Fighting Rape is Fighting Oppression - The oppressions a proper policy would fight
“Oppression is linked. We cannot challenge one system of oppression without challenging others.”
In the month of February, I will be able to share more details of my story as a rape victim at Tufts. Until then, I will try to write as often as possible about relevant issues that I think are not oft mentions in terms of anti-rape activism. So we must go back to my favourite word - Intersectionality.
As said at The Kitchen Table: Intersectionality “suggests that modes of oppression based on gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, class, disability and the like, do not function independently of one another, but must be understood (and dismantled) together.” So, being a victim of gender-based violence means that I experienced an act that is a manifestation of sexism as oppression. Since I am a woman of colour, my race affected other aspects of what affected to me after my assault-including how others responded to me.
While Tufts University may not be the most diverse university, there are still people of varying cultures, nationalities, races, ethnicities and identities that come together. School policies and administrators need to know how to respond when students are victims of violence. Those who implement these changes must ensure that Tufts’ policies (and their actions) have cultural competency.
The National Women’s Alliance define cultural competency:
“Cultural competency can be defined as a set of congruent politics that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals, to work effectively in cross cultural situations. Operationally defined, cultural competency is the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, and attitudes used in appropriate settings to increase the quality of services, thereby producing better outcomes.”
In short, cultural competency in the sexual assault policy would properly address and recognize the different oppressions at play when people of different ethnicities, class, gender, race, etc., are raped and work to prevent further oppression.
I guarantee you that there is absolutely no cultural competency available in the current sexual assault policy. My oppressions were compounded many times over. There are different types of intersectionality where oppression takes place in different categories.*
Structural Intersectionality- the creation and operation of systems and structures in society that maintain privilege for some groups or individuals while restricting the rights and privilege of others. In the context of rape, this would refer to the difficulties faced when trying to get justice in the judicial system (government or school), social services, or access resources (i.e. getting proper legal aid).
Political Intersectionality- how laws and public policies are shaped and informed by dominant cultural perceptions of race, class, gender, ethnicity, age, ability, and sexuality. Example: school rape policies that would easily give one student who comes from a higher class with more wealth to access more resources a clear advantage over another student from a lower socioeconomic class.
Institutional Intersectionality- highlights how institutions present in society restrict, limit, or deny access to resources for marginalized groups or individuals. “For marginalized groups and individuals, encountering institutional discrimination can prolong or compound their experience of sexual assault or domestic violence. In addition to addressing issues of safety they may have to address issues of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, or cultural biases.” Example: A university expels a rape victim of colour; the lack of degree perpetuates the low graduation rates of people of colour and further limits them from getting employed, thus increasing economic hardships. These difficulties are in addition to the troubles people of colour have with unemployment and low income.
Economic Intersectionality- looks at how the social class, wealth, and resources of individuals and groups impact access to resources, opportunities, and mobility. Example: Difficulties leaving an abusive relations, access to information about your rights, or getting the crime committed against you prosecuted.
Representational Intersectionality- the way groups and individuals are represented in society through media, text, language, images and how they come together to create unique and specific narratives that shape and inform the policies, laws, and institutions in society. Example: University officials may think that gender oppression or violence is normal or acceptable in certain communities and their prejudices cause the university as an institution to not take reports from students of certain communities seriously.
When everyone realizes that rape is a human rights issue and not just some women’s issue, I think that this could help proper policies be created at universities. There is a LOT of oppression that happens not just during one’s attack, but for many year after - possibly even for the rest of someone’s life. I hope that looking at anti-violence activism from another angle will cause more people to take the issue seriously. I hope to look at the different levels of oppression in the context of rape soon.
*all definitions taken from National Women’s Alliance’s Violence Against Women Targeted Technical Assistance Project
Originally published at Tufts University Survivors of Sexual Violence. You can comment here or there.
In the month of February, I will be able to share more details of my story as a rape victim at Tufts. Until then, I will try to write as often as possible about relevant issues that I think are not oft mentions in terms of anti-rape activism. So we must go back to my favourite word - Intersectionality.
As said at The Kitchen Table: Intersectionality “suggests that modes of oppression based on gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, class, disability and the like, do not function independently of one another, but must be understood (and dismantled) together.” So, being a victim of gender-based violence means that I experienced an act that is a manifestation of sexism as oppression. Since I am a woman of colour, my race affected other aspects of what affected to me after my assault-including how others responded to me.
While Tufts University may not be the most diverse university, there are still people of varying cultures, nationalities, races, ethnicities and identities that come together. School policies and administrators need to know how to respond when students are victims of violence. Those who implement these changes must ensure that Tufts’ policies (and their actions) have cultural competency.
The National Women’s Alliance define cultural competency:
“Cultural competency can be defined as a set of congruent politics that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals, to work effectively in cross cultural situations. Operationally defined, cultural competency is the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, and attitudes used in appropriate settings to increase the quality of services, thereby producing better outcomes.”
In short, cultural competency in the sexual assault policy would properly address and recognize the different oppressions at play when people of different ethnicities, class, gender, race, etc., are raped and work to prevent further oppression.
I guarantee you that there is absolutely no cultural competency available in the current sexual assault policy. My oppressions were compounded many times over. There are different types of intersectionality where oppression takes place in different categories.*
Structural Intersectionality- the creation and operation of systems and structures in society that maintain privilege for some groups or individuals while restricting the rights and privilege of others. In the context of rape, this would refer to the difficulties faced when trying to get justice in the judicial system (government or school), social services, or access resources (i.e. getting proper legal aid).
Political Intersectionality- how laws and public policies are shaped and informed by dominant cultural perceptions of race, class, gender, ethnicity, age, ability, and sexuality. Example: school rape policies that would easily give one student who comes from a higher class with more wealth to access more resources a clear advantage over another student from a lower socioeconomic class.
Institutional Intersectionality- highlights how institutions present in society restrict, limit, or deny access to resources for marginalized groups or individuals. “For marginalized groups and individuals, encountering institutional discrimination can prolong or compound their experience of sexual assault or domestic violence. In addition to addressing issues of safety they may have to address issues of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, or cultural biases.” Example: A university expels a rape victim of colour; the lack of degree perpetuates the low graduation rates of people of colour and further limits them from getting employed, thus increasing economic hardships. These difficulties are in addition to the troubles people of colour have with unemployment and low income.
Economic Intersectionality- looks at how the social class, wealth, and resources of individuals and groups impact access to resources, opportunities, and mobility. Example: Difficulties leaving an abusive relations, access to information about your rights, or getting the crime committed against you prosecuted.
Representational Intersectionality- the way groups and individuals are represented in society through media, text, language, images and how they come together to create unique and specific narratives that shape and inform the policies, laws, and institutions in society. Example: University officials may think that gender oppression or violence is normal or acceptable in certain communities and their prejudices cause the university as an institution to not take reports from students of certain communities seriously.
When everyone realizes that rape is a human rights issue and not just some women’s issue, I think that this could help proper policies be created at universities. There is a LOT of oppression that happens not just during one’s attack, but for many year after - possibly even for the rest of someone’s life. I hope that looking at anti-violence activism from another angle will cause more people to take the issue seriously. I hope to look at the different levels of oppression in the context of rape soon.
*all definitions taken from National Women’s Alliance’s Violence Against Women Targeted Technical Assistance Project
Originally published at Tufts University Survivors of Sexual Violence. You can comment here or there.