Patterns of Violence in the Lives of Girls and Women: A reading guide

Edited Lisa S. Price. Vancouver: Women's Research Centre, 1989 97 pp. $9.00 paper, plus postage and handling

Review by Leslie Russell

119 women died in Canada as a result of domestic violence in 1989. That means every week, two Canadian women are killed by a current or former partner.

1 in 8 women report physical or sexual assault by intimate partners.

In her lifetime, l out of every 4 women will be sexually assaulted, largely by someone known to her. 50% of these women are under the age of 17 at the time of the sexual assault.

1 in 3 women has been subjected to unwanted sexual remarks or attention.

In Canada, young people (aged 12 to 17 years) are the primary consumers of pornography.

The above statistics are reported by the Ontario Women's Directorate and the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. They serve to demonstrate that violence and the threat of violence are a day-to-day reality in the lives of girls and women. So much so, in fact, that we are expected to make dramatic adjustments to the manner in which we conduct our lives in attempts to avoid such violence. Violence against women is pervasive - indeed, it is inherent in societal attitudes and is a firmly entrenched component of our misogynist culture.

Until recently, the reality of violence against women and children had been shrouded in myths (for example, that women must beware of strangers and psychopaths who wish to harm us; that men who rape are sexually starved, or that women "led them on"; that women who walk alone at night are asking for it). It is largely the work of feminists which has dispelled these and other falsehoods surrounding violence against women. We must continue this movement away from victim-blaming attitudes. As females in a culture which largely accepts male dominance, we are all vulnerable to male violence. There is no "us" and "them"; all women suffer.