Vag-tastic News: Rage Against the Pussy Edition

• As of this morning, the UN Security Council classifies rape as a war tactic and the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the “unspeakable proportion” of violence against women in war-torn regions. Historically, war ravaged populations have been subjected to rape and sexual abuse from occupying powers and, until now, this was rarely talked about as a war crime. The UN resolution, that passed with a unanimous vote, describes sexual violence as "a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group". Speakers in favor of the resolution’s passage identified the former Yugoslavia, Sudan's Darfur region, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Liberia as regions where deliberate sexual violence had occurred on a mass scale. Our own forces in Iraq have been convicted of disgusting sexual violence as well. This resolution will allow rape and sexual battery charges to be tried in a war crimes tribunal (along with crimes like genocide, using child soldiers, and unlawful deportation). We’ll eventually see how this effects the U.S. war efforts in the Middle East if a war crimes tribunal ever hears a case against the American occupation. Highly unlikely, but possible, I guess.
• A BBC report on the new enforcement policy in Iran that is cracking down on dress code violations was posted on their site earlier today. The article claims that police are arresting women if their headscarves do not fully cover their hair or their clothes show their figures too clearly and men with “inappropriate hairstyles”. The dress code originated with the Islamic Revolution of 1979 but is widely ignored, especially in urban centers, even though the penalties include public lashing, imprisonment, or hefty fines. The article says that raids like the current one are usually conducted during the hot summer months, since they tend to net more women in less clothes & are therefore more effective. Can you even imagine getting arrested for donning a sun dress or a pair of shorts in 110+ degree weather? The whole idea that God demands women cover every inch of their person to avoid being raped is wholly ridiculous to me & it baffles me that entire nations legislate such menial bullshit. I am totally sympathetic to the Iranian ladies being bullied into wardrobe submission over there. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to those of us able to decide on our daily wardrobe, but it’s serious business elsewhere & we shouldn’t take our freedoms for granted. Thank goddess for our clothes sovereignty, eh?
• In the wake of R. Kelly’s acquittal, the Duke rape debacle, and a recent HBO documentary on Roman Polaski that glossed over his infamous statutory rape case, it is pretty clear that our society is due for an honest discussion about rape, sexual violence, and the like. Just reading the posts over at Jezebel about the aforementioned documentary is enough to make my stomach turn. A thirteen year old girl is capable of making many decisions, but is it so hard to believe that she is also in danger of being victimized by grown-ass men? I know that I am smarter than most thirteen year old boys I meet & I probably could push the young bucks into any situation I wanted, whether or not they thought it was a good idea, because I am a bit more intelligent and capable of manipulation, right? People really have to start being a lot-tle more empathetic in these situations & remember just how easily they were manipulated in their early teens, before they pass judgement on others.