Archive for sexual violence
an upside down year [cover]
Posted in Books with tags 2024, cover, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, French politics, Léon Marchand, Libé, Middle East, Monique Pélicot, New Year's Eve, Paris 2024 Olympics, political crisis, rape, sexual violence, Solidarity with Ukraine, Syrian civil war, UNiTE to End Violence against Women on December 30, 2024 by xi'an
a journal of the chaos, conquest, war, famine, and death [by drowning & ordeal] year
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel with tags Akira Kurosawa, Alþing, Argentan, Arnaldur Indriðason, Þingvellir, Bellême, book review, Brazil, capital punishment, Carrouges, Charles VI, Christian VII, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, death penalty, Denmark, film review, ginger, ginger jam, humus, Iceland, incest, Journal of the Plague Year, judicial duel, Netflix, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, ordeal, Paris, rape, Rashomon, Ridley Scott, Russian invasion, sexual violence, The Last Duel, Ukraine on June 1, 2024 by xi'an
Read Indriðason’s Sigurverkið (The king and the clockmaker) while spending the
day in Charles de Gaulle airport waiting for my flight to Birmingham. This is an historical if romanced novel taking place around 1800 in both Iceland and Denmark. It is somewhat connected to Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites, —which impressed me so much that it became a customary book gift—in that this 2021 book by Indriðason is also about a judicial execution of a woman (and her lover) in Iceland, if a few decades earlier and by drowning in a bag at Thingvellir—which we visited during AISTATS in 2014—. The story is however told in a plainer style, the son of this woman being both the narrator, and the clockmaker repairing the historical clock of Habrecht—which was indeed in the Danish Royal Collection at the time and about to be repaired— , while the audience is the mentally unstable and in-name-only King of Denmark, Christian VII, whose father, Frederik V, had (twice) condemned the victims to death. Since the main story is known from the start there is no suspense and little sense of urgency, which makes the book slow-paced and not very engaging, even though the depiction of 18th Century Iceland and its dominion by the Danish crown remains interesting, as well as the historical basis for the executions, the Stóradomi [Great Edict] of 1564 that prescribed beheading for men and drowning for women in case of incest (which actually did not take place for the unjustly executed couple).
Made half a dozen ginger jam jars, as it is currently plentiful and very cheap at the local market (although shipped from Brazil!). But mostly because it is my wife’s favourite jam. Resulting in a definitely tangy jam, despite adding rhubarb, (entire) lemons and pears. Also took advantage of a sea brass BBQ to cook on the side sweet potatoes towards an unusual humus.
Watched (at last!) Scott’s The Last Duel, which foundations appealed to me for being a medieval remake of [my favourite movie] Rashōmon and for supposedly taking place in the vicinity of my home county (supposedly so because no scene was shot in or nearby Normandy!). The outcome is mixed for me, as the setting remains Disney-esque despite the use of medieval castles with tidy landscapes and interiors—the Castle of Carrouge being too “modern” for that purpose—, extensive battle scenes—why would hidden archers resort to fiery arrows?!—, a knighthood quite late in the coming, out-of-tune medieval music, an absurd medieval transplant of the modern constant need to hold a drink, a cartoonesque Paris (where Notre Dame had already been completed and where watermills fed by rainwater would not have lasted very long), but also Damon’s credible play-acting as a medieval lout, strong hints at the [Fol] King Charles VI’s unstable mind, impressive acting of Jodie Comer against her judges, along a ghastly reminder that in medieval times rape was not believed to induce pregnancy. Background conversations are in French, but clash with the main actors’ English (maiming all French names!). So it could have been worse, witness Scott’s Napoleon!
international day for the elimination of violence against women
Posted in Statistics with tags Afghanistan, Armenia, Birmany, discrimination, feminicide, femme vie liberté, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Iran, Israel, Kurdistan, November 25, Palestine, sexism, sexual violence, Ukraine invasion, UNiTE to End Violence against Women, United Nations, Uyghurs, Xinjiang, زن زندگی آزادی on November 25, 2023 by xi'an
[translated from a unified call by dozens of organisations and unions]
On this international day of November 25, in a context of more and more wars, our support goes to all women in the world, the first victims, along with children, of armed conflicts. We particularly show our support for the women of Ukraine, Burma, Palestine, Israel and Nagorno-Karabakh. We loudly proclaim our solidarity with our Afghan sisters kept under the yoke of appalling oppression when the mere fact of going to school becomes a heroic act. We reaffirm our sisterhood with Iranian and Kurdish women revolting for their freedom. We affirm our support to Uyghur women, persecuted and victims of a genocidal policy.
On November 25 we will march to pay tribute to all the victims of sexist violence, women, LGBTQIA+ people, to all those who suffer and struggle. To all those we have lost.ن زندگی آزادی [Women, Life, Freedom]
Прусские ночи [sexual war crimes]
Posted in Statistics with tags Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, mass rape, Prussian Nights, Red Army, Russian invasion, sexual violence, Solidarity with Ukraine, Soviet occupation, Ukraine, United Nations, war crimes, World War II on April 15, 2022 by xi'an
The mounting evidence of of mass rapes and sexual war crimes perpetuated by Russian soldiers in Ukraine has led the [appallingly ineffective] U.N. to call for investigation
The allegations of sexual violence raise serious questions about possible war crimes. International humanitarian and human rights law, which categorically prohibit rape and all forms of sexual violence and inhumane treatment, must be fully complied with by all parties to the conflict. Orders should be immediately issued through their respective chains of command prohibiting rape and other forms of sexual violence, with concrete, timebound preventive measures as explicitly outlined in Security Council resolutions 2106 and 2467.
and is a reminder of the systematic policy of mass rape enforced by the Red Army in its advance through East Germany in 1945. As recalled in the Prussian Nights poem of Solzhenitsyn, who witnessed these crimes as a artillery captain in the Soviet offensive towards Berlin. (He was arrested three weeks after the offensive had started and sent to a gulag.)
Дом не жжен, но трепан, граблен.
Чей-то стон стеной ослаблен :
Мать – не на смерть. На матрасе,
Рота, взвод ли побывал –
Дочь-девчонка наповал.
Сведено к словам простым :
НЕ ЗАБУДЕМ ! НЕ ПРОСТИМ !
КРОВЬ ЗА КРОВЬ и зуб за зуб !
—Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: from Prussian Nights (1974)
