Privilege Rape – Forgotten Women

Privilege Rape

Definition: When a person or persons sexually attack someone without retribution or are protected from the law due to their standing in society whether that be due to wealth, connection or social circumstance.

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On a daily basis sexual attacks are being carried out on women against their will, with no fear of retribution. The Harvey Weinstein scandal showed that even outwardly successful white women in Hollywood could be victims of coercive sexual violence and control – and feel powerless and voiceless at the time of their assault and in the years that follow. Each and every case in an outrage and worthy of our attention. But those cases, and similar cases at the top of almost every industry, invite the following questions: What is happening in the corners of the world where the eyes of the media are not focussed? What happens to the utterly dispossessed, the powerless, the voiceless and the ignored? The answer in many parts of the world is a very specific phenomenon: privilege rape.

Around the world women of all nationalities, social status and class are living in fear of individuals, who due to their position in society are free to subject women to horrific abuses that stay with them for the rest of their lives whist the perpetrator walks away knowing nothing will come of this due to his status. The biggest issue is not laws being in place but the implementation of a laws on those who commit such crime. Victim shaming is an added tool which stops victims reporting and standing up against their abusers as they will be blamed and most likely disowned by family members.

Over recent years a movement has started which has given survivors a platform to stand up against the evil acts they have been subjected to, however governments must act in line with this social shift and implement the laws they have set effectively and hold people to account. Anyone who performs an act of sexual advance towards another individual against their will should be subject to the full force of the law.

 

We are calling for global change to stop the ongoing protection of individuals that ruin lives of innocent. This impunity must be tackled and defeated if women are to be truly empowered and free to live full and fulfilling lives in line with their human rights [Lucy Rae, Forgotten Women]

We will do this by:

1-Exposing and highlighting cases of privilege rape around the world, a global voice for women who have been silenced
2-Working with legal teams and law enforcement agencies to bring perpetrators to justice
3-Advocacy work with governments around the world to ensure that adequate legal protections are in place

The #MeToo movement is a big step forward on a very long journey. Women’s rights are human rights and freedom from the threat of violence, especially sexual violence – whoever you are, whatever you do, this should be the very least we should all expect.

If you have any information you would like to share, or you would like to join the fight against privilege rape, please get in touch.

 

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Forgotten Women