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Sexual Autonomy
auf Deutsch
Photograph taken during Human Rights Watch research on discrimination against and harrassment of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender youths in U.S. schools. United States, 2001. © 2001 Patricia Williams
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In many cultures, women are treated as property, not as human being with inherent dignity and equal rights. Women’s dress, work, socializing, appearances, intimate relationships, reproduction, and sexuality are all subject to control — by family and community as well as, in some cases, by the state. Girls are subjected to female genital mutilation and early marriage, and are denied control over their sexuality. Women are forced into marriage, denied access to the public sphere, and punished if they violate rigid codes governing how women walk, dress, and speak. At worst, in Jordan and many other countries, a girl or women may be killed in the name of restoring the family’s “honor” if she rebels against (or is perceived to have rebelled against) these controls. Finally, laws that criminalize adultery and fornication are used disproportionately against women and create a risk of prosecution for women who are victims of sexual violence but whom the police or prosecutors do not believe.
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