Domestic violence and the definition of terrorism. Discuss.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

From wikipedia:

Definition of Terrorism

Few words are as politically or emotionally charged as terrorism. A 1988 study by the US Army<1> counted 109 definitions of terrorism that covered a total of 22 different definitional elements. Terrorism expert Walter Laqueur in 1999 also has counted over 100 definitions and concludes that the "only general characteristic generally agreed upon is that terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence". For this and for political reasons, many news sources avoid using this term, opting instead for less accusatory words like "bombers", "militants", etc....

As terrorism ultimately involves the use or threat of violence with the aim of creating fear not only to the victims but among a wide audience, it is fear which distinguishes terrorism from both conventional and guerrilla warfare. While both conventional military forces may engage in psychological warfare and guerrilla forces may engage in acts of terror and other forms of propaganda, they both aim at military victory. Terrorism on the other hand aims to achieve political or other goals, when direct military victory is not possible. This has resulted in some social scientists referring to guerrilla warfare as the "weapon of the weak" and terrorism as the "weapon of the weakest"

link

The VT shooting got me thinking about this and I'm puzzling over why it is that we're supposed to be in a constant state of paranoia over suicide bombers from thousands of miles away yet we're supposed to view domestic violence as isolated incidents; as "personal matters" that have no effect on our daily lives or interactions.

Does anyone else see the parallel?

[ThomCat]

1. Domestic violence is absolutely a form of terrorism.

The whole intent of domestic violence seems to be to keep people terrified, and therefore subservient.

It's because the targets are usually women and children (who seem to still be considered property) and because it occurs in the home (in private) that society insists on ignoring it.

It would be very nice if the government stopped spying on quakers and vegetarians and started paying attention to abusers.

[ismnotwasm]

2. Hell yes

A conference I recently attended had a lecture on domestic violence. It was unusually in that diversity was stressed. The speakers were all highly educated advocates, counselors, program directors, who have done research and a lot of hands on advocacy and counseling.

One women was deaf. She signed using an interpreter. One spoke on issues domestic partner violence in the immigration community, focusing on illegal or temporary workers. The last speaker was a program director for the Bisexual, Transsexual, Lesbian, Gay and Queer communities.

All of these groups are either marginalized,-- misunderstood is such a poor word here, but I'll use it, ignored, actively demonized, you get the picture

So I'm listening to this story about a abused deaf women with a hearing partner, who when the police arrived was hysterical, "waving her hands around" Abusive partner is calm talking to the police. The abused women was taken away, Handcuffed--so effectively silenced. Arrested. That's the image of abuse that will never get out of my head. I've effectively managed to think of all abused women this way, silenced, deaf, without support, betrayed by forces that are supposed to help

Anyway, to your topic. These women and men (In so-called "liberal" Seattle, there is NOT ONE MEN'S shelter for victims of partner abuse)are terrorized. I don't know what else to call it.


They may not speak english, may not understand their exact immigration status(I learned there are more categories than I've ever understood)Are given wrong information to their rights, in every abuse category children are held over the head of victims. In the case of BTLG relationships Outing is a weapon (Leading to possible loss of livelihood, alienation of family etc)And again, children. On and on.
These shunned or shunted away portions of society exemplify that domestic partner violence IS terrorism, and obviously has been with us as a potent weapon and silencer of human beings for a very long time.

Here's an ugly statistic. In BTLG relationships, it's found that domestic violence is identical to that of heterosexual relationships. The ugly part? 25-33%. In America somewhere right now, someone is being terrorized by a partner or former partner. Some of those now terrorized are going to die preventable deaths.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

3. And those "occasional" acts of explosive, murderous violence

Create the undercurrent of fear that keeps women and other marginalized groups in their place.

Look how one act of terrorism on our soil led to people being willing to chuck their freedom in exchange for the illusion of safety. We all meekly line up to remove our shoes at the airport and, other than a small percentage of progressives and libertarians, no one is really that incensed about having our phones tapped and mail read.

Compare that to thousands, millions, of acts of domestic violence - large and small - committed every day. Add in rape, itself a form of terrorism. That has GOT to have a profound effect on our psyches, even if it's never happened to us personally. No wonder it's so hard to get women to embrace feminism and stand up to the patriarchy. And no wonder it's so hard to get guys - especially the Nice Ones - to take d.v. seriously. Even if they've never raised a hand to a woman, they benefit from it in so many tangible and intangible ways. They get patriarchally compliant women AND they get to be lauded because they don't hit them.

I know it probably seems like, well duh catburgler, isn't it obvious? But I swear, despite my working knowledge of feminism and what I believe to be a pretty good grasp of how patriarchy works, I never got the terrorism connection until just today!

[Morgana LaFey]

4. and then explained it SO VERY WELL!

Very nicely done. Thanks.

I can only add one thing: one all-encompassing effect is that the violence against us causes all of us to change our behaviors to avoid (or try to) the same fate.

WE don't want to be raped, so we don't go certain places alone, or at all; we don't dress certain ways; we talk to or don't talk to certain men in one way or another, etc., etc. Most women, when this is mentioned, won't really own up to it. "Nahh, I'm not afraid of being raped," many will say. But the truth is that they're not so afraid of being raped because they voluntarily curtail their own freedom in order to avoid the risk of rape and that voluntary curtailment is so ingrained it's automatic, like locking the car when you get out of it. EVEN IF IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT, this voluntary curtailment, a little minor sacrifice here and there, it is still more than men have to do, it's still an indicator of OUR 2nd class citizenship, our "less free" status, our vulnerable and fragile existence which is perennially at the mercy and "goodwill" of all the men of our society -- ALL of them, collectively and individually.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

8. Yeah, if nothing happens that day you feel like you got a reprieve

And I look at the horrific lives of women in some parts of the the Middle East and Africa and I can't help but think that this is allowed to go on because it keeps all of us in line. How many times has some assclown pointed out to me how "grateful" I should be for all the rights I have in the U.S. and where do I get off complaining about the sexism here. Fuck grateful!! The patriarchy just needs to fucking go. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, whether it's halfway around the world or in my backyard.

[Warpy]

5. The problem with men is that society ASSumes that they're

making more money, aren't as tied to their children, and will find it very easy to decamp to a furnished apartment. None of that is true.

That might have been true 50 years ago, but 38 years of depressed wages have left battered men in need of shelter, too.

I'm not a bit surprised that the statistics hold true for GLBT partners, too. I've witnessed it more than once and called the cops.

People batter because it works. A beaten, emotionally drained and terrorized partner is less likely to leave. Severe abuse doesn't happen overnight. It's an insidious process that starts with complaints and progresses to emotional blackmail, shoving, embarrassing in front of friends, socially isolating. Emotionally and physically battered partners can snap, of course, but that's rare enough that it isn't considered by batterers.

My only advice is if you're beaten, no matter who you are and what threat you're under, GET OUT. Batterers don't want to change until it becomes clear to them that they're going to be abandoned due to abuse. Maybe you'll be the last person s/he batters.

[Morgana LaFey]

10. People batter because it works AND because they can get away

with it.

I really do take strong exception to this, tho:

My only advice is if you're beaten, no matter who you are and what threat you're under, GET OUT. Batterers don't want to change until it becomes clear to them that they're going to be abandoned due to abuse. Maybe you'll be the last person s/he batters.

PEople should leave relationships when it's clear there is no respect. When there's verbal and emotional abuse, time to leave. Don't let it progress to physical violence. Does it always advance to physical violence? No, but often enough.

Finally, every victim of spousal abuse MUST BE MADE AWARE that the most dangerous time is when they DO leave -- this is when the killings happen, and they happen with frightening regularity.

Maybe you'll be the last person s/he batters.

Esp. if he commits suicide after killing YOU, which is the usual pattern. My point is that TOO OFTEN BATTERERS WON'T / CAN'T CHANGE and that everyone who is in a battering relationship needs to know their very lives are in danger, and esp. at the point of leaving.

[Warpy]

11. Most who leave aren't killed

so my advice stands.

[Morgana LaFey]

12. You advice wasn't wrong, it was just tragically incomplete

Sorry you apparently thought I was tryig to make you "wrong" or something.

But if you persist in not telling the battered that they're at worse risk when they DO finally try to leave for good, you may end up contributing to one or more poor victims death. In that sense you are wrong.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

9. Remember Jeffrey Dahmer?

One of his victims was a young Vietnamese boy. His neighbors alerted the cops to a naked, bleeding boy, apparently trying to escape Dahmer's apartment. When they got there the boy was still alive and was bleeding, from god only knows what that sick fuck did to him. Did they rescue the boy? Hell no, they believed Dahmer's story that the boy was his lover. The boy probably didn't speak English and no doubt was terrified so I guess he couldn't express himself adequately. So the cops left. There were (I believe) radio transcripts of them making homosexual slurs about the situation. One of the officers said he needed to "delouse" himself.

Dahmer was able to carry out his atrocities for years because he picked people that he knew the authorities wouldn't care about. I've never forgotten the story about the young boy.

[bliss_eternal]

6. Racial slurs, the KKK, people that harass women at clinics...

...slurs against women, domestic violence, even Girls Gone Wild to a degree--all are terrorists in my eyes. Which is why I've been calling bullshit on *'s "war on terror" since he started it. This administration declaring war on reproductive choice for women is terrorism. Making it easier to commit hate crimes is enabling terrorism.

It would be SO refreshing if Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and the Imus's of the world could ever express their views without having to stand on minority shoulders in the process. It speaks volumes to me about their politics when you rarely hear them state WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN other than slurring women, gays, people of color, pro-choice advocates, atheists, etc.

What DO they believe in, other than terrorizing me and people like me?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

7. They can't state what they believe in because they'd be run out of town if they did

The right wing has used distractions, fake moral piety, race-baiting, misogyny, and homophobia to appeal to the worst in people and disguise their true motives for the past several decades. I wish people would start "voting their pocketbooks" as it's said they do. They don't. If that were true then the GOP would never get more than 20% of the vote.