The Social Problem of Violence Against Women - Essay Example

March 2007 Girl Violence Introduction Believe it or not, girl violence has been highly prevalent not only in Canada but as well as in other parts of the globe. There may not have been violent deaths or physical abuse involved, but the degree of girl violence, or even youth violence in general, also extends on verbal abuse and mental torture. The case of Reena Virk is a classic example of how this social issue has rapidly transcended over an extended period of time. From simple school bullying to gang initiations, fraternities, sororities, and group happenings, the youth of today has seriously considered the need to have a social group to which they would have a false pretense of belongingness. As more and more unguided or misguided youths are led to believe that there is nothing more important than being able to put up with the pressures of its peers, the more they are compelled to guard their elite group from innocent bystanders who would do anything just to have a taste of what is it like with the said group. And because of this mistaken guardianship and eliticism, such groups resort to violence. More violence means more chance of being allowed to enter the group. Others who fail to take the pressure are forever placed outside the social circle, like a stigma or a life enduring disease that must be avoided. Media and public perception on girl and youth violence is now the talk of the town. Countless websites, publications, and other relevant mediums have painstakingly criticized and pinpointed various people, government agencies, and other institutions on how societal values have degraded over the years. The discussions raised on this paper hopefully attempts to analyze and give valuable insights on the issue of girl violence. It is not known when the aforementioned would cease to exist, but with constant efforts in dissecting the issue, today’s teenagers would eventually realize the consequences and unlawful implications of their wrongdoings. The Reena Virk Case Born on March 10, 1983, Reena Virk was a daughter of Indian immigrants who chose to reside in Saanich, British Columbia (Wikipedia, 2007). Having come from a large extended family, Reena had a difficult adolescence period as she constantly yearned for acceptance, not only within the confines of her family but as well as among her peers. Instead of a constant attention, she was welcomed with a lot of teasing and bickering from other girls because of her skin color, weight, and facial hair (Cite the Reena Virk notes you sent – Bell, 2001). As emphasized by Jiwani (1997), Reena was unable to fit in to the world she had been yearning for acceptance simply because of the fact that she had nothing to fit in to. Her distinctive physical appearance was one of the crucial hindrances she had to contend with: brown skin in a predominantly white social network, overweight figure in a slim-dominated to the point of anorexia peer society, and her predominantly obtrusive facial hair against the hairless Caucasians. Aside from the distinctive difference she had from her peers, Reena was also primarily having some problems with her family. There were reports that prior to her death, she had lived in a foster home, was sexually abused by her father, rebelled against their strict religious beliefs, and had attempted to commit suicide in some occasions. She even ran away from home in order to gain freedom and bring back her down spiraling self-esteem. Being emotionally vulnerable, she began to smoke and came in contact with a local youth gang to whom she had great interest. And to make the long story short, she was eventually found dead in a tidal inlet at the George Waterway, British Columbia. Despite an alleged plot to cover up the details of the gruesome incident, rumors of the so-called murder eventually unfolded at the Shoreline Secondary School to which Reena was a student. Her body was found eight days later. The coroner who examined her first diagnosed drowning as the cause of her death. But on a later autopsy, it was revealed that Reena had also sustained fractures and head injuries at a tender young age of fourteen. One possible motive that led to Reena’s death was that two of the convicted girls alleged that Reena stole one of the girl’s phonebook and starting calling people just so to spread vicious rumors about her, thus making the girl stub her cigarette on Reena’s forehead. On the other hand, another motive that was seen was that another girl was very angry with Reena because the latter stole her boyfriend. Such events may have possibly happened, but realizing it had cost another life of a human being is far inconceivable (Wikipedia, 2007). Girl Violence With Reena Virk at the forefront of the media’s headlines and the growing number of concerned general public, there is no doubt that there have been a growing number of people, females in particular, involved in girl violence. For the period of 1980 to 2004, there have been an increasing number of girls in robbery cases, from 1.1 to 2.4 – when 350 cases of girls involved in robbery. Although 58 percent of the cases from 2003 to 2004 were minor assaults, about 24 percent were significantly involved in major cases (Statistics Canada, 2004d – please cite properly, based on the scanned reference you provided). Despite the fact that Reitsma-Street (1993b –cite from scanned ref) specifically indicated that “street crime and stranger crime by female youth is definitely not a major source of public danger,” Reena’s case signifies that race, physical appearance, and gender still drew considerable attention especially for the women youth. With Reena Virk in the limelight, the media and various concerned individuals have highlighted the fact that racism and sexism still inarguably exist, even in today’s youth. During the trial of Kelly Marie Ellard, accused of Reena’s murder, the defense steered away from issue of racist-sexist dominant constructs of femininity and instead portrayed Ellard as a “dominant construct of a white, middle-class, heterosexual femininity that was posited as a good, innocent girl” (cite Reena Virk’notes file). Even though Reena was obviously misunderstood by her peers because of her physical appearance – mainly her Indian race and the public uproar of violence, media reports have failed to emphasize or openly admit that it was racism and sexism that triggered the victim’s death. Thus, Jiwani (1997) was precise in emphasizing that Reena’s murder was an act of erasing a race or culture in the country. Hence, what could have happened to Reena could also have happened to any one in society by virtue of race. Jiwani further emphasized the fact that (1997): This erasure of race/culture is all the more interesting in light of the medias obsession with culture in the mass killing of the Gakhal and Saran families in Vernon, BC last year. There, despite repeated statements to the contrary by the Coalition of South Asian Women Against Violence, the media continued to emphasize the cultural background of the murdered victims. In Reena Virks story, the coverage makes no mention of her cultural background even though she is clearly South Asian. Could this absence be due to the fact that she was not killed by one of her own? However, in contrast to the members of the Gakhal and Saran families, Reenas family is identified as being Jehovahs Witnesses. And interestingly, the eulogy delivered by one of the Church elders was used to emphasize Reenas supposedly deviant character. Although the author briefly mentioned the causal relationship of religion at the end of the paragraph, what is interesting to note is the fact that the media was able to portray other murders as caused by racism while Reena Virk’s case as an abused Indian girl was neither mentioned nor given particular attention. And as concluded by Jiwani in the end of her paper: Reenas erasure in the public world marks her as a double symbol of warning to young South Asian girls - that they had better fit or find other ways of survival if they are to continue to live in the white, patriarchal culture of contemporary Canadian society Definitely, Reena was not the only one that has been hopelessly abused and violated not only in the eyes of her assailants but as well as in the eyes of the media and the general public, who has focused her character as deviant member of the Jehovah’s witness. And despite laws and policies against sexism and racism, society has continued, albeit unknowingly, to commit such unlawful acts. Conclusion Certainly, nobody is to blame on this incident except society in general. Society has constantly, but unconsciously bred young individuals, or girls for this matter, who has no regard over racism and sexism. What makes matters worst is the fact that the media has tolerated such unjustifiable act by referring that Reena’ death was mainly caused by her “physical appearance,” and not specifically because she was brown and sexually weak, as compared to her white and sexually superior peers. Unless the government organizations, institutions, non government organizations, and other like-minded individuals would join hands in stopping this unconscious breeding of racists and sexists, such issues would continue be a part of society’s vicious cycle of notoriety. References "Reena Virk." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 Mar 2007 . Jiwani, Jasmin. “Reena Virk: The Erasure of Race.” The FREDA Centre for Research on Violence against Women and Children, 1997. Read More

The coroner who examined her first diagnosed drowning as the cause of her death. But on a later autopsy, it was revealed that Reena had also sustained fractures and head injuries at a tender young age of fourteen. One possible motive that led to Reena’s death was that two of the convicted girls alleged that Reena stole one of the girl’s phonebook and starting calling people just so to spread vicious rumors about her, thus making the girl stub her cigarette on Reena’s forehead. On the other hand, another motive that was seen was that another girl was very angry with Reena because the latter stole her boyfriend.

Such events may have possibly happened, but realizing it had cost another life of a human being is far inconceivable (Wikipedia, 2007). Girl Violence With Reena Virk at the forefront of the media’s headlines and the growing number of concerned general public, there is no doubt that there have been a growing number of people, females in particular, involved in girl violence. For the period of 1980 to 2004, there have been an increasing number of girls in robbery cases, from 1.1 to 2.4 – when 350 cases of girls involved in robbery.

Although 58 percent of the cases from 2003 to 2004 were minor assaults, about 24 percent were significantly involved in major cases (Statistics Canada, 2004d – please cite properly, based on the scanned reference you provided). Despite the fact that Reitsma-Street (1993b –cite from scanned ref) specifically indicated that “street crime and stranger crime by female youth is definitely not a major source of public danger,” Reena’s case signifies that race, physical appearance, and gender still drew considerable attention especially for the women youth.

With Reena Virk in the limelight, the media and various concerned individuals have highlighted the fact that racism and sexism still inarguably exist, even in today’s youth. During the trial of Kelly Marie Ellard, accused of Reena’s murder, the defense steered away from issue of racist-sexist dominant constructs of femininity and instead portrayed Ellard as a “dominant construct of a white, middle-class, heterosexual femininity that was posited as a good, innocent girl” (cite Reena Virk’notes file).

Even though Reena was obviously misunderstood by her peers because of her physical appearance – mainly her Indian race and the public uproar of violence, media reports have failed to emphasize or openly admit that it was racism and sexism that triggered the victim’s death. Thus, Jiwani (1997) was precise in emphasizing that Reena’s murder was an act of erasing a race or culture in the country. Hence, what could have happened to Reena could also have happened to any one in society by virtue of race.

Jiwani further emphasized the fact that (1997): This erasure of race/culture is all the more interesting in light of the medias obsession with culture in the mass killing of the Gakhal and Saran families in Vernon, BC last year. There, despite repeated statements to the contrary by the Coalition of South Asian Women Against Violence, the media continued to emphasize the cultural background of the murdered victims. In Reena Virks story, the coverage makes no mention of her cultural background even though she is clearly South Asian.

Could this absence be due to the fact that she was not killed by one of her own? However, in contrast to the members of the Gakhal and Saran families, Reenas family is identified as being Jehovahs Witnesses. And interestingly, the eulogy delivered by one of the Church elders was used to emphasize Reenas supposedly deviant character. Although the author briefly mentioned the causal relationship of religion at the end of the paragraph, what is interesting to note is the fact that the media was able to portray other murders as caused by racism while Reena Virk’s case as an abused Indian girl was neither mentioned nor given particular attention.

And as concluded by Jiwani in the end of her paper: Reenas erasure in the public world marks her as a double symbol of warning to young South Asian girls - that they had better fit or find other ways of survival if they are to continue to live in the white, patriarchal culture of contemporary Canadian society Definitely, Reena was not the only one that has been hopelessly abused and violated not only in the eyes of her assailants but as well as in the eyes of the media and the general public, who has focused her character as deviant member of the Jehovah’s witness.

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