I see what you’re saying. A feminist from one of these countries explained to me once using the metaphor that it’s all very well for western feminists to fight for the right to show their breasts but we need to respect that a lot of non-western feminists are still fighting for the right to choose not to show them.
In the west, feminists are interested in the right to sexual expression and agency so that’s the lense we view this stuff through.
But at a grassroots level women in LICs focus on things like rape law reform, consent age reform, freedom from spousal abuse, mechanisms to protect domestic workers, FGM etc. So it’s not realistic to expect everyone to be on the same page when conditions are so different.
I remember when my aunt and uncle were going through a divorce, the government forced them through years of legal hoops. This seemed to be in the mistaken belief that couples should be forced back together. This is Switzerland. It might not be FGM or lack of marital rape laws, but sometimes it can be surprising where backwards laws and beliefs still hold sway.
Yes every country’s struggles are specific, it was just a general trend.
I can’t get my head around Switzerland. Women only got full suffrage there in 1971. It was 1893 where I live. You do have to be separated for 2 years to get a divorce here, too, though, which I think is stupid.
I see what you’re saying. A feminist from one of these countries explained to me once using the metaphor that it’s all very well for western feminists to fight for the right to show their breasts but we need to respect that a lot of non-western feminists are still fighting for the right to choose not to show them.
In the west, feminists are interested in the right to sexual expression and agency so that’s the lense we view this stuff through.
But at a grassroots level women in LICs focus on things like rape law reform, consent age reform, freedom from spousal abuse, mechanisms to protect domestic workers, FGM etc. So it’s not realistic to expect everyone to be on the same page when conditions are so different.
I remember when my aunt and uncle were going through a divorce, the government forced them through years of legal hoops. This seemed to be in the mistaken belief that couples should be forced back together. This is Switzerland. It might not be FGM or lack of marital rape laws, but sometimes it can be surprising where backwards laws and beliefs still hold sway.
Yes every country’s struggles are specific, it was just a general trend.
I can’t get my head around Switzerland. Women only got full suffrage there in 1971. It was 1893 where I live. You do have to be separated for 2 years to get a divorce here, too, though, which I think is stupid.