Kavita N. Ramdas
President and
CEO, Global Fund for Women, Human Rights Advocate, Mom
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IS NO RATIONALE FOR MILITARY
VIOLENCE
The picture tears into you. Her
eyes are haunting and courageous, her face brutally butchered. This is the face
of an Afghan girl named Aisha who was attacked by her family that was supported
by the local Taliban commander, according to the August 8th TIME
magazine.
I
wish that I could say such pictures are shocking or unfamiliar, that I have
never seen such violence inflicted on a human being. As someone who has spent
14 years leading a grant-making foundation that advances women's rights,
however, I cannot say that.
I have met with women with faces
like Aisha's in Bangladesh,
where lovers or jealous husbands have thrown acid on their faces to scar them
for life. I have spoken with women missing limbs because pimps mutilated them
in Cambodia. I
have heard from Bosnian women whose vaginas have been shredded by soldiers who
inserted pointed objects and guns into them. I know women in India
whose faces and bodies are a mass of burned flesh because they did not bring enough
dowry. And, you don't have to leave the United
States to see such brutality. Last November
I met a woman from Tennessee whose ex-husband beat her with an iron rod within
an inch of her life -- her jaw is shattered, her nose is broken, her left eye
does not see.
I have seen their suffering and
am inspired by their resilience. I am awed by their determined use of
non-violent strategies as they struggle to ensure a different future for us
all. I hope someday to see their smiling faces and their triumphs on a TIME
cover...
The TIME article
suggests that the United States must
maintain its military forces in Afghanistan
to protect Afghan women from the Taliban. I am painfully aware of the
conditions facing Afghans who live on less than $2 per day in midst of
violence, yet I am unable to stomach this flimsy justification for more war,
occupation, and militarization. Guns, soldiers and military presence do not
increase security. To the contrary, they lead to less personal and bodily
freedom for women and girls.
This is clear to the parents of
the 12-year-old Okinawan girl who was raped by a navy seaman and two U.S.
marines in 1995. It is clear to women survivors of rape by UN
"peacekeepers." Closer to home, it is clear to the families of the
three female soldiers who were murdered by their military husbands or
boyfriends in Fort Bragg, North
Carolina. The North Carolina Observer
editorial put it squarely: "It's an old argument. We train men, and now
women, to wage war, then we are baffled when they do that to each other."
Aisha's suffering is not simply
related to the Taliban. There are women in countries on every continent who
have been beaten, sold, raped, and mutilated in the name of honor, religion,
and tradition. Aisha's noseless face should not be used as a symbol of Taliban
resurgence -- instead, it is the face of modern day patriarchy, which continues
to dominate social and cultural systems in most parts of the world. It is
deeply woven into the fabric of societies that extol violence and patriotism.
Aisha was brutally abused in
2003. U.S. soldiers were already in Afghanistan.
Their presence did not prevent her abuse. Last year, the U.S.
government supported an initiative that tripled the number of soldiers in the
army of the Democratic Republic of Congo to 60,000. Rapes of women tripled in
the areas soldiers were deployed. There is an obvious connection between
violence against women and militarization.
If the intent of TIME
magazine and organizations like Women for Afghan Women was to illuminate the
taboo topic of violence against women with this picture -- I am all for it. If
it ignites a public debate about the silent ongoing war that patriarchy wages
against girls and women in their homes, at work places, on the streets, and on
army bases -- bring it on. If this cover helps us advocate for a U.S.
foreign policy that places the dignity and humanity of women at its core -- I
will be the first to celebrate.
If this country is serious about
addressing the root causes of Aisha's disfigurement -- let it make a commitment
to non-violence and respect for women a key component of its domestic and
foreign policy. Let it help train armies of nurses, teachers, and agricultural
workers in Afghanistan.
Let it invest in diplomacy and decrease its unmatched military expenditure --
currently more than the rest of the world combined. Let it say to its client
states, whether Israel, Iraq, or Saudi Arabia, "we will stop providing
military aid, if we do not see clear evidence that you are moving to address
gender violence and discrimination in your societies." Let the Senate
immediately ratify Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) -- the UN Bill of Rights for women. Let the U.S.
lead by realizing women's rights at home before it invades other nations where
it can moralize about "tribal" practices.
Aisha has just arrived in the US
to receive medical treatment that I hope is a success. I wish there were
medical interventions that could change the mindsets of those who continue to
believe violence is the only answer to violence
Kavita N. Ramdas is the
President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women.
______________________________________________________________