This Week in Women: Violence Against Women Hurts Communities Around the World

This Week in Women is part of a series produced in partnership between Ms. and the Fuller Project for International Reporting. This column is also part of a newsletter; sign up here to receive it regularly.

The Community Costs of Domestic Violence

This Monday in a front page story for USA Today, we reported that in 2017, more officers were shot and killed in the line of duty while responding to domestic violence than any other type of firearm-related fatality, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. This alarming trend has only continued in 2018.

So far this year, six officers have died in domestic violence-related shootings. That includes two police officers in Westerville, Ohio, who were shot responding to a 911 call from a woman who said she had previously been threatened and sexually assaulted by her husband, a cop who tried to protect a neighbor from her estranged husband and an officer who was trying to apprehend a man who had allegedly just murdered his ex-wife.

Violence against women is an important story at The Fuller Project because it impacts so many women, at such a great cost to society. We’re committed to reporting on it, on those affected by it and on innovative and new strategies to reduce and prevent it. Please take a few minutes to read our compelling reporting, and share on social media.

More Stories From The Week

The family of Marie Colvin, a war correspondent killed in Syria, is trying to take the Assad regime to court for what they say was a deliberate assassination of the journalist. This mom running for Congress says the Federal Election Commission should allow congressional candidates to use campaign funds for child care.

The muted response to two brutal cases of the rape and murder of young girls has brought “acute national shame” on India, writes Barkha Dutt in The Washington Post. In El Salvador, the New York Times reported that women are leading a campaign to end the incarceration of women who have abortions and miscarriages. In Kenya, a woman who was abused by nurses during childbirth won a landmark legal case in March that set a precedent requiring quality care for women. This week, NPR reports on the issue of maternal mortality in poor countries.

An investigation by The Intercept into complaints of sexual abuse in immigration detention centers revealed “a staggering” 1,224 complaints, half of which were against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. And this week, The Lily writes about the wrenching choice facing an American-born teenager whose undocumented parents were deported back to Mexico. Will Lulu stay with her family in Mexico or return to the U.S., the only home she’s ever known?

Who are the young girls throwing stones in Kashmir?

The New York Times investigated how NFL teams treat their cheerleaders. Some requirements include: weigh-ins, no sweatpants in public, and restrictions on nail polish and jewelry.
More next week on what’s happening around the world for, by and about women.

 

About

Christina Asquith is former editor for Across Women’s Lives at PRI’s The World and founder/editor in chief of the Fuller Project for International Reporting, which contributed this story and which works with Peace Is Loud on women, peace and security issues.