Diferentes caras, un solo dolor : crónica de mujeres víctimas de la violencia de género

Tres testimonios, de una dura realidad que muchas mujeres colombianas afrontan a diario, pero que permanecen invisibilizados tras las paredes de sus hogares, o de lo que pareciere serlo. Historias de vida, así como de la superación de las diferentes formas de violencia que sufrieron.

La dimensión transnacional del movimiento feminista marroquí: génesis, desarrollo e impacto social (1980-2008)

Esta monografía busca explicar cómo han incidido el contexto internacional y las relaciones transnacionales en el movimiento feminista de Marruecos. De este modo, este estudio defiende que las Conferencias Mundiales sobre la Mujer de la ONU crearon una estructura de oportunidad política que favoreció el surgimiento y el desarrollo de este movimiento. Asimismo, dicho contexto construyó un espacio para que las activistas feministas marroquíes crearan y se insertaran en Redes de Defensa Transnacional, las cuales contribuyeron a cambiar la condición de la mujer en Marruecos, a través de reformas a los Códigos de Familia y Nacionalidad y el levantamiento de las reservas a la CEDAW. Para esto se hará un estudio interdisciplinario haciendo uso de la teoría de los movimientos sociales y del activismo transnacional. Igualmente, se utilizará una metodología cualitativa, principalmente a través de las herramientas del análisis de contenido y el trabajo de campo de la autora.

''Maria da Penha vai à escola?'' Representações sociais de jovens do ensino médio sobre a violência doméstica contra a mulher

RESUMO:Este trabalho teve como objetivo identificar as Representações Sociais dos jovens do Ensino Médio sobre a Violência Doméstica Contra a Mulher. A metodologia deste estudo investigativo foi pautada sobre os pilares da pesquisa qualitativa de caráter exploratório e descritivo. A primeira série do ensino médio, de duas escolas localizadas no centro da cidade de João Pessoa, uma da instância pública estadual e outra de capital privado, constituiu o universo da pesquisa. Os sujeitos 12 meninos e 12 meninas abrangeram a faixa etária entre 14 e 20 anos de idade. O marco teórico foi sistematizado de forma a atender os questionamentos pertinentes à pesquisa e composto de estudiosos e pesquisadores nas áreas das Representações Sociais, da Violência Doméstica Contra a Mulher e sobre a Lei Maria da Penha. O grupo focal, a entrevista semi-estruturada e a análise de conteúdo foram os instrumentos utilizados para a coleta e análise dos dados recolhidos. As informações e dados coletados foram organizados de acordo com as técnicas de grupo realizadas nas oficinas de ideias dos dois encontros do grupo focal e as entrevistas individuais. A partir da análise dos resultados verificou-se nas representações sociais dos jovens da 1ª série do ensino médio sobre a violência doméstica contra a mulher que eles têm consciência da gravidade social que esta conduta delitiva representa. Mostram estar cientes das causas e consequências deste tipo de violência, sabendo também apontar medidas preventivas em âmbito escolar e social de um modo geral além de saber atribuir competências a órgãos públicos nesta tarefa. ABSTRACT: This work was developed to identify the Social Representations of young high school students about domestic violence against women. The methodology of this investigative study was based on qualitative research pillars of exploratory and descriptive kind. The first year of high school, from two schools located in the centre of João Pessoa city, one public and another private composed the search universe. The subjects were 12 boys and 12 girls from the age of 14 to 20. The theoretical mark was systematized to meet relevance to research inquiries and was composed by scholars and researchers in the areas of Social Representations Theory, Domestic Violence Against Women and Maria da Penha Law. Focus group, semi-structured interview and analysis content were instruments used for compilation and analysis of data collected. The information and data collected have been organized according to techniques of group performed in the workshops of ideas during the two focal group meetings and individual interviews. Based on the analysis of results found through Social Representations Theory in young people of 1st grade high school about domestic violence against women, they are aware of the social gravity that this delictive conduct represents, demonstrate to be conscious of causes and consequences of this kind of violence and make out preventive measures in scholastic and social reach in a general view, besides the attribution of skills to public agencies concerning this task.

The EU, counter-terrorism and the protection of Muslims as European minorities

This article examines the EU’s promotion of the religious identity of Muslims within the context of European counter-terrorism measures. Counter-terrorism laws of the EU and its Member States impact on the religious identity of Muslims. They have an arguably disproportionate effect on the civil rights of individuals in the quest to combat terrorism and can be seen to increase Islamophobia in two ways: a rise in general discrimination against Muslims and a requirement on Muslims to distance their connection to Islamic practice and traditions. EU law dealing with terrorist offences speak little of this backlash that Muslims face in European countries. Although the EU has somewhat of a framework in place which concerns the protection of Islamic identity, the reluctance of the EU to take a determined stance on the issue of the protection of religious identity is illustrated through the ambiguous nature of its legislation.

Deviant disabilities: the exclusion of drug and alcohol addiction from the Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010, in keeping with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, excludes those identified as drug and alcohol ‘addicted’ from the scope of provisions prohibiting discrimination against disabled people. This article addresses the significance of, and justification for, this exclusion. It begins with a legislative background to the relevant limitation and subsequently examines its rationale according to prevailing legal, medical and sociological discourses. The article then considers the relevance of the discussion for disability rights. Although ‘addiction’, or the preferred term, ‘substance dependence’, is classified as a disability for international systems of disease classification, the relevance of substance dependence for discussion on disability rights, and of disability for discussion on substance dependence, has largely escaped critical comment.

"La leyenda tiene una base real" : Análisis crítico del discurso de un artículo de El País

This paper carries out a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the article "¿Chinofobia?” published by the Spanish newspaper El País. It applies the theory of racist discourse in the media as formulated by Teun A. van Dijk. Its hypothesis is that the article, which supposedly analyses discrimination against the Chinese minority in Spain, covertly blames the Chinese minority itself for the discrimination. Applying CDA methodology as exemplified in previous studies by van Dijk, the paper analyses the article on global and local levels, and delineates its mental model. The global level analysis describes the article in terms of macropropositions and proposes a macrostructure: the self-alienation of the Chinese minority. The paper then analyses how the macrostructure is reinforced on the local level through micropropositions by examining 1) how vocabulary serves the negative presentation and othering of the Chinese minority, 2) how strategies of mitigation minimise discrimination by employing imprecise and vague language, 3) how quotes are used to give coherence and force to the macrostructure, 4) how implications associate the Chinese minority with criminality, and 5) how stereotyped beliefs about the Chinese minority are presented as common sense (presuppositions) and fallaciously argued. Finally, the paper delineates the mental model: the presuppositions about integration, and the implicit warning that minorities should integrate or they will be discriminated against.

Pedagoger i det sociala uppdragets gränstrakter : Att hantera familjerättsliga processer, hot och våld

Pedagogues in the borderland of their social task: dealing with family law proceedings, threats and violence Drawing upon an explorative study of family law proceedings from a school perspective, the aim of this paper is to examine the school staff’s strategies for solving or coping with problematic situations in this context. Gendered conflicts between adults and violence are extreme cases for pedagogues in school and preschool. How do the staff cope with their own and the children’s vulnerability? Based upon interviews with 22 informants, the staff’s strategies are outlined and discussed in relation to organizational and professional circumstances and intersecting social relations of power. An analytical construction of six types of proactive and reactive strategies, ranging from distance keeping to normalization of own exposure, is utilized in the analysis. Findings suggest that the staff’s strategies to handle challenging events in this context vary with the parent’s gender, class position and ethnicity. Further, it is argued that creating a sense of safety and promoting learning among the children may be obstructed by lack of support from the school’s organization, demands on staff to perform customer oriented attitudes towards parents and lack of clarity concerning the limits of the social task. Conflicts between the organization and profession on the one hand and the educational and the social task on the other hand, are thus illuminated. In conclusion, a further aim of this article is to contribute to broader discussions on men’s violence against women and children – in families as well as in workplaces and in the intersection between these two areas. 

En sociologisk förståelse av förlåtelse och försoning

Forgiveness and reconciliation in a sociological context Are forgiveness and reconciliation left to the theologians to define or can these concepts also be genuine concepts in sociology? In spite of the fact that sociology and social psychology have a lot of research about relationship, interaction and groups, there is not much research about forgiveness and reconciliation. This article presents the understanding of how relations can be revived, if once broken, if using these conceptions. The discussion also includes the concepts of shame and guilt and even confidence, particularly in relations where you find victim and perpetrator. The discussion is developed in a perspective of symbolic interactionism with examples from sociological research about men´s violence against women and adults, especially fathers, abuse to their daughters. In this article the perpetrator feels guilt and the victim shame and the feeling of guilt makes the perpetrator to ask for forgiveness. When hate and hard feelings have come to an end, the reconciliation can occur as a consequence of the forgiveness.

Kung slår dam : våldsforskningsmetodologi i ett våldsamt jämställt Sverige

King captures queen. Methodology in research on violence in violently equal Sweden Research and debate on violence against women in a Swedish context is here discussed from a perspective that focuses on the different understandings and epistemological claims behind existing positions. I crystallize a dominant perspective on violence, centred around fragmentation/deviance, and a challenging feminist understanding, centred around coherence/normality. I relate these understandings to a wider set of methodological choices and epistemological claims within research on violence against women, captured in what I call a discourse on partner violence (fragmentation) and a feminist discourse on men’s violence against women (coherence). The article also examines the reactions, in media and academic life, that a quantitative study on men’s violence against women in Sweden provoked, Captured queen, men’s violence against women in equal Sweden. A prevalence study (Lundgren et al 2001). By applying a coherent methodological approach, stemming from the feminist discourse on violence against women, the study seems to have placed itself outside what was comprehensible for many voices in the debate (from media and the academic field). I discuss the hostile reactions the study aroused, in relation to its methodology and the above presented conflicting understandings that occupy the research field “violence against women”.

Ett litet ord betyder så mycket : Alliansregeringen, Handlingsplanen och betydelseförskjutningarav begreppet mäns våld mot kvinnor

A little word may mean so much: Changed meanings of the concept men’s violence against women This article concerns the process of policymaking in the Swedish political system with a focus on the concept of men’s violence against women. The material analyzed is based on interviews with key civil servants and the Minister of Equality responsible for the ”Action Plan for Combating Men’s Violence Against Women” launched by the right wing government in 2007. The article shows how a shift in the concept of men’s violence against women is achieved through complex negotiations involving the administration staff as well as the political representatives.The outcome is a change from an understanding of the issue as a structural gender power relation problem, to explaining it as related to individual deviations. This change has been made by re-wording and editing out earlier understandings of men’s violence against women as a structural gender power concern in policies and guidelines, so that the concept is framed as something pertaining to groups of vulnerable women with specific individual obstacles. The political goals are then expressed along the lines of providing support for each group’s designated problems, but the connection to gendered power structures is made invisible.

Race as political strategy by US presidential candidates: a case study

Race has played an important part in US presidential politics in contemporary history. Different political parties and candidates have followed covert strategies playing on the prejudices of white voters both cognitively and emotionally by linking racerelated issues to the majority's individual and group interests. This elite discourse carried to the public by the mainstream media, along with media's practices of stereotyping, priming, framing and agenda setting, help to justify racial prejudice, discrimination against minorities and their marginalized status, while maintaining the status quo. Taking the social constructionist position, this case study examines the opinions expressed by a sample of undecided voters selected from different geographic locations at various stages of the 1992 US presidential campaign under the themes 'Candidates' racial prejudice' and 'Race is used as political strategy by candidates.'

Challenges in translating scientific evidence into mandatory food fortification policy: an antipodean case study of the folate- neural tube defect relationship

Objective: To identify challenges in translating scientific evidence of a  nutrient and health relationship into mandatory food fortification policy.
Design: A case study approach was used in which available evidence  associated with the folate–neural tube defect relationship was reviewed against the Australia New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council's Policy Guideline for mandatory food fortification. Results: Three particular challenges were identified. The first is knowing when and how to act in the face of scientific uncertainty. The second is knowing how to address the special needs of at-risk individuals without compromising the health and safety of the population as a whole. The third is to ensure that a policy is sufficiently monitored and evaluated. Conclusions: Despite the availability of compelling evidence of a relationship between a particular nutrient and a health outcome, a definitive policy response may not be apparent.  Judgement and interpretation inevitably play significant roles in influencing whether and how authorities translate scientific evidence into mandatory food fortification policy. In relation to the case study, it would be prudent to undertake a risk–benefit analysis of policy alternatives and to implement nutrition education activities to promote folic acid supplement use among the target group. Should mandatory folate fortification be implemented,  comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of this policy will be essential to know that it is implemented as planned and does more good than harm. In relation to mandatory food fortification policy-making around the world,  ongoing national nutrition surveys are required to complement national policy guidelines.

Moving from voluntary euthanasia to non-voluntary euthanasia: equality and compassion

The recent Dutch law legalising active voluntary euthanasia will reignite the euthanasia debate. An illuminating method for evaluating the moral status of a practice is to follow the implications of the practice to its logical conclusion. The argument for compassion is one of the central arguments in favour of voluntary active euthanasia. This argument applies perhaps even more forcefully in relation to incompetent patients. If active voluntary euthanasia is legalised, arguments based on compassion and equality will be directed towards legalising active non-voluntary euthanasia in order to make accelerated termination of death available also to the incompetent. The removal of discrimination against the incompetent has the potential to become as potent a catch-cry as the right to die. However, the legalisation of non-voluntary euthanasia is undesirable. A review of the relevant authorities reveals that there is no coherent and workable "best interests" test which can be invoked to decide whether an incompetent patient is better off dead. This provides a strong reason for not stepping onto the slippery path of permitting active voluntary euthanasia.