Recently that babbling brook of bullshit, the media, has been awash with tales of "inappropriate" sexual activity by celebrities, which translates into sexual violence by people with assumed power, outside the church the victims are mainly female. Though it is, for the moment a series of money making headlines, it is not a new form abuse, it has been part and parcel of our society for as long as we care to look back. In a hierarchical society there is always a pecking order and in this particular one, women have been pretty low down that line, and power invariably leads to abuse. Sexual abuse is just one aspect of this society, albeit a serious one, but the whole system is built on and survives on, abuse, or exploitation to use a better word. Yes we have to highlight the abundant sexual abuse that takes place within this society on a daily basis, but we have to align it with all the other forms of abuse that scar, tarnish and destroy the lives of ordinary people. It is a human respect thing, it is a matter of removing from individuals, power over other individuals, wherever it appears. This is impossible under the conditions of the present economic system, the change has to be seismic, we have to move away from competition, where the weakest always lose, to co-operation, where all are respected and nourished. We have to move away from the profit motive, to mutual aid, in other words we have to build a society where we all respect each other as an equal human being. Sexual activity, like all human activity, should be free and consensual. It is not a lot to ask, it is just the anarchist way.
Tune in and listen to this discussion on the matter of sexual violence from
