Maria Libreros
Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Bullock
Woman Human Rights
Assignment # 9
A “Rights-defined identity” By: Sally Engle Merry
In the article Rights Talk and Experience of Law: Implementing Women’s Human Rights to protection from violence, Sally Engle Merry talks about Women’s Rights as Women’s Human Rights, and how these rights are being violated while they are victims of violence and domestic violence. Sally also explain how the system and society contributed to the violation of their rights because of culture, religion,community or social beliefs that makes appear women guilty when they reacted accusing their aggressors or abusive husbands. However, it depends on the individual experience with the law about their rights.
Sally’s main point is to be conscious about women victimization, women are being tired of being abused and maltreated by their husbands. They decided to report them to the police and present charges against their aggressor and relied on the criminal system. However, most of these women are likely eather to drop up the case avoiding to present charges on court against their husbands, because they are scare of man coming back to hurt them again. Others, they simple abandon the case because of cultural and societal prejudice that accused them been against their husbands and to be a bad wives that can destroy a man’s ego, humiliation and the predominant feeling that everyone in court including judge are against them. Another group of women think that they are responsible for their husband’s bad temper. Therefore, they deserved to be beaten by a man.
Nowadays, women are against domestic violence, and the system is very helpful in many cases the victims have services such as shelter, restriction orders that protect them and their children from their prosecutor to be near them. There are psychological assistance individual or family that can help relationships deal with the emotional or mental trauma caused by the situation.
Sally’s recommends to look for help and found support even though, some of the stories she presented are scary while others are very supportive by women and by the authorities as well. Most of them provided group support to the victims during the legal court process that can lead to label a husband as a domestic violent aggressor and her as a victim. There are also cultural differences that justify violence, behavior and humiliation to female gender, in these cases human rights depends on the individual experience within the social context.
