Worldwide, we find women bear the brunt of men’s violence. They are raped, beaten and even murdered, especially during wars as witnessed in Bosnia, central Africa, and currently in Syria (where over 30,000 sexual assaults have been reported to the UN). They are subject to genital mutilation in 27 countries in Africa and to a lesser extent in Asia, the Middle East, and within immigrant communities elsewhere. In India and Pakistan they can be stoned, stabbed or beaten to death for refusing an arranged marriage or for engaging in a sexual relationship before marriage. In Afghanistan, parts of Africa, and the Middle East, they are denied an education and may be physically attacked for attending school. If it is true that we measure the punishment to the crime, then women must be at fault. Otherwise why are they so brutally punished?

In America, we like to think that women are treated fairly. They can vote, work beside men, run for office, and live without fear of physical mistreatment. But is this the reality that actually exists, or the restricted frame in which we place the picture we choose to see? It is true that women can vote. The women’s suffrage movement won that freedom, but more than a hundred years after our nation’s founding. And women do now work in jobs previously held exclusively by men. Their entry into that job market accelerated during World War II, when their men were off at war. Since then, women have gained access to nearly every job our economy has to offer, but at an earning’s ratio of 77 cents to the dollar compared to their male counterparts in equivalent jobs. And yes, they can be and are elected to public office, but at a rate well below their proportionate number in the population. (For example, we have 20 women in the US Senate, where 50 would be a more representative number.) So the rise of women in America is still a work in progress, some might say; and our rosy picture may still seem untarnished. At least American women, according to this self-justifying account, are not viewed as property the way women in other countries are. The international sex trade, for instance, involves millions of women, whereas only tens of thousands are American. As a statement of fact, sex slavery affects only a small minority of Americans and, it could be argued, in no way exemplifies the objectification of American women as a whole. But let’s reframe our picture and paint with a broader brush. Consider a few facts:

• Over 400,000 rape cases have not been prosecuted for months and even years for lack of public investments in rape kits. In many cases, serial rapists have been allowed to continue their rampage, free of prosecution as a result.
• On our college campuses as many as one in five coeds have reported themselves victims of sexual assault. Authorities believe many more such assaults go unreported. Until recently, this victimization of young women has gone relatively unnoticed and shamelessly unaddressed.
• Healthcare provisioning for women is often restricted and/or provided at more costs than for men. (The Affordable Care Act has begun to address this inequity, at least for those States that have chosen to support fully its implementation and accept Medicaid expansion.)
• Maternity leave is still not universally available and often not paid where it is provided. Moreover, women of child bearing age are often passed over for promotion. Motherhood or its prospect should have no bearing on a person’s promotion in the workplace. Where it is so, we find a unique form of job discrimination specifically targeted at women.
• Clinics that specialize in women’s care have been closed in many mid-Western and Southern states where anti-abortionists have gained political leverage in State legislatures. Whatever scientific or religious views one might have on the viability of human life in the womb (at conception or after 20 weeks), the closing of these specialized facilities is a callous disregard for women’s health and well-being.
• Here in America, we have the highest incidence of spousal homicide in the developed world. The victims are almost always women.

Are not denial of medical care, disregard for women’s maternity requirements, sexual assault, rape, and even murder examples of cruel and unusual punishment? Why do we expose our wives, daughters, and sisters to this inhuman treatment? Is there any possible justification for the way they are punished? Or must they be found at fault?

“The man (Adam) said, ‘The woman you placed at my side (Eve) gave me fruit from the tree (of the knowledge of good and evil) and I ate.’” (Genesis 3:12) These are the words of accusation that justified the curse placed upon women by the God of the Old Testament. He condemned them to bear their children in pain and be subject to their husbands who shall “have dominion over you” (Ibid.). Adam too was cursed and sentenced to work for his livelihood, “because you have listened to your wife” (Genesis 3:17). With those words of justification, the perennial reign of the Goddess came to an end in the West.

For those who interpret the Bible’s words literally, I have no words to express my meaning. For the rest, I ask you to consider what is in your heart. Does that primal curse against women linger there? Should they not be heard and their subjugation and pain remain unnoticed or, worse, be seen as somehow innate to their gender? Surely, the “fault” lies not with women, but in a subconscious misogyny at the root of our culture. We are all born of women. But we need to be reborn in spirit if we are truly to appreciate them. They are our mothers and the bedrock upon which all human life and compassion are built.
(This blog is written on Father’s Day in grateful recognition that fatherhood does not exist without women.)