Domestic Violence and the Influence of Feminism on Healthcare

In what was perhaps a less than surprising (but nonetheless profoundly disappointing) public declaration, self-proclaimed "antifeminist" Phyllis Schlafly recently penned an article titled "Feminists Abuse Domestic Violence Laws" which claimed, "Radical feminists have devised a scheme to cash in on the flow of taxpayer money in a big way."

Their scheme? The creation of "a new Office of Women's Global Initiatives that would control all foreign domestic-violence programs and funds in the Departments of State, Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security."


Schlafly goes on an expected diatribe against political correctness, "gender neutrality," and the tendency of courts to side with women in all custody and divorce matters, writing in characteristically myopic fashion that "feminist dogma is that the law should assume men are batterers and women are victims."

To be fair, she isn't totally wrong: there is no doubt that some women take advantage of ingrained gender stereotypes to curry the favor of judges and juries in divorce, custody, and restraint proceedings. But the plain fact is that feminists and the vast and complex ideology which goes under the name of feminism have helped shape legislation and healthcare programs which have only been beneficial to the overall condition of women in America, especially in bringing light to a subject which has historically been abandoned in the shadowy fringes of social discourse.

According to CEASE, the Coalition Educating About Sexual Endangerment, the United States has the highest rape rate among countries which keep statistics — four times higher than that of Germany, 13 times higher than that of England, and 20 times higher than that of Japan. Further troubling statistics: one out of three American women will be sexually assaulted during her lifetime, one in seven will be raped by her husband, and only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police.

To understand how pervasive sexual violence is in the United States, consider this: it is estimated that 1.3 women are raped every minute, translating to 78 rapes per hour, 1,872 rapes per day, and 683,280 rapes each year.

This bleak listing of statistics is included to do more than reinforce the portrait of femininity defined almost exclusively as a domain of suffering. It highlights the need to acknowledge, heal, and counter the situation which has for too long been dismissed under the notion that "boys will be boys (or rapists)."

Organized feminists (like the Office of Women's Global Initiatives) have been crucial to the development and implementation of healthcare programs and initiatives which have not only helped victims of rape and domestic violence but also reoriented the focus of medical professionals who now understand that the issue is far more pervasive than has been previously understood and that emotional and psychological scars need to be treated as vigorously as the physical wounds. But the challenge to women and the healthcare system has often been simply to be taken seriously as both patients and healers.

Which is why feminism has been so crucial to reshaping the dynamics of the healthcare system. Women's health has historically been the lesser of priorities among medical and scientific experts.

Why the disparity? For one, female doctors and medical students were once a rarity, compounding the general lack of understanding of women's bodies, reproductive rights, and common physical ailments. Today, women are on par with their male counterparts in the medical profession and outnumber males in medical school, much of which rightly can be attributed to a shift in cultural attitudes toward a more egalitarian (or mainstream feminist) model.

Additionally, women of different racial and sexual-orientation backgrounds have never coalesced around a single healthcare model which could meet all of their needs. African American women and lesbians launched their own organizations which dealt with the specific needs of their communities, often to the exclusion of other women who were left with patronizing alternatives. As recently as 2000, gay women launched what is known as the Lesbian Health Foundation, echoing the National Black Women's Health Project founded almost 20 years earlier.

Feminists have rarely agreed on how the medical industry should approach the subject of women's health. The initial goal of many feminists back in the mid-1970s was to establish a separate system designed around the principle of female self-help. Barbara Seaman, principal founder of the women's health feminism movement, proposed in 1975 that obstetricians and gynecologists should only be women and that all medical and scientific research of women's bodies should be executed solely by other women.

Needless to say, this approach did not prove widely feasible, and many feminists opted instead to assume prominent roles in mainstream medicine, where they promoted feminist principles of gender equality and social justice. The expansive awareness of breast and ovarian cancer can rightly be proclaimed a success of the feminist movement in women's health.

Judith A. Houck, assistant professor of medical history and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin — Madison who has studied the influence of feminism in healthcare, proclaims, "As health educators, feminists published books and articles, gathered and analyzed information, sponsored workshops, promoted consciousness raising, and designed and taught courses, such as Women and Their Bodies in Health and Disease, taught at UW-Madison since 1975.

"As lobbyists, health feminists challenged the safety of devices and medications, such as the Dalkon Shield and oral contraceptives. They also urged medical schools to accept more women and encouraged more women to apply and demanded funding for research that addressed issues and conditions disproportionately affecting women.

"As direct health service providers, activists performed abortions, taught self-help gynecology, and, as physicians, opened their own health clinics."

In light of such a rich history of health activism, it would be easy to dismiss Schlafly's rant as the archaic and supine ravings of an octogenarian residing in a mental space founded upon an atavistic view of sexual equality and difference, but this would only be partly right: this is, after all, the same woman who said in 2007, "By getting married the woman has consented to sex, and I don't think you can call it rape."

Confounded, one has to ask, "In what version of the universe does Schlafly purport, even momentarily, that women forsake their sexual sovereignty to the will of their partners?" Perhaps it would serve her well to acquaint herself with this fact: 26% of rapes and sexual assaults are committed by husbands, former husbands, boyfriends, and ex-boyfriends.

Women's health activism will likely never completely bring an end to family violence, rape, and physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, but the occurrence of such incidents can be greatly diminished through education of both sexes and a collective willingness to bring the issues out of the shadows. The national (and now decades-old) debate on healthcare, reproduction, abortion rights, and feminism itself will continue unabated, though it is important to reference the influence of feminist ideology as the single most pivotal factor to the revolution that occurred in women's health awareness.

As Houck affirms, "women connect with feminism, sometimes tentatively, sometimes enthusiastically, through their bodies. For many women, feminism only spoke to them as they confronted the patronizing attitudes of their gynecologists or heard about the dangers of the Dalkon Shield. Others came to feminism after they tried to get an abortion or found out they had been sterilized against their will."