Putting the Focus on Women’s Issues

Domestic violence and economic inequality often take the spotlight in discussions of women’s issues, but they make up only part of the spectrum of abuses in which women are frequently the victim. While those are most certainly important women’s issues and are deserving of every bit of attention they get, it’s also important for the world to recognize the many other criminal activities and abuses that often target women and children to a greater degree than they do the general population.

That is not to say that one person’s suffering or victimization is less important because of his gender – there is much truth to the saying that women’s issues are human issues. It is important, however, to bring attention to criminal activities and abuses that unfairly target women and children because they are frequently at the root of abuses that oppress entire populations.

Human Trafficking

Trafficking in human beings has been recognized as an abhorrent abuse of human rights since Biblical times, but entire peoples have managed to overlook the horrors and abuses by assigning the victims of trafficking a lower status of humanity. Sometimes sensationalized as “white slavery” or trafficking in sex slaves, there is far more to the criminal exchange of human beings for cash. While there are organized criminal cartels that specialize in the kidnapping and sale of “white slaves,” human trafficking is both broader and deeper than that. In fact, there may be just as many women and children imported to serve as domestic help, farm labor and factory workers as there are imported as sex slaves.

Illegal Adoption

Often, stories about illegal adoption focus on the adoptive parents as victims of unscrupulous agencies and mothers seeking to sell their children for cash. In reality, the illegal adoption trade is a criminal industry that often victimizes the mothers and babies even more than it does the parents who avail themselves of the illegal services. It’s not unusual for criminal cartels who engage in human trafficking to imprison women, impregnate them and take their children from them by force or deception. Illegal adoption is, by its victimization of mothers and infants, an important women’s issue.

Internet Scams and Love/Money Scams

It may seem odd to include Internet scams and scams targeting women on dating sites under the same heading as illegal adoptions and human trafficking, but these scams often put women in danger as well as bilking them of hard-earned savings. Women who are deceived by hucksters and criminals pretending to be “looking for love” on the Internet often find themselves victimized by violent criminals and thieves who use manipulation and threats to extort money from them.

Understanding the full breadth of women’s issues and the crimes that typically target women and children can help put the focus on the criminals, where they belong, rather than on the women and children who are the victims. The more you know about human rights abuses and women’s issues, the more able you will be to protect yourself against them.

Romance Novels and Thrillers Take On Women’s Issues

The classic bodice-ripper has undergone major changes in the past decade or so. The new era of romance novels and thrillers take on some of the biggest women’s issues of our time, providing inspiration and information along with their entertaining tales. The heroines in some of today’s top romance thrillers have more to worry about than whether the dashing new doctor is more interested in the OR nurse. They’re facing some of the most troubling and recalcitrant issues affecting women today – human trafficking, domestic violence, internet scams and international cartels that traffic in sex, drugs and babies.

Domestic abuse often makes headlines when sensational stories hit the media circuit, but it’s kept a low profile in the most-read women’s genre, the romance novel. Romance publishers, who believe that readers want happy-ever-after stories with plucky heroines and sterling heroes, have rigidly stayed away from novels that highlight one of the toughest women’s issues of our time. Some authors, however, aren’t afraid to take on the subject and their works provide an illuminating and sympathetic insight into the challenges and obstacles faced by women in abusive relationships.

“New Beginnings,” a novel by Patti Ann Bengen, tells the story of Heather Langdon, a young wife whose marriage slowly dissolves into a nightmare of emotional, mental and physical abuse. The sensitive, delicate portrayal leads the reader to a deeper understanding of the choices women make that keep them in violent relationships and challenges the myth that these things only happen to a certain type of woman. Immersed in reading about Heather’s life, a reader might recognize a sister, a best friend or even herself, and gain a better understanding of how domestic violence affects not only those within the relationship, but nearly everyone who touches it.

As popular fiction begins to recognize and deal with real women’s issues, it offers a chance to reach those women who feel isolated and alone, not only directly but by increasing the understanding of how these so-called “women’s issues” affect far more than women. At the same time, the emergence of these new voices in romance and thrillers recognizes that while society may not be ready to stop sweeping the realities of domestic violence under the rug, it has at least grown to the point where it’s ready to lift the corner of the carpet and peek beneath it.

If you are a woman or a man affected by domestic violence, there is help available. You’ll find many resources, both local and national, created to assist those affected by domestic violence and other women’s issues. No one deserves to be victimized or to live in fear with the threat of violence. Reach out to one of the many organizations working to end domestic violence and take back control of your life.