Violence, Young Women, and Marginalization
by Michele Fraser
In
Canada, “the chance that a young woman or girl
will be a victim of some form of violence before
she reaches 16 is 50 percent. Furthermore, girls
from marginalized groups tend to experience
violence at heightened levels; these are girls and
young women of the First Nations, refugees and
immigrants, lesbians, bisexual and trans-gendered
youth.” (National Council of Women of Canada,
1999)
Young
women experience violence daily in such forms as
sexual harassment, sexual assault, bullying,
harassment by peers online or at school, and
dating violence.
Research shows that young women from
marginalized communities or groups—including
women differently situated by race, class, sexual
orientation, and disabilities—are victimized
more often than young women from society’s
mainstream. Feelings of isolation, alienation,
poor self-esteem, and poor self-image can be
inherent aspects of marginalization that increase
the vulnerability of these young women to
violence; the violence can also exacerbate and
entrench these realities. It is important for the
anti-violence community, and the community at
large, to develop effective responses to meet the
specific needs of these young women.
Violence
and Marginalization
Intimate
relationships are central to most young women’s
lives; however, intimate relationships place young
women at risk of dating violence. Women between
the ages of 16 and 24 are more vulnerable to
intimate-partner violence than women of other
ages. (US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice
Statistics, 1999.)
But
dating violence is only one part of the continuum
of violence directed toward young women. Strong
societal influences condone sexist attitudes and
dis-empower young women. Despite the frequency of
incidents of violence and harassment against young
women, many still think that “it might happen to
one of my friends, but it can’t happen to me.”
For
young women from marginalized groups, this
situation is compounded: the marginalization
increases their vulnerability to many forms of
violence. Sexual abuse and addictions among girls
from specific marginalized groups increase their
sense of isolation, vulnerability, lack of social
identity, and low self-esteem. They are also more
vulnerable to hate crimes, and more subtle
expressions of homophobia, racism, classism, and
ableism. (Jiwani, et al, 1999) No doubt, all these
forms of oppression combine to contribute to
higher recorded rates of suicide and attempted
suicide among marginalized young women.
The
problems experienced by marginalized young women
continue when they try to access services. It is
difficult for all women to seek help, and in many
ways more so for young women. This difficulty
makes young women even less likely than older
women to report abuse. But marginalized young
women face additional barriers to accessing
services, such as language barriers, homophobia,
cultural differences, lack of information, and
lack of culturally accessible services.
Disabilities,
Sexuality, Colour, and Culture
Disabilities
also increase vulnerability to violence: a woman
with disabilities is one-and-a-half times more
likely than a non-disabled woman to experience
some form of violence during her lifetime. The
rate of sexual abuse for girls with disabilities
is four times the national average. (Rasack, 1994)
According to the Roeher Institute (1998, as cited
in Fiduccia and Wolfe, 1999), “39 to 68 percent
of girls with developmental disabilities will be
assaulted before the age of 18.”
Young
women with disabilities face an additional
barrier, in that even when they talk about the
abuse, they are often not believed. If they have
been educationally limited due to lack of
accommodations in education system, they may not
recognize what is happening to them as abuse. They
may also fear losing needed services if they
disclose their abuse.
Fear
of disclosing sexual orientation and being
discriminated against can prevent young women from
seeking help. They may worry that they will not be
believed, that their concerns will be trivialized,
or that they will be blamed for the abuse.
For
women of “colour,” the impact of violence
against women is often compounded by a history of
institutional discrimination, lack of access to
social services, and distrust of the
criminal-justice system, as well as the
intersections of race, class, and poverty. If a
young woman of colour feels that her options are
limited by racism, she may depend on her intimate
relationship for support and find herself caught
between an abusive relationship and an abusive
society.
A
young woman’s culture of origin can complicate
her experience of violence even further. For
example, in some communities, values are
influenced by culture and religion. Dating and
sexuality can be sources of shame; being known to
be sexually active can mean losing respect in the
community. As well, the family may be a closed
unit: that is, it may operate on the principle
that what happens inside the family, stays inside
the family. In this climate, challenging violence
against women may actually conflict with cultural
and traditional values. Silence may be considered
an acceptable and perhaps even ideal way of
handling such difficulties.
The
pressure to remain quiet can be a huge problem for
a young woman. Speaking out against the violence
she is experiencing may jeopardize her and her
family’s respectability in the community. To
avoid shaming her family, she may feel the need to
keep not only the violence a secret from her
parents, but the relationship. Unable to turn to
her parents for support, she may fear that
professionals will only create more problems by
pressuring her to bring dishonour to her family.
Her feelings of humiliation, guilt, and the need
for secrecy may prevent her from seeking help.
Helping
Marginalized Young Women
Helping
young women from marginalized communities will
require looking at new methods of intervention and
prevention. We must develop ways to overcome the
cultural, linguistic, and historical barriers that
these women face, and we must do this in ways that
empower individuals and strengthen
communities.
Service
providers need to be aware of and sensitive to the
struggles and difficulties that these young women
are experiencing. They must keep in mind that it
is hard for any woman to come forward and talk
about violence in her life, but much more so for a
young woman who comes from a closed society.
Services and information must be made accessible
through outreach work and by developing agency
partnerships designed to look at unique approaches
and new ways of sharing of knowledge.
Every
culture has different norms and values regarding
women, relationships, violence, and sexuality.
Engaging young women in exploring and clarifying
their own values, beliefs, and attitudes, which
often conflict with the values, beliefs, and
attitudes of their cultures, can be empowering for
them, whether through one-to-one or group
counselling.
Providing
education by raising awareness of the issues is
crucial. Schools are trying to address the problem
by supporting and integrating violence prevention
work into classroom programs, but curriculum
requirements have so far limited the extent to
which this is possible.
Violence
in the lives of marginalized young women affects
many aspects of their lives. Anti-violence
programs must account for the different realities
faced by these young women in their program
development, and work toward programs that lower
the barriers preventing them from seeking help
after they have experienced violence, while also
promoting prevention by increasing young women’s
awareness of different forms of violence. With
such tools, marginalized young women can reduce
their risk of experiencing violence, and increase
their chances of creating healthy relationships. u
Michelle
Fraser is the Student Violence Prevention Program
Coordinator at Women’s Habitat in Toronto.
References
Jiwani,
Y, et al (1999) Violence Prevention and the
Girl Child: Final Report, London ON: The
Alliance of Five Research Centres on Violence.
US
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics (2000) Special Report - Intimate
Partner Violence.
Rajan,
D (1998) Violence against Women with
Disabilities, Toronto ON: The Roeher
Institute.
Razack,
S (1994) “From consent to responsibility, from
pity to respect: Subtexts in cases of sexual
violence involving girls and women with
developmental disabilities,” in Law and
Social Inquiry, 19 (4): 891-922.
