Sexual violence is a persistent world-wide human rights and health problem. This kind of violence has fundamental immediate and long-lasting effects on the mental and physical health of the women. Sexual harassment happens at the link of denotative and unquestioning disagreement between contending cultural ideologies and discussions of identity, political economy, nation-state, religion, ethnicity, gender and law among others. The collective bodies of the women are the major battlegrounds through and upon which the above mentioned contented discussion and ideologies are exactly inscribed (Erica 250). While sexual harassment is one of the commonest types of violence or harassment faced by African descent women, the meanings and motivations behind those demonstrations or manifestations of violence are different depending with the contexts of the environment and other significant factors. Therefore, in this response, this paper will analyze sexual violence faced or experienced by the women of African descent.
Some of the factors that contribute or influence the pervasiveness of sexual harassment or violence within the domestic spheres, as faced by the communities and practiced all over and throughout the war zones of African countries are as follows. African American women who are employed in the blue-collar jobs or live in low standards report the highest cases of sexual violence, which is a clear indication that a relationship exist between the employment status and the race. According to the literature, there are several factors that have been linked to the rising rate of susceptibility of African American women to sexual harassment. Such factors include inequalities in economic, poverty, stereotypes on being divorced or single, sexual availability and being young or youthful like the age of 22 to 44 years. Moreover, women are at a high risk of sexual violence if they totally rely on their employment or job, are employed in low-standards or work in conventionally male jobs or their supervisor is a male. Therefore, these are some of the factors that make the Black women to become vulnerable to sexual harassment (West 111).
Moreover, in South Africa during the period of apartheid, as many women participated in fighting against apartheid in the year 1980s, sexual tortures methods amused larger fame or prominence. In order to determine the integrity and identity of women, sexual violence was utilized during interrogations. In addition, these victimized women could not report the incidence though their supervisor could sense that they had been tortured or raped (Turshen & Twagiramariya 32).
Sexual violence is one of the most widespread occupational hazards facing women in the work places in which one in two cases are undesirable characters that are associated with sex during their course of carrying out their duties. Though it is possible that most of the women have faced sexual harassment since they first got into their place of work, serious studies concerning this topic have evolved over the last two decades. Estimates of sexual violence in African-American women lives have changed greatly. For example, in a research that was conducted, White and Black females accounted for the same number of cases pertaining sexual violence. Equally, another study showed that White females accounted for sexual violence cases that were higher than those of the Black females. This is a clear indication that Black females under-report their harassment or victimization (West 111).
Sexual assaults or violence has also been described behaviorally and psychologically. In the psychological standpoint, sexual violence has been conceived as a stressor that is traumatic psychological. Therefore, an individual must evaluate the condition as stressful and start a multifaceted coping procedure that varies significantly depending on a person factors, relative factors of the institution or organization and the status of the sexual assault like severity or its frequency (West 112).
Racial and sexual violence may be mixed or combined in particular or unique methods for African American females. Particularly, the historical and cultural situation of sexualized and slavery stereotypes of these women led to sexual violence, which is viewed as motivated by race. In addition, the sexual violence is most likely to take various ways in the lives of the African American women in the lives of their counterpart white women. For instance, though a colleague may call a white woman a slut or hussy, a black or an African American woman is mostly referred to as a black slut. This indicates or forms an encounter which combines issues regarding to gender and race oppression or harassment. Racial separation and its dependence on rape and killing as tools that are gender-specific have continued to unsound desegregation or unification as a result of the new racism. Sexual harassment came upon the African American women definitely persists its historical aims, however, it may be arranged in unforeseen/unexpected and new methods. The terms rape culture and institutionalized rape involves the collection of sexual violence experienced by the black women (Collins 227).
In conclusion, up to date, researchers who study and research sexual assaults or violence have been distressingly silent on the issues of sexual harassment experienced by Black women. It is clear that there is a complex relationship among race, gender, employment status and sexual harassment. Hence, racial and sexual violence are major psychological stressors to the women’s lives especially the African American women who are vulnerable to sexual harassment due to the above-mentioned factors.
Works cited
Collins Hill. Assume the Position: The Changing Contours of Sexual Violence. Black Sexual Politics. New York & London.
Erica James. The Violence of Misery: “Insecurity” in Haiti in the “Democratic” Era. The Department of Anthropology. May 2003.
Turshen Meredeth & Twagiramariya. South African Women Demand the Truth. Gender and Conflict in Africa: What Women Do in Wartime. London & New York.
West Carolyn. Violence in the lives of Black Women: Battered, Black, and Blue. Violence in the lives of Black Women. 2002