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pece_annotation_1480380359

erin_tuttle
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  • “incorporating gender-based violence both reveals and furthers the undoing of humanitarianism as we know it, both in its attempts to keep the political on the outside, and in the popular belief that humanitarianism can do the work of politics without its messiness – it is a symptom of its end, or perhaps in a more positive sense, it opens up a space to re-imagine both the humanitarian and the political.”
  • “It seems that humanitarianism, as universalism, both erases and depends on difference; on the one hand, it manages difference, declawing it so that it doesn’t tear apart the humanitarian kit, made to fit and rehabilitate everyone into a basic bare-bones humanity.”
  • “gender-based violence makes it clear that the suffering body – while purportedly universal – requires certain political, historical and cultural attributes to render it visible and worthy of care.”

pece_annotation_1480380456

erin_tuttle
Annotation of
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  • The article referenced the Congo Republic’s Civil War as an incident responsible for a significant amount of sexual violence, I looked into the conditions there for non-military citizens in order to better understand the significance of government in public health.
  • While looking into the history of Congo the issues of neutrality for organizations such as the Red Cross, the idea being that if humanitarian aid organizations do not provide an advantage for either side of a conflict they will be allowed to provide aid to more individuals. This has proven quite effective but does often mean that aid workers are left mostly undefended in areas of conflict as neither side will protect them from the other.
  • Finally, I looked into the statistics of rape worldwide which showed not only that rape is still highly prevalent in all cultures but also that the reporting rates for rape are inaccurate in many countries without significant health infrastructure or a government interest in preventing or aiding survivors of sexual violence. 

pece_annotation_1480380336

erin_tuttle
Annotation of
In response to

The author supports the main argument with detailed analysis of the actions of humanitarian aid groups, a brief history of the changing public and legal perceptions of domestic abuse and sexual violence, and reports by the media and humanitarian aid organizations. The use of public opinion as well as the legal aspect of political change highlights the necessity for the public to drive change in social issues such as sexual violence in order to have practices become political action.

pece_annotation_1480380436

erin_tuttle
Annotation of
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The extensive bibliography suggests that the article was produced with extensive research into the history of humanitarian aid for sexual violence and the political aspects of humanitarianism. The article and bibliography show that this article was produced on existing data rather than through field research.

pece_annotation_1480380303

erin_tuttle
Annotation of
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The author Miriam Ticktin is a professor of Anthropology at the New School, she has worked in the fields of Women’s Studies and English Literature. Her research focuses on medicine and science and its connection to feminist theory.

pece_annotation_1480380395

erin_tuttle
Annotation of
In response to

Emergency response is addressed in terms of post-incident humanitarian aid, dealing with how to identify and help victims of sexual violence without politicizing their situations to the point of forcing them to relive their trauma or making them feel separated from other people receiving aid.