Oscar Pistorius to be released from prison into
house arrest next week
It has been reported that Oscar Pistorius is to be released from prison next
Tuesday, 12 months into his sentence for shooting Reeva Steenkamp. Last
October, I wrote that the sentence was worryingly short. As June
Steenkamp, Reeva’s mother said at the time, when it appeared that Pistorius was
to be freed in August: “He shot my daughter through that door where she had no
space to move or defend herself. One of the bullets blew her brains out, it is
disgusting what he did to her – 10 months is just not enough.”
June Steenkamp was right. It is still not enough. Reeva died in a terrifying way,
at the hands of someone she loved. Unless her life weighs more heavily in the
judicial balance than some of the so-called “reasons” why she died – Pistorius’s
problems, his access to guns, his feelings of panic – we will never move to a
culture that values women’s lives enough to make them safer.
Because we don’t place a high enough value on women’s lives, we reinforce the
entitlement men feel to act on the variety of reasons often used to justify violence
and abuse: drink, drugs, peer pressure, having more money than sense, being
young, feeling jealous, wanting their right to see their kids, what their victim was
wearing, doing or saying.
This entitlement, this extensive menu of excuses, is reinforced day in and day
out, around the world and in the UK, but inevitably high-profile cases have a
particular impact, and I make no apology for focusing on their effect. I fear that
the “hero” culture that surrounds these famous men may be affecting criminal
justice outcomes. And through their profile this reinforces the dangerous
misogyny in our culture. Strong sentences are essential to show perpetrators of
violence against women, and indeed women suffering abuse, that society and the
law take their violence seriously.
Let’s just remind ourselves of some events of the last few months. Danny
Simpson, a Leicester City footballer, was convicted of seriously assaulting his expartner. He pinned her to the ground and throttled her. Simpson has not yet
been sacked from the club, and was handed a community sentence by the courts.
Bill Cosby is only now facing the consequences of allegations of sexual assault
and rape against a huge number of women – some of the claims going back 40 or
so years. Why did it take so long? Because Cosby was an adored American hero.
One woman, Barbara Bowman, wrote, “Only when a male comedian (Hannibal
Buress) called Cosby a rapist did the accusation take hold.” It took 30 years for
people to take her seriously.
VOCABULARY:
find the words in the text which have the following meaning:
to attack violently (5th par.)=
official right (par.4)
punishment given by a court(par. 1)
to let s.one free (par 1)
results (n. par 4)
made unable to move by holding him/her
firmly (Par.3 past part.)
accusations (last par.)
a person who forces s.body to have sex (last
par.)
has to be (par 1)
to kill s.body by squeezing their throat so
that they can’t breeze (par.5)
Fired (par. 5 p.p.)
1) Cosa dimostrerebbe che la vita delle donne non è valutata abbastanza?
2) Qual è la conseguenza di questo scarso valore?
3) Cosa teme l’autrice a proposito dei casi di personaggi famosi?
4) Cosa invece può aiutare a risolvere il problema?
5) Quando l’accusa a Cosby è stata presa seriamente?
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Write a summary using your own words (about 80)
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DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING POINTS
1) Men are also victims of stalking or sexual assaults by women.
2) The government should provide services to help women antd children victims of
sexual abuses.
3) Some women’s attitude and sexy way of dressing cause an instinctual reaction in some
men.
4) Some women can’t accuse their husbands or boyfriends becuase they are totally
dependent on them and if they have chosen those men they should be able to put up
with them.
5) The image the media give of women can bring to a dangerous view of their role.