Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Women should be hit for wearing sexy clothing in public, one in seven believe

Another awful article that uses sleight of hand and rhetorics to turn data, that isn´t even that bad, into a call for action. But let us start dissect the article:

We start with the headline, which is probably one of the "facts" people will keep in mind:
Women should be hit for wearing sexy clothing in public, one in seven believe
This is the shocker. Reading the study we find out that that is actually a lie. The Times article corrects itself in the first sentence.
One in seven people believe it is acceptable in some circumstances for a man to hit his wife or girlfriend if she is dressed in “sexy or revealing clothes in public”
Which is far closer to the truth. But let me continue before I focus on the actual data, because there is another lie presented in a similar way than the headline:
A similar number believed that it was all right for a man to slap his wife or girlfriend if she is “nagging or constantly moaning at him”.
Which is again wrong as the headline. What does the data say:

Acceptable is something only a very small minority agree with in (1-6%). The 14% (or 1 in 7) said "it is acceptable in some circumstances but not in other". Which is a big difference to saying it is (always) acceptable. The overwhelming majority (79-90%) agreed that it is not acceptable to hit women at all in those cases. But let us illustrate the data in another way. Imagine you are asking 10 people, 5 men and 5 women. Eight will answer it is never acceptable and 1 man and 1 woman will say, "Well I can think of some circumstances where it would be okay to hit a woman". The minority that says it is acceptable doesn´t even fit in my definition. Shocking data?

We continue with the lies:
The findings of the poll, conducted for the Home Office [...] 1,065 people over 18 questioned last month [...]
I guess this tidbits should help convice us that we are talking about rock solid data. Reading the study that the article linked as well makes us wonder if the author read that piece:
- Please note that this research is not part of the Home Office National Statistics programme but is exploratory work. Results should be seen as indicative and directional rather than absoulte. It is not recommended that exact percentages are used outside the context of this document
- Telephon survey in Wales and England asking 915 people age 18+
- Please note that statisitcal reliability tests work on the basis of a pure random sample. This survey uses quotas to obtain a sample that is closely represantative to the population so our survey does not use a completely random sample. Statistical differences should be used only as a guide.
Adjusting the numbers a bit (I guess 1.000 is a magic line that makes surveys more reliable), fantasizing a connection to the Home Office Statistics programme and worst of all presenting us numbers as absolutes that should be seen as directional in a survey that does not even use a completely random sample. And do we see a direction? Yes, an overwhelming majority say violence against women is never acceptable with some men and women saying, well maybe in such a case.

So what follows is a call for action, there should be something done about the violence some people may find acceptable:

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said: “Violence against women and girls is unacceptable in any form no matter what the circumstances are.”

Ms Smith said that more needed to be done to challenge attitudes that condoned violence against women and girls.

She was speaking as she launched a police lead review of whether new laws are needed to tackle serial domestic violence abuses and whether there is a link between the early sexualisation of young girls and violent abuse.

One idea being considered is to allow women to ask police if a new partner has a record of domestic violence. A pilot scheme that allows women to request information on whether a new partner has a history of child sex abuse is currently underway in four police force areas of England and Wales.

But Ms Smith was confronted at a working breakfast at which she launched the campaign by a veteran domestic violence campaigner.

Sandra Horley, chief executive of Refuge, accused Ms Smith over breakfast at the Cinnamon Club in Westminster of using “gimmicks” and “spin”.

She said that government action so far had been “piecemeal” and condemned plans for a database of serial domestic abusers.

Ms Horley said: “We have had enough talking – we need action. As for the perpetrators’ register, it is a gimmick and doesn’t address the root problem.

“The majority of violent men don’t come to the attention of police and it won’t keep women safe.

“Police can’t be expected to monitor relationships and love lives of offenders.”

She went on: ”The Government is hoping to get away with useless initiatives like this register and it is hypocritical to sound tough and do little.”

She said that the cases of Sabina Akhtar and Katie Summers showed that not enough was being done.

Ms Smith tried to interrupt the tirade but was shouted down before Vera Baird, the solicitor general, stepped in to argue the Government’s case.

Well it seems both don´t seem to agree what should been done, but agree that something has to been done.

As someone who is against all kinds of violence, not just violence against women, let us see what another poll tells us about the acceptance of violence against men:


Survey finds male abuse approval

Morethan half of women questioned at a Glasgow university said they approved of wives hitting their husbands.

The Glasgow Caledonian students were among 6,500 women surveyed from 36 universities for an international study into attitudes on domestic violence.
Of the 200 women, 60% said it was acceptable for women to hit their husbands while 35% admitted assaulting their partner.

A total of 8% admitted injuring them - the highest rate in the study.
The injured men suffered bruises, cuts or broken bones.

Among European students, only English women were more likely to have carried out assaults, with 41% admitting that they had punched or kicked their partners.
However, those inflicting injury was less than in Scotland, at 5%.

Just under a quarter of those in Scotland admitted there were occasions when it would be acceptable for a husband to slap his wife.

Worldwide, more than 4,800 female students approved of assaulting their partner and 2,000 admitted to pushing, shoving, slapping, throwing objects and twisting their partner's arms or hair.

The findings, printed in the Sunday Times, will be published next month in the European Journal of Criminology.

'Bottom line'
Professor Murray Straus, co-author of the study, told the paper there was a need for better rehabilitation programmes for women with violent tendencies.

"This study raises questions about why there's so much violence between partners whether they're married, cohabiting or dating," he said.
"The bottom line is that we need make the same 'big deal' about violence by women as we do about men who behave violently."

In recent years, the Scottish Executive has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on raising awareness of domestic abuse, including a helpline for victims which received more than 20,000 calls in 2005 -- an increase of 38% on the previous year.
David Smith, honorary professor of criminology at Edinburgh university and editor of the European Journal of Criminology, said he found the results "surprising".
"The number of women who admit to assaulting men is interesting as it's well known that men are more violent than woman." - from here
Nothing more to say.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Yep, that is the reason....

I came across that bit on a feminist site (I am not going to name) and that just speaks for itself:
I've never considered running for office. That might seem kind of normal, except I was a political science major in college and follow electoral politics very carefully. I'm a feminist who cares deeply about the lack of female representation in politics.
And reminds me of a joke I heard before:
For 10 long years, every night Susan was praying to win the lottery. One night after a prayer the room is suddenly embedded in light and angelic choirs can be heard. Then a deep voice says: "Give me a chance Susan and buy a damn lot!"
Oh, the irony...

Monday, March 2, 2009

Abortion in Numbers

I came across some statistics and really was shocked. I didn´t knew that abortions (especially in the US) were so common. Here are the facts:

Each year, women have an estimated 46 million abortions worldwide. Of these, 20 million are clandestine abortions and are generally unsafe. More than three-quarters of all abortions occur in developing countries. (The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), Sharing Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide, New York: AGI, 1999, Chart 1.1.)

In 2003, 1.29 million abortions were performed in the United States. From 1973 through 2003, more than 43 million legal abortions occurred in the United States. (Finer LB and Henshaw SK, Estimates of U.S. Abortion Incidence in 2001–2003, 2006, , accessed Nov. 29, 2006.)

The abortion ratio is the proportion of pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) ending in abortion. In 2003, the abortion ratio was 24%, meaning that about one-quarter of all U.S. pregnancies ended in abortion. (Finer LB and Henshaw SK, Estimates of U.S. Abortion Incidence in 2001–2003, 2006, , accessed Nov. 29, 2006.)

On the basis of current abortion rates, one in three American women will have had an abortion by age 45. (AGI, State facts about abortion, 2003, , accessed December 6, 2006.)
- from here

Nearly half of all pregnancies to American women are unintended; four in 10 of these end in abortion.

About half of American women have experienced an unintended pregnancy
- from here



Although abortion rates and ratios (the number of abortions for every 100 births) in Eastern Europe have fallen significantly in recent years, they remain higher than in any other region. In 2003, there were more abortions than births in that region (105 abortions for every 100 births).(Sedgh G, Henshaw S, Singh S, Åhman E, Shah IH. Induced abortion: rates and trends worldwide. Lancet 2007; 370: 1338–45.)

The lowest abortion rate in the world is in Western Europe (12 per 1,000 women aged 15–44). The rate is 17 in Northern Europe and 21 in Northern America (Canada and the United States of America).(Sedgh G, Henshaw S, Singh S, Åhman E, Shah IH. Induced abortion: rates and trends worldwide. Lancet 2007; 370: 1338–45.)

More than one-third of the approximately 205 million pregnancies that occur worldwide annually are unintended, and about 22% of all pregnancies end in induced abortion. (Sedgh G, Henshaw S, Singh S, Åhman E, Shah IH. Induced abortion: rates and trends worldwide. Lancet 2007; 370: 1338–45., The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), Sharing Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide, New York: AGI, 1999., Population Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World population prospects: the 2004 revision, New York: United Nations, 2005., Leridon H, Human Fertility: The Basic Components, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.)

Of the 23 million pregnancies that occur in developed countries, more than 40% are unintended, and 28% end in induced abortion. (Sedgh G, Henshaw S, Singh S, Åhman E, Shah IH. Induced abortion: rates and trends worldwide. Lancet 2007; 370: 1338–45., The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), Sharing Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide, New York: AGI, 1999., Population Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World population prospects: the 2004 revision, New York: United Nations, 2005., Leridon H, Human Fertility: The Basic Components, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.)

Of the 182 million pregnancies that occur in developing countries, more than one-third are unintended, and 19% end in induced abortion (8% are safe procedures and 11% are unsafe).(Sedgh G, Henshaw S, Singh S, Åhman E, Shah IH. Induced abortion: rates and trends worldwide. Lancet 2007; 370: 1338–45., The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), Sharing Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide, New York: AGI, 1999., Population Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World population prospects: the 2004 revision, New York: United Nations, 2005., Leridon H, Human Fertility: The Basic Components, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977.)
- from here

"Highlights" for me were the incredible 1 in 3 women that abort in the USA once in their lifetime, the 40% unintended pregnancies in the developed world and the incredible rate in Eastern Europe (105 abortions - 100 births).