In their work to stop rape, battering and harassment of women, the D.C. Area Feminist Alliance Task Force on Violence against Women has drawn up some underlying principles which present a concise analysis of violence against women. These were used by the Alliance during their organization of a march against violence to explain their actions to the community. We are reprinting these principles here because we feel that they could be very useful for other groups organizing to stop violence against women. They are reprinted with permission of the D.C. Area Feminist Alliance, P.O. Box 19362, Washington D.C. 20006, USA.
All people have the right to control our own bodies and sexuality. We should not have to restrict our freedom of movement, our bodies or our activities and behavior in order to be safe. We have the right to freedom from violations of our personal autonomy and our physical integrity on the street, in the home and at the workplace.
PRINCIPLE TWO: POWER FOR WOMEN
To stop violence against women and to exercise the right to control our own bodies, women need power. If women had political power (e.g., access to the legal system, influence over the media, etc.), the attitudes that foster violence against women could be eliminated. Women can become powerful by organizing together to express our will . Women need to break through the barriers of silence that isolate us from each other and to see that an act of violence against one woman is an act of violence against us all.
PRINCIPLE THREE: SELF-DEFENSE FOR WOMEN
Women have the right to self-defense. Self-defense is the ability,both physically and psychologically, to defend oneself against violence. We must understand how an individual woman perceives the threat of violence against her, and her ability to fight back (her size, training, self-concept) when we judge a situation involving self-defense.
PRINCIPLE FOUR: COMMUNITY CENSURE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
We promote the idea of community censure of acts of violence against women. People must speak out and condemn rape and battering as they happen. This means no more complicity:We are asking for a public expression of disapproval - that we will not tolerate violence against women.
What do we mean by violence against women?
By "violence against women", we refer to both specific and general abuse of women in this society. It includes battering, rape and other forms of physical domination of women. But we also mean the attitudes which say that women are "fair game". Sexual access to women and physical domination of women are considered male prerogatives according to prevailing attitudes in our society.
What is rape?
Rape is any unwanted sex act or forced sexual contact. Rape can take place anywhere, not just on the streets but in the home or at the workplace. In this context, rape can occur between husband and wife, lovers, friends or strangers. Most rapes are attacks against women of the same race and class group as the rapist.
What is battering?
Battering is violence by someone with whom the victim has a close personal relationship (such as a boyfriend, husband or other family member). It also can include threats of violence which are used to control the victim. One estimate is that there are 28 million battered women in this country
How are women considered "fair game"?
What can be done? Should we seek to increase police protection and rely on the criminal justice system?
Although we often cannot depend on the police and criminal justice system to protect us, the reality is that there are times when we need their services. Community demands for more foot patrols, for police who are bilingual or are of the same ethnic group as the community in which they work and for more officials (including more women officials) who are sensitive to women's specific needs, are urgent.
However, we know that the power of these institutions can be used against us. Until those agencies are accountable to women and to the community at large - until they respond to priorities set by the people and not by themselves - we must not rely on the criminal justice system to stop violence against women.
What is the long-term solution to ending violence against women?
The ultimate answer lies in changing the basic power relationships between men and women in this society. In every sphere of life - economic, social, political, cultural and spiritual - women are kept down. We have to change and re-create new forms of living, child-raising, structuring work and income, governing, making policy, entertainment and communication. We have to create new values and systems that are based on equality, respect and self-determination for all people, and to fight to eliminate values and systems that are based on beliefs of supremacy of one group of people over another and on hatred and degradation of people and exploitation. Until these philosophical and structural systems are changed fundamentally, men will continue to dominate women and women will continue to be victims. As long as men have power over women, physical violence will continue to be used to control women.
What can women do to defend ourselves?
Women have the right and must have the opportunity to learn effective means of self-defense. Martial arts (karate, judo, etc.) involve fees for instruction and long hours of practice. Self-defense (street fighting and survival tactics) is more practical as a way to learn to avoid bad situations and how to get out of them if they occur. Toward prevention of rape, we can learn tactics that help deter would-be attackers (i.e., listing first initials only in phone books and on mailboxes. etc.; wearing clothing which enables us to run; keeping alert; moving confidently and quickly; carrying and using a whistle; having keys in our hands ready for use, etc.). We can learn and teach effective methods of self-defense and develop our fighting skills and physical strength.
Because most women are not as physically strong as most men a woman may need to use more force (e.g., weapons) to defend herself than a man in the same situation might have to use. Therefore, the law should define acceptable means of self-defense on the basis of what is necessary for the particular
individual.
What about men?
We seek to increase women's mobility and freedom of movement without relying on the criminal justice system to restrict men's freedom of movement. We seek to promote solutions to rape and battering which involve the re-education of men (by women and by other men) to see that violating another person's autonomy and physical integrity is wrong.
We want to live in a society in which men and women look out for and take care of each other, not a society in which men are the "protectors" and women are dependent upon men for protection. The role of protector gives men more power over women and prevents women from increasing our own power. We want all individuals to have the right and ability to protect themselves and to be autonomous. What we demand of men is that they confront other men who are being violent and that they support the right of women to defend ourselves.Women can act as individuals and in groups to undertake various approaches to ending violence against women. We can work for improved legislation, public safety, services to victims, public policy and community education. Any action which increases women's self-sufficiency - including adequate, available child-care and economic independence - will help prevent battering because it will give women the option to remove themselves from a situation of battering and dependence on a man. We, the women of the D.C. Area Feminist Alliance, the Rape Crisis Center and the Task Force on Abused Women, have united to organize this march and have formulated its demands as a demonstration of what women can do in the D.C. area. These are the short-term measures we can work for now to help end violence against women.
How can the community deal with rape and assault?
People in the community should openly express disapproval of acts of violence against women and intervene to prevent them. We are against "staying out of other people's business" as an excuse, and we are against silence.
We should demand that our community resources (e.g., tax dollars) be used to eliminate rape and assault. We should also stop spending our own money on products that are sold to us by advertisements that foster anti-woman attitudes.
We should develop ways to institutionalize community censure of violence against women. Neighborhood groups, church groups and unions or other workplace groups must begin to take responsibility for their own members and refuse to tolerate or accept violence against women. This march is a beginning step in building a sense of community responsibility. If you endorse this march, then you accept the ideas of this paper and share in the responsibility for ending rape, battering and other forms of violence against women.