The International Gender Studies Centre based at Lady Margaret Hall hosts weekly seminars. Since one of my tutors was associated with the Centre, she encouraged me to attend the seminars. The last lecture I attended was given by Dr. Kirsten McConnachie.
Dr. McConnachie discussed gender in the Thai-Burma border refugee camps among the Karen people. She discussed gender-based violence (GBV) and the mechanisms in place to deal with GBV. One aspect that I took to heart was the courage the survivors of sexual violence must have to pursue a case against their attackers. Part of the process is going to Thai courts and that is no small thing. Along with going to Thai courts the survivor must take the initial step of reporting what happened to someone that can help. Though the support systems exist, there is only so much confidentiality that can exist in such a densely populated area where everyone knows everyone's business. It's hard enough for survivors here in the US to report sexual violence and there is more confidentiality.
Changing rape culture is no small feat. I know too many survivors of sexual violence. Even one is too many. Education and awareness are key parts of any process of change (even if I think that's too slow it's still important). One study Dr. McConnachie cited, included a question to the young people if it was ok for a man to force a woman to have sex with him as long as he loved her. The majority of the young people said yes that was ok.
We still live in a world where there are people that think sexual violence is ok. I do support education and awareness as well as understanding. Survivors should be supported, not judged as if it was their fault. This cycle needs to end--we need to end sexual violence because expecting everyone to know that it isn't ok isn't working.
Bibliography
"Kirsten McConnachie" http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/people/academic-staff/kirsten-mcconnachie
"Protecting Refugee Women: Local/Global Relationships on the Thai-Burma Border" Dr. Kirsten McConnachie, 28 February 2013.
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