Abstract
I wish to applaud the authors of two recent articles published in Feminist Theology: Gina Messina-Dysart’s Rape and Spiritual Death (FT 20.2: 120-32) and Zoe Carletide et al., The Next Generation: Young Women on Feminism (FT 20.3: 262-70).
I am a physician working at the Veterans Administration New York Harbor Healthcare Center in Manhattan. I can say proudly that I am the Women’s Health Emergency Department Champion. Women Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are coming to our hospital emergency department with many physical and psychological problems.
Women now make up about 12% of the active United States military. Recent publications report that up to 40% of women veterans have experienced verbal humiliation, physical assault or rape. These assaults are perpetrated by fellow male soldiers (see Kelly et al., 2011). This aggression leaves the women feeling betrayed, isolated and sometimes reluctant to report the incidents for fear of retaliation or not being believed (see Kelly et al., 2011; Mattocks et al., 2012). The authors of Rape and Spiritual Death and The Next Generation discuss very important feminist issues including violence against women. This remains a worldwide problem.
Gina Messina-Dysart’s article outlines the spiritual death and suffering of women who have been raped. The rejection and punishment from the community described add to these horrendous consequences. Rape culture blames the victim, the person who deserves compassion and empathy after this vile experience. This blame leads to the woman’s poor sense of self-worth.
The articles by ‘The Next Generation’ – Roisin Winston, Zoe Carletide, Naomi McLeod and Baha Mustafa – emphasize the complex and diverse nature of women’s concerns. These include gender-based inequality and the oppressive treatment of women. The topics of rape and sexual assault are also addressed. That women are exploited and viewed as objects throughout the world is highlighted as well. Finally, the authors speak to the tragedy of women suffering physical and emotional abuse in silence.
The victims discussed in these publications, rather than being silenced and denied justice, should be heard. Their experiences cannot be denied. Rape culture must not be allowed to isolate and make invisible women who have been violated by sexual manifestations of aggression. Women around the world deserve respect, opportunity, equality and most of all, if wronged, a voice that is heard.