Contour drawing of Reclining Woman by Bernadine Fox
First off: Despite feeling dismayed by our feminist community, here in Vancouver, over the last several months - I refuse to give up being a feminist. So this and every criticism I may have of the feminist community is from the perspective of believing in the absolute necessity of ALL women gaining freedom from violence.
One of the interesting things about getting older is that .... life is long. Twenty-three years ago a female Executive Director of a major, Vancouver (Canada) non-profit agency dealing with sexual assaults told the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women (Changing the Landscape: Ending Violence - Achieving Equality), that they shouldn't be addressing human trafficking (child prostitution/pornography, etc.) because "those offenders made the usual child molester look like whimps!" (And, yes that is a quote from a feminist in the woman's community.) The woman in charge of the inquiry took me aside to let me know that this was what had been said. Those words supported other behaviour by that same Exec Dir and I had little doubt as to its veracity. Gratefully, this panel ignored that woman's "advice."
These days the call is #Ibelieve and this same woman has been out demanding that we believe survivors around the issue of #JianGhomeshi. In addition, human trafficking has finally gotten attention for the horror that it is and was even 20 years ago. Now, it is politically incorrect to ignore victims of human trafficking. AND... low and behold this same woman has been speaking out about human trafficking as well (a topic with some press currency). One could take from this that everyone is capable of change and growth. One would also have to see this as a valuable lesson: what one "expert" is saying is or isn't true or valuable - means little unless they themselves have some personal experience with it AND as individuals we must exercise caution about what political propaganda we accept as valid even from those who hold powerful positions in the woman's community.
See, life is long. And sometimes that is a very good thing. Maybe in 20 years, we will all be able to final talk about #femaleperpetrators, too.
Related Post: WAVAW Honours Sexually-Exploitive "Feminist" Therapist
The Transgressions of Pamela Sleeth
A Cautionary Tale...
One of the interesting things about getting older is that .... life is long. Twenty-three years ago a female Executive Director of a major, Vancouver (Canada) non-profit agency dealing with sexual assaults told the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women (Changing the Landscape: Ending Violence - Achieving Equality), that they shouldn't be addressing human trafficking (child prostitution/pornography, etc.) because "those offenders made the usual child molester look like whimps!" (And, yes that is a quote from a feminist in the woman's community.) The woman in charge of the inquiry took me aside to let me know that this was what had been said. Those words supported other behaviour by that same Exec Dir and I had little doubt as to its veracity. Gratefully, this panel ignored that woman's "advice."
These days the call is #Ibelieve and this same woman has been out demanding that we believe survivors around the issue of #JianGhomeshi. In addition, human trafficking has finally gotten attention for the horror that it is and was even 20 years ago. Now, it is politically incorrect to ignore victims of human trafficking. AND... low and behold this same woman has been speaking out about human trafficking as well (a topic with some press currency). One could take from this that everyone is capable of change and growth. One would also have to see this as a valuable lesson: what one "expert" is saying is or isn't true or valuable - means little unless they themselves have some personal experience with it AND as individuals we must exercise caution about what political propaganda we accept as valid even from those who hold powerful positions in the woman's community.
See, life is long. And sometimes that is a very good thing. Maybe in 20 years, we will all be able to final talk about #femaleperpetrators, too.
Related Post: WAVAW Honours Sexually-Exploitive "Feminist" Therapist
The Transgressions of Pamela Sleeth
A Cautionary Tale...
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