The CUSU Women's campaign has initiated a petition to Disinvite DSK - please sign it:
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The Cambridge Union Society, is once again showing a callous disregard for
the fight for women’s liberation in inviting alleged rapist Dominique Strauss-Khan to speak on the 9th March. Strauss-Khan was forced to resign as the IMF chief last year after assaulting Nafissatou
Diallo, a hotel attendant, while a guest at an exclusive venue in Times Square.
He has also had a number of allegations of harassment and sexual assault made
against him by other women.
Some try and claim that Strauss-Khan as former head of the
IMF is deserving of a platform at the Cambridge Union; we can ignore the
allegations of rape and sexual assault. The International Monetary Fund has a
long history of lending money to countries in crisis and in return demanding austerity
and privatisation. During the 1980s, the IMF pushed “structural adjustment
programmes” that ruined developing countries. In the 1990s its actions
contributed to worsening the South East Asian financial crisis. Today the IMF,
as recession grips much of Europe, it still has only one set of remedies for
countries in crisis—cut public spending, drive down wages, and increase
profits. But the cuts and austerity imposed by the IMF are not making the
situation any better, and many people in Greece and in other countries are
suffering terribly as a result of its policies.
However, the Union Society appears to have invited Strauss-Khan
because of the allegations of rape
and sexual assault. In giving him such a prestigious platform it goes someway
to normalise violence against women; it shows that if you are rich and powerful
then you can not only get away with rape, but receive a fancy dinner and an
audience because of it.
The Union may argue that Strauss-Khan has “not been found
guilty of anything” however in the case of Nafissatou Diallo there is little
doubt that a sexual encounter did take place, and plenty of evidence to show
that it was violent. The charges against Dominique Strauss-Khan were only
dropped after a vicious media campaign that attempted to destroy Nafissatou
Diallo’s credibility as a witness. In the case of Tristane Banon, Strauss-Khan
only escaped prosecution because of a French statute of limitations which prevented
the charge of sexual assault – a charge Strauss-Khan has admitted to – from
being brought.
The treatment of Nafissatou Diallo and the hostility toward her
claims is typical of what many women and girls encounter when they come forward
with an accusation of sexual assault. It is not surprising that many people do
not feel that they are able to come forward when they have been raped or
sexually assaulted; it could mean that their whole life is scrutinised and the
justice system is stacked against them. Worryingly “rape crisis centres usually
see a drop in reported cases in the aftermath of high-profile sexual assault
cases, especially those in which the prosecution failed.” While it is estimated
that 47,000 Women are raped in Britain each year, we have one of the lowest rape conviction rate in Europe – only
6%.
The vast majority of men are not rapists. Rape and sexual violence
are not an inherent part of human behaviour. They are a product of class
society, particularly capitalism, which alienates us from our bodies, our
sexuality and one another. We live in a society in which sexuality is bought
and sold as a commodity or where it is used to buy and sell other commodities.
Violence against women is
the outcome of a class society that is maintained by material inequality
between men and women – women earn 15% less than men, and there still remains
an expectation that women will bear the burden for most of the childcare,
cooking and housework for which they don’t get paid at all. It is in the
interests of capitalism to divide workers so we see that sexist ideas are
promoted, which encourage men to think of women as less than equals. In a
society which places so little value on working class women’s lives it is not
surprising that some men do not think they have to ask for consent to have sex.
But working class men do not benefit from the oppression of women, and must be
part of the fight against sexism and for women’s liberation.
Women’s oppression hasn’t always existed, but emerged at the same
time as class society. When people lived in hunter-gather communities men and
women had different roles, but these roles were seen as equal. Over time
societies developed to be able to produce a surplus, which needed to be
controlled, and the productive techniques changed so that men’s labour became prioritised.
We see that the privatised family becomes increasingly important at the same
point as the state and private property develop. Engles called the development
of the family “the world historical defeat of the female sex”. The new ruling
class wanted ‘legitimate’ heirs to pass on their surplus to. Controlling women
and sexual relations became key to achieving this; the whole notion of the
private family is based on treating women as second class citizens and as a
form of property to be controlled by men. These ideas help to legitimate, and
encourage, violence against women.
Clearly a woman’s position in a family under capitalism is
different to how it was under feudalism, and many women have fought to
transform their position in society over the last 100 years. Men today spend
more time caring for children than they did in the past, and in many cases
housework is no longer seen as the sole responsibility of women. Changes have
occurred in part because of the needs of the capitalist system, but also,
importantly, due to the mass pressure and struggle of ordinary people. And that
such changes can occur is important to demonstrate that men and women’s roles in
society are not something fixed; they can change.
Despite advances, women’s oppression still exists, and the ruling
class continue to try and roll back gains that have been won. The family plays
a crucial economic role bearing the of bringing up the next generation of
workers and caring for the young, old and the sick, meaning the cost is borne
by the individual, rather than the state. This means that the ruling class hate
criticism of the family and attack those who live outside its structures.
In most cases of sexual assault and rape the attacker is known to
the woman. Violence is most likely to happen within the family. Yet the most
common image of a rapist is someone jumping out from shadowy bushes late at
night. Highlighting that the social relations under capitalism, and particularly
the family, are causes of sexual violence is not something that the ruling
class would be willing to do.
Protests, such as the slutwalks that sprung up in many towns and
cities last year, are very successful in drawing attention to questions of rape
and sexual assault meaning they are issues that cannot be ignored or hidden. However
to get rid of violence against women entirely we need an entirely different
society. Capitalism thrives on sexism, violence and alienation. We need a
society in which is free from exploitation and oppression.
We must call on the Cambridge Union Society to withdraw its
invitation to Dominique Strauss-Khan. If they persist in having him speak we
need to follow the example of New York Hotel workers, and make sure he is met
by a large and vocal protest that sends a clear message – that we aren’t taking
this any more.
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