Day 2: Get the statistics & petition a politician!

check out the TTBT campaign video and the linked videos below

Daily Actions
read more on the TBTT site

As a sociologist, I've known the difficulties of collecting and compiling data over time on sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence in my university town(s) as well as my more recent experiences working on domestic violence issues in Bangladesh. "Official" population or survey data are limited owing to the sensitivity of the questions as well as the survivors' experiences definition of harassment, rape, sexual assault and of shame-blame/honor/family and so forth. These data challenges occur around the world.

In the USA, we have had access to such data since the 1980s and we still have varying estimates such as 1 in 3 women experience sexual assault in their lifetimes and 1/4 domestic violence. Definitions also vary among researchers in USA and else where. Do these estimates refer to harsh words, grabbing, hitting, injuring, rape, and/or some combination, including death? Some women seek an order of protection, which may restrict contact with an abuser, but doesn't provide ironclad security against another assault. The filing of charges and convictions are even lower although changes in laws, police enforcement, legal advocates, and support have improved reporting and sanctions from previous levels. For example, when I started teaching at my university in the early 1980s, women students who reported stalking by men had few legal options. These newer laws had provided some legal recourse (although still difficult to charge and prosecute).

All these factors have led to ongoing underestimates of the problems and less attention to the causes and solutions by lawmakers, legal authorities, governments, and civil society. Ironically, domestic violence shelters have seen more demands for their services during the ongoing economic recession, while the state governments and funders have dramatically cut their funding. So one action for these 16 days might be to donate money, goods, and time to local domestic violence shelters and programs.

This use/misuse of ICT has received some attention mostly in widely publicized cases of abuse/bullying on basis of gender, sexuality, race-ethnicity (or intersections) on social networking sites by fake accounts, mobiles-cell phone use of photos, videos, sexting, and other activities. These forms of harassment have led to suicides, deaths, and socio-emotional trauma and only then do we hear about more cases across the USA. At the same time, some cell apps such as Hollaback can help pinpoint harassers and their locations. Once again we need more systematic data on these abuses as well as timely education and solutions on bullying, abuse of power, and harassment via newer forms of ICT such as social networks, smart phones, video cameras, and more!

In contexts where government and legal authorities have ignored or paid limited attention to sexual assault and domestic violence in the paucity of laws or enforcement and gathering data, we need to encourage the gathering of good, quality, and unbiased data on these crimes and their legal outcomes as well as concrete action and education. Meanwhile governments, schools, and parents will continue ignore how harassers and abusers find ways to use ICT to harass and abuse women through phone calls, social networks, sexting, broadcase of videos-photos (from mobiles and webcams) and more. Education also includes training young women and men on the vagaries and respectful use of ICT. For example, when posting "fun party" pictures on the internet, many people remain unaware that their images and words will stay on the internet and social networking sites. These materials can be retrieved by employers and future partners & in-laws by a simple google search. Some posters/postees have lost their jobs as a result. Likewise, adda-gossip-and facts about certain domestic violence-murder cases that went viral out on social media continue to circulate. This information can serve to inform-alert as well as serve as cautionary tales for what happens if women do and/or do not speak up. The TTBT site has many good suggestions and ideas for safe surfing and participation.

This brings me specifically to Bangladesh, which only in spring 2010 approved legislation against domestic violence despite rates that rank among the highest in the world. Unfortunately, the enforcement of laws against violence against women such as sexual assault, acid throwing, and sexual harassment, eve-teasing, and bullying have been limited and politicized. As more girls and young women attend schools, eve-teasing (illegal in Bangladesh) has limited women's education and mobility (see Bangladesh battles sexual bullying) and increased young women's suicides. In response the government has increased some police patrols outside of schools and some undercover women police in schools. This media report 500 arrests...and I wonder how many convictions and actual punishment for these actions and when eve-teasers turn on guardians?

As more and more Bangladeshi have acquired mobiles, such devices have become another vehicle for communication and harassment (ofen anon.) especially among young women and men who have little experience with respectful communication with each other. I observed this among male staff in a research project who used their mobiles in courting phone calls (bhalobashi kotha--love talk--I called it). Computer teachers and I talked with young women who came to the now closed Nari Jibon office in their mobile and internet communication including voice chats. We tried to provide some training on safe use of the internet and ICT. I wonder how they are faring in the expanded use of mobiles as well as the limited safe cyber cafes-spaces of the internet?

This can even affect bideshis (foreigners) as myself with unwanted phone calls by men who randomly call numbers until they reach a woman, esp foreigner (I've written about this in earlier blogposts). I threatened to call the mobile provider and police if he persisted in his phone calls. If politicians and law enforcers lack the will to deal with existing laws while insisting that every cell phone be registered to a listed person, then once again overburdened women's organizations and like-minded allies-- including the media-- must document and publicize the various ICT abuses and incidents.

So reach out and "touch" some one respectfully with kind, thoughtful words via your venue of choice...and insist that we have good data and practices dealing with those who abuse ICT.

In line with Day 3, on slogans....Refuse to be Abused....

Justice for Nadine delayed again--fugitive Sajid Huq again no show in NYC court 3 Dec

NEW RESOURCE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN JANUARY 2008:
NEW BLOGSITE OUT AGAINST ABUSE TO EDUCATE AND ORGANIZE THE SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY ABOUT DOMESTIC-GENDER ABUSE--PLEASE READ, COMMENT, AND SHARE THIS RESOURCE

In regard to (lack of) Justice for Nadine:

Her alleged abuser and rapist, fugitive Sajid Huq, missed a second court date on 3 December in New York City. An erstwhile Columbia University graduate student, he has been absconding since missing his first court date (1 Nov--warrant issued). Meanwhile, he (and his friends) have been posting his rationalizations for his abuse-rape on various blogs via a variety of names. See for example, in mid November, the excellent post on the case by Abdul Kargo and the ensuing comments--some by Sajid et al in T'ings 'n Things "What is a woman's worth measured against?". See my own recent post on the case and coverage in Bideshi Blue and other posts-links in the last month.

You can read more about this case on the Justice for Nadine facebook page, 9,411 and counting members from around the world, including pictures of Nadine post assault and also picture of Sajid. Pls inform the police and/or call 911 if you see him.


My thoughts are with Nadine and her family-friends during this difficult time.

Beyond this case, please reach out: listen and learn more and join community discussions and programs on domestic violence and violence against women VAW such as OUT AGAINST ABUSE ...where ever you are.

Day 4/Media, Sexism, VAW & Blog Coverage Justice For Nadine

On this day, we look the media & sexism in its mixed coverage of rape, dowry, and domestic violence. Media coverage can be complicated in countries such as Bangladesh with little reliable data on VAW and where legal and advocacy organizations must rely on news stories to count incidents and severity. In Bangladesh, most data on sexual assault and domestic violence come from newspaper story compiled by NGOs and human rights organizations such as Odikhar, Mahila Parishad, and Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association. These counts depend on the willingness of media reporters to write the stories and of the survivors to talk with reporters and/or people outside of the family. Some reporters can provide reliable reports and understanding of the power-gender dynamics, while others write stories with a sensational nature, victim-blame or as entertainment. Often coverage of any one case ends after the initial article and readers have no sense of the legal resolutions of cases as happened in the case of tortured-murder Rahela, a garment worker in 2004 among others.

An ongoing case that exemplifies these issues is the media and less than critical blogosphere coverage of a domestic violence-rape case filed in New York City in September against a Bangladeshi graduate student, Sajid, who allegedly beat and raped his wife, Nadine. He failed to show up for his court hearing in NYC in beginning of November and is a fugitive, who has continued to blog under his and a variety of fake names. Rather than to deny the charge, in his trail of blog posts-emails, he has described-justified his behaviors, which originally resulted in his arrest by NYC police. In turn, he has made a series of allegations about Nadine, none of which would stand as a defense against his abuse and rape charges in USA courts.

Concerned about the brutality and events in this case, others set up a Facebook page, Justice for Nadine, which provided support & information & post-abuse photos about her case and has responded to Sajid's et al ongoing postings. Soon they refused to get into point-counterpoint discussions and ceased responding to an onslaught of emails and pseudonym posts by Sajid et al. Missing from most of these blogs--any understanding of issues surrounding marital rape, domestic violence, and the gender power dynamics. Instead, many of the posts read like adda or gossip.

After an initial flurry of posts in October, most bloggers had ended their coverage until the middle of November when, Abdul Kargo wrote an excellent post, "What Is a Woman’s Worth Measured Against? Blogger Kargo has thoughtfully and deftly dealt with the variety of comments-issues generated by his readers and the reappearance of Sajid et al, who closed down his blog about the time Kargo wrote his post. During this month, some of the comments by Sajid et al have become repetitive intellectual excuses for his criminal behaviors and insulting language directed toward Nadine and those who seek an end to VAW. Others have challenged such comments, discussed the dynamics of VAW and responses when women speak up. They called for a change in in the nature of the comments posts and more community action to combat VAW. Today, I posted this comment #99, which expresses my sentiments on this case and the thread:

"Last night I wanted to say bash/shesh–enough, stop. Allowing fugitive sajid et al another forum to repeat their bogus pomo excuses over and over again creates ‘revictimization’, esp for survivors of abuse who may be reading. This also gives others the cautionary tale of what might happen to them if she speaks up, files charges, etc. or if their abuser-rapist is still at large b/c he did not show up for his court hearing. Dec 3 is his next opportunity.

From 25 Nov-10 Dec is the International 16 Days Campaign to Eliminate Violence against Women. Today—day four—asks people to look at their media (blogosphere) for coverage of violence against women and to note sensationalistic coverage & posts. As we’ve seen in this ongoing thread and other blog coverage, these ‘discussions’ ignore that most rapists & abusers know their victims; in such posts, abusers and some bloggers reduce the case to titillating & entertaining details, and ignore the unequal power relationships in rapes and domestic abuse that result in lingering physical, socio-emotional injuries and even death.

As reflected in others’ comments, I also encourage people to educate themselves more about these issues and get in involved community discussion and action such as recently initiated by Adhunika and Sakhi in NYC.

****Check out a new resource from January 2008: New Blogsite OUT AGAINST ABUSE to educate and organize the South Asian Community about domestic violence-gender abuse--please read, comment, and discuss this resource!****

For more info about the 16 days campaign:
http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html

and to use ICT-blogs to end violence against women:
http://www.takebackthetech.net/frontpage"

Finally, I reiterate the points that I made in comment #5 in early November:

1. Sajid is a fugitive, who skipped his court hearing over charges filed in USA (they will not be transferred to Bangladesh!). Next hearing date: 3 December.
2. None of his posts-rationalizations about his USA felony charges will work in any USA court defense.
3. Any people who have been hiding him from police and the court can be subject to charges of obstruction of justice.
4. If Sajid is on a student visa at Colombia University and has not been attending classes because he is in hiding, then he is violating the terms of his student visa and subject to deportation. Immigration and SEVIS are probably very interested in finding him, too.