Racism as a factor in violence against females

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Found this online

From a bit of Googling it seems that the majority of black/women colour experiencing domestic violence have been attacked/raped by their black/coloured partners/husbands.

Not sure if that should be labelled racism , like all domestic violence it needs to be taken seriously but police and medical staff.

by not but

Presumably, either black men are treated more leniently if arrested or fewer black women report domestic violence, possibly because they do not expect the police to do anything about it and to not believe them.

Thanks, gg. This is one of the things I'd kind of understood before.

I'm not sure how it could be determined TBH Baggs.

If it were a serial offender who was white and only attacked non white women or, a non white offender who only attacked white women then yes, that could be viewed as racism.

However, as we know the vast majority of violence against females occurs in the home so is unlikely to be driven by racism.

In the past couple of years I've read a number of articles about murdered/missing/abused indigenous women in Canada.

The general theme was because these women were from indigenous communities that it somehow didn't really matter and their lives were not so important to law enforcement agencies. As a result of this, abusive partners were able to get away with it.

Rather like the lives of their children who were so abused and even killed in the 'Care' system, after being separated from their families and sent off to be 'civilised'.

Grim.

I suspect that violence against females isn't in itself driven by racism, although that's probably not true in the stories of rape from war-torn areas.

However, I also suspect that MOnica's last point is true ie that women from some ethnic backgrounds don't report abuse to the police because they don't think anything will be done or they are wary of authority. That means it's difficult to collect accurate data and could mean that perpetuators of DV know there are unlikely to be consequences.

Good point about rape in war torn areas growstuff but still difficult to define as racism.

Smileless2012

Good point about rape in war torn areas growstuff but still difficult to define as racism.

To be honest, it was an afterthought, but I think it is racism. Conflicts are often caused by some kind of tribalism (ethnic or religious) and fighters sometimes show contempt for captured women in a way they don't show towards women of their own society. It's a way of showing power over the vanquished.

Knowing what I know ( through a friend who was raped) I wouldn’t report it.
The chances of the rapist being charged are obscenely low so why put yourself through that.
I’d deal with it myself with the help of friends and family.

Smileless
Ruanda being just one example.

Try looking at this a different way, or what I feel this topic should really be:

Oppression is the root cause of violence.

Let's take sexism and racism which are both forms of oppression. You could say "Most women will experience sexism" and you would be right.

But here is why we cannot concentrate the fight on sexism alone:

We cannot eliminate violence against women unless you eliminate all kinds of violence

So if the focus were only on sexism and racism was not addressed:

Some women would not be getting support due to racism in organisations

Some women would not be believed due to racism in organisations

Some women would still be being abused and attacked due to racism in society.

Other reasons women are oppressed

Sexuality
Gender identity
Age
Disability
Mental health

Add those to race and you can see how many women might be struggling to find support of any kind, not just from men but from other women.

We cannot eliminate violence against women until we eliminate all kinds of violence

The roots are oppression.

Some women face 1 kind of oppression, and some face 2 or 3 or more.

That doesn't put any woman's needs above anyone else's, it simply recognises that this is a fight on more than one front and We must fight all fronts together

What we have to do in order to fight this fight in multiple fronts is understand how they are different and how we are inclusive.

2 examples:

This means access for disabilities whether physical or having services that can be accessed online by deaf or blind people or nursing our vulnerable are safe.

This means fighting racism and understanding how racism or even just ignorance affects women. This means learning to recognise it so we can combat it.

This is how the same fight needs seperate discussions and this is how seperate discussions do not detract from each other.

I've been thinking about it since I responded to your post growstuff, and yes in that context it is right to define it as racism.

Women who report rape are incredibly brave Meryl and are to be admired for their courage.

As you say Ruanda is a terrible example of rape in a war torn area.

Growstuff
However, I also suspect that MOnica's last point is true ie that women from some ethnic backgrounds don't report abuse to the police because they don't think anything will be done or they are wary of authority. That means it's difficult to collect accurate data and could mean that perpetuators of DV know there are unlikely to be consequences.
Certainly when I volunteer at one centre, women from some ethnic backgrounds come in to talk about the DV that they suffer, but many would not take it further e.g. to the police, not just because of their husbands, but because of their families.
Do you think their lack of confidence in what the police could do is because the police are racist?
We are a listening ear, offering support where we can but the family/in-laws attitude is often unsupportive or even condemnatory.

Presumably, either black men are treated more leniently if arrested or fewer black women report domestic violence, possibly because they do not expect the police to do anything about it and to not believe them

I can't remember where I saw it but in the last couple of days I read that women of colour are less likely to report their partners for DV because they fear that their partner will be harmed by the police if arrested.

I'll see if I can find the link/article and if I do I will post it.

I think something has been confused from the other threads.

Black and ethnic minority groups of natal females face specific issues and need tailored support when in/out of a domestically abusive and/or violent situation. As do white women who may have other issues that require specific professional input too. None of this is excludes each other group.

I don't think racism is a factor in violence against women. In war crimes it is used to violate the enemy; in domestic situations it is frequently perpetrated against someone in a relationship, no matter of what race; in random acts it seems to be any female who is alone, unprotected and vulnerable.

Rape was used in Ruanda, in Germany by the Russians, in Ukraine now, as a weapon of terror and revenge, and always has been. I think it is established that domestic rape and violence has little to do with sex, far more with power and punishment. The problem is violence against women.
When people are advised:
"Women want the abuse to stop but we know what happens to black men in police custody. These women do not want to risk their abusers being hurt or murdered.”
It is difficult to tackle the problem.

Do you think their lack of confidence in what the police could do is because the police are racist?

Yes, I do - not all of them, by any means, but I've known enough police officers (and retired police officers) to know that there is, at the very least, casual racism.

However, it's probably more important that people from some ethnic backgrounds perceive the police to be racist. That's not surprising when people can see for themselves how the some police officers treat some black people.

I once taught in a school with very few black pupils, but if ever a group was just "hanging about", maybe looking a bit menacing, there was one black pupil who was always asked for ID and to empty his pockets, etc. He was completely harmless, but his black face meant he stood out from the crowd. Other pupils were outraged and I'm afraid an unhealthy view of the police developed.

Great post, vs

In the us there is an understandably rejection of police presence by minorities
Coupled with what M0nica said- women are not believed when reporting a crime, puts the women at a disadvantage

Eliminating racism would eliminate fear of coming forward due to racism as well as eliminating bad experiences for those coming forward to report abuse

Until we dismantle what is considered acceptable in society, including racism, misogyny, sexism, agism, etc. Violence against women will not be solved.

We can look at violence against women and wonder how to fix it, but unless we acknowledge that root cause of violence in general, things won't change.

The only way to bring awareness to it is to call it out in the spot and create a discussion in the wider sense.

Unfortunately, when large portions of a society makes excuses for bad behavior, intended or not, there will be no lasting change.

*When people are advised:
"Women want the abuse to stop but we know what happens to black men in police custody. These women do not want to risk their abusers being hurt or murdered.”

Ah that is what I saw, eazybee that I referred to up thread. Where did that come from, I just can't remember?

And before anyone tells me that these things aren't acceptable in society, we'll they are. Not by everyone, but apologists exist out there. We saw that this week.