by Jamie Menutis

G21 Staff Writer

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Jamie Menutis

New Orleans, LA, USA - Having lunch with a friend a few weeks ago, our conversation casually turned to the topic of trying to understand the behaviors of men. This is nothing new; I've had variations of this same conversation over the years. Little progress has has actually been made in this area, but still we try. By the time we're onto our coffees, my friend surprises me with the firm conclusion that she "wasn't a feminist, but was beginning to believe that women were just superior beings." Perhaps, but even more curious and shocking to me was her firm manner when stating that she was "not a feminist"! It made me wonder exactly how and when it became such a tainted idea to think of oneself as a feminist and what had made some women (and men) buy into this belief.

Luckily, I missed out on the negative backlash that women who were part of the feminist movement of recent times had to endure. I grew up in a time when many of our most important legal rights had already been established. I realize that this is a luxury indeed and one that I appreciate.

Still, the reason that today's women in America have the right to vote, attend university, work, and have other legal rights and protections is largely due to women who fought and struggled earlier on our behalf. A chronicle of the American Women's movement is available at www.legacy98.org

As a woman, I am also aware there is still much to be done and that my fellow sisters throughout the world struggle on a daily basis for the most basic of rights under the law. It is the obligation of all women around the world, especially those in the United States and Europe, to work towards securing fair and just treatment and legal representation for women and children in all nations.

Despite the riches in the United States, it is one of the most violent countries on the planet today.

Each day four women die from battering in the United States and a total of 140,000 women die annually.. The FBI reports that 572,000 women report assault each year and estimates that approximately two to four million are battered annually.

Hospitals admit 170,000 women per year who are seriously hurt by a batterer. An American woman has more chances of being killed by someone she knows and has probably loved than by any disease or random criminal.

More women die at the hands of their partners each year than the entire casualty list from the Vietnam War. With crime against women this rampant, there is no room for complacency.

The FBI estimates that approximately two to six million women are raped annually and do not report the crime. Of the 132,000 reports that are filed annually, half of the victims know their attackers. At disproportionate risk for attack are young women, single, divorced, women living alone, African American women and women who live beneath the poverty level. Among domestic violence victims, women living in poverty have a five times higher rate of being a victim and children who witness domestic violence are much more likely to become abusers themselves.

Women in the State of Louisiana are presently on alert for a serial killer. He's killed three and tried to abduct another five in the past few weeks. In order to protect ourselves, the Governor of the State has suggested that every woman in the State learn to operate and carry a firearm!

Nationwide, little girls as young as four are getting abducted from their homes and neighborhoods on what seems to be a daily basis. Most times they are later discovered to have been sexually assaulted, killed and their bodies thrown somewhere. The objectification of both women and children in pornography has probably increased the incidences of sexual assault and violence within the United States. This is an area where women -- or anyone with a child for that matter -- must speak out.

Within the American Catholic Church, the state of celibacy, claimed by priests to be an exclusive gift from God, appears as nothing more than a cover for an under the "cloak" pedophilia operation. The abuse of nuns within the Catholic Church has been largely kept quiet and its disregard is a topic of outrage by women's rights groups. For more issues facing women both within the United States and abroad visit www.now.org and www.whrnet.org.

In 2002, Women in the United States are fighting for fairness within the healthcare system for themselves and their children, to receive equal pay for a job where they hold the same qualifications as a male counterpart and increased civil and legal protections including protection against sexual discrimination, harassment, exploitation and violence.

Despite the advances made by women in America, the United States is the only industrialized nation that has yet to ratify The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that was drafted back in 1979. The treaty was recently approved in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a push by Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Joseph Biden and will move to the full Senate for a vote soon. The main blockers to the treaty's ratification was Former Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), the White House and the Department of Justice.

The treaty pledges to give equal rights to women in all aspects of their lives including political, health, educational, social and legal. Along with Afghanistan, Sudan, and Iran, The United States is one of 21 countries in the world who have not ratified the treaty. You can take action today in favor of ratifying this treaty by visiting www.womenstreaty.org. Full Senate vote on CEDAW is scheduled for September 2002.

With worldwide estimates of forced trafficking of women and children at 700,000 persons annually, in 2000, the United States finally passed a law that aims to protect victims of trafficking and criminalize the people responsible. The United States government estimates that 50,000 women and children are forcibly trafficked into this country each year to work in either sex or forced labor industries. The rise of trafficking in the sex industry mirrors the increase in pornography, especially on the Internet.

The recent events in Afghanistan have shed light upon the deplorable treatment of only a part of the world's female population.

This month in Pakistan, eight girls, ages 5 to 8, were offered up for marriage, along with $130,000 to a family to settle a "blood debt." Their intended grooms were all married men and ranged up to 80 years in age.

The recent case of Mukhtaran Bibi, who was gang raped as punishment for her brother's crime, made headlines and has prompted numbers of Pakistani women to come forward with claims of similar incidents. Though the Pakistani Government is officially encouraging women to report such crimes, the punishment given to the criminals is lax.

Naseem Mai, another Pakistani woman, immediately committed suicide by drinking a bottle of pesticide after her rapist, a young man from a wealthy family, was set free by police. Forced marriages in Pakistan continue, where according to Kamila Hyat, Director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, "Women continue to be seen as possessions of men, as something that can be given away, like cattle or gold."

For a young mother in Nigeria, the situation continues to disintegrate. On August 19th, an Islamic court in Nigeria upheld a sentence of death by stoning against Amina Lawal Kurami, a Nigerian woman accused of giving birth to a child outside of marriage. The judge, Abdullah Aliyu Katsina, said that the stoning would only take place once her baby has been fully weaned. Since 2000, Sharia law was established in Northern Nigeria's Zamfara State and has since spread to twelve other states. You can speak out against the sentence given to Amina Kurami and others by visiting www.hrw.org or www.amnesty.org and making your voice known.

The just treatment of women is not only a feminist issue, but also a human rights one. All humans can get involved in improving the rights of women by speaking out against injustice and supporting political and human rights organizations that are working on behalf of justice. For more information, on the status of women in both the United States and elsewhere, visit the websites I have listed here. The Violence Against Women Office in the United States Department of Justice provides action kits tailored for communities, educators, media and the public. Support legislation that advances the human rights of women and children worldwide and urge your political leaders to do so also.

While I was researching and writing this article, eight women have been killed by someone they know, and countless women have suffered torture, rape and death around the world.