CALL TO ACTION: Sign SWAGAA's Petition Against article "Women Are The Worst Abusers"

on
This is an urgent Call to Action for all individuals, organizations, associations, churches, companies etc to stand in UNITE to put an end to Violence Against Women.           
 
The publication in the TIMES of Swaziland which sought to encourage and justify the hatred and violation of women was infuriating, inappropriate, derogatory and discriminatory. Such intolerable behavior must be chastised.
 
Please see the petition below, to sign up visit the SWAGAA facebook page and follow the Petition link . Sign up and stand in solidarity with us to take action against gender based violence. Please circulate widely. 

THE PETITION Well, we decided to publish it as well to show our support:


DEADLINE FOR PETITION - Dec. 14, NOON

 Please note additional information the Director of SWAGAA has included below:
PETITION
We the undersigned take the strongest exception to the article “Women are the Worst Abusers,” Dec. 9, 2012, Times Sunday.

 The article incites hatred, and breaches the rights of women which are human rights. It further encourages and justifies sexual and gender based violence...by endorsing and perpetuating misogyny. This is a display of a breach of journalistic ethics and good taste. Calling the brave women who against all odds, flee from abusive husbands “bitches” is extremely offensive, insulting and unacceptable.  

 The article also justifies the murder of 32 women by David Simelane, saying he had a “resentment towards women” because he served a prison term for a rape he says he never committed. It is extremely disconcerting to note that the tendency to claim that women ‘lie’ about the violations they experience persists.
 
The experience of gender based violence is a brutal, traumatic one and women do not risk putting themselves through the pain of reliving the experience, the humiliation and victimization that follows reporting of violations simply to ‘get back at someone’. It is precisely a misogynistic perception that would make such blanket statements and ignore the fact that women who report violence are often coerced into withdrawal and even denial of the experience due to a number of social factors- which do not mean the violence did not occur. The author states, “There are many cases we can quote as proof that most abuse against women is usually aggravated by women themselves.” Archaic, unsubstantiated, derogatory, incendiary language like this is deeply offensive and cannot be tolerated.

 Cebile Manzini-Henwood, Director of the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) notes, “Misogyny is a pervasive and subversive undercurrent and must be recognized for what it truly is for it to be eliminated. Some men express fear, disgust and hatred of women, often in the way of undermining their human rights and undermining the discrimination of women. This barbaric expression of insensitivity should not be tolerated in our society and such expressions of derogatory personal opinion should not be permitted at the expense of the best interest of our people, as it not only undermines who we are as a people, but also our integrity, dignity and intelligence.”

The writer of this article in the Times is obviously an example and must be stopped.
The Times’ Publisher and his editorial team must apologize for this gross lapse in judgment in publishing such hateful views and take positive measures to make sure such an occurrence does not happen again. If you agree that it is unacceptable, please sign the petition below. (on Facebook)
 
You can e-mail SWAGAA directly at
Swagaa.communications@yahoo.com Put “I Agree” in the subject line.

 SWAGAA, on behalf of the broader civil society, invites you to join this important campaign to stop the publication of hate speech. Let us put an end to violence against women and not be apologetic for doing so!!

 Already the following organizations have signed this petition and urge all their members and all those who care for justice and human rights to also do so:
• Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organizations

 • CANGO
• Swaziland Concerned Church Leaders
• SNAT
• Swaziland Positive Living
• Swaziland Agricultural Producers Union (SAPU)
 
You can e-mail SWAGAA directly at
Swagaa.communications@yahoo.com Put “I Agree” in the subject line.
 
 
Follow us on Twitter @swazistylescene, Find us on Facebook, Email us swazidivas@yahoo.com

Comments

Post a Comment