Swedian’s out for the next couple of episodes, fighting the good fight in the United States and helping America elect its first female president — so for the next few weeks, we’ll have some special guests on the show to talk about feminism, politics, and everything in between!
WARNING: THIS EPISODE INCLUDES A BRIEF DISCUSSION ON A GRAPHIC RAPE CASE; PLEASE LISTEN AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
In this episode, we have Kate Walton, a self-identified queer feminist activist who’s the founder of Jakarta Feminist Discussion Group as well as the project Menghitung Pembunuhan Perempuan — Counting Dead Women — which chronicles acts of violence against women in Indonesia. We talk to her about this project and how it helped bring attention to the brutal rape and murder of Yuyun (as previously discussed in earlier episodes) to the national and international spotlight. We discuss the latest about the case and how the government’s reaction neglects to address the bigger problem of rape culture in our society — this pattern of violence against women.
We break down what we mean when we say “rape culture,” which is a hot topic at the moment in light of Donald Trump’s recent comments about kissing and groping women without their consent. In particular we discuss the “rape culture triangle,” which represents the patriarchal continuum whereby a lack of respect for female bodily autonomy has created a culture that starts from the bottom with rape jokes and ends at the top with sexual assault, rape, and murder. Finally, we end with how sexual violence is something that affects all women but is not something that’s obvious to men — and so we call on more men to change their mindset of trivializing violence and assault against women, and instead act to end things like Trump’s so-called “locker room talk,” violent attacks against women, and everything in between.
Thanks for listening!
P.S. if you have not listened to our two episodes about Yuyun’s story, you can listen to it here and here.
For those interested in learning more about the topic, we’ve provided links to resources as well as other recommended readings.
MENGHITUNG PEMBUNUHAN PEREMPUAN — Counting Dead Women Indonesia
What I’ve learned about domestic violence in my year reporting on it — courtesy of Jess Hill, the Australian journalist who reported only on stories of violence against women for a year
Destroy the Joint — feminist group that started Counting Dead Women Australia
Study on Rape Perpetration in Asia and the Pacific, including Indonesia — courtesy of the Lancet
The Gang Rape of Jyoti Singh — the violent 2012 case in India that sparked widespread changes in how India dealt with rape culture
Trump’s campaign embraces rape culture — courtesy of Think Progress
25 Everyday Examples of Rape Culture — courtesy of Everyday Feminism
MUSIC CREDITS:
SOUL HIGH by RYAN LITTLE
MONTMARTRE by JAHZAAR
NIGHT OWL by BROKE FOR FREE