represent 28% of those in prison.” It has been estimated that in the last 29 years, one Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island person has died every three weeks in jail.
Higher Levels of Domestic Violence, Abuse and Poverty
Another impact of Aboriginals being forced to assimilate into white communities is a staggering amount of domestic violence and abuse. Aboriginal women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalized from domestic abuse; however, when Aboriginal women try to call police for help, they are often arrested instead for defending themselves. This has also led to the statistic that Indigenous people have a lower life expectancy than the average non-Indigenous person, by an estimated 9 years. This has been blamed on factors such as poverty, poor health care, lack of healthy food, low living standards and more.
The reality of today’s society in Australia is the hidden discrimination that started in the early 1900s and prevails even today. With the recent global reaction to racial discrimination and slavery, a closer look into Australia’s history has revealed these revelations that have often been covered up and disputed. Efforts to increase awareness of the current state of affairs in the country have been underway and protests continue despite an absence of widespread media coverage.
Elizabeth Misnick
Elizabeth is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.