Sexual Harassment and Violence against Women Essay Example

in Galloway’s defense. However, Lawrence indicates his nonsupport for movements that sabotage women’s efforts to air their complaints about sexual harassment and violence. The writer believes women have a right to be heard, respected and to be served with justice.

What follows is a critical analysis of how Lawrence Hill uses language, logic, and evidence to address the problem of sexual assault and violence against women. Through language, the writer conveys his deep concern over women who are victims of sexual assault. The writer says “I am not one of them” implying that he is against the group of writers rising in defense of the suspected sexual assault offender. He uses the language that refers to them as social movements that silences and hurts women from reporting their sexual harassments and violence. The writer uses repetition to articulate the theme of giving women a right to be heard and respected. In his article, the writer has emphasized in the cases of sexual violation of women in Canada, United States, and Swaziland. The writer gives critical evidence of sexual assault, for example, the writer criticizes some individuals such as Donald Trump and Jian Ghomeshi for getting away with crimes of sexual assault due to their influential positions. He says that Trump boasted about his sexual harassment behavior but still managed to win the elections. For these reasons, Lawrence has critically and more efficiently used language, logic, and evidence to articulate his theme on the protection of women’s rights.

The second article by Margaret Wente is about Canadian author, Steven Galloway, the head of creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Mr. Galloway was suspended from this position

and later fired due to unclear allegations about sexual assault. However, no criminal charges were ever laid. The writer indicates that people thought Mr. Galloway had done something pretty terrible but investigations left people doubting if Galloway was guilty. Another confidential report by the University report that was leaked to the media found scant evidence on Galloway’s case. The report, therefore, dismissed the serious allegations against him. Mr. Galloway was alleged with plying his students with alcohol with an intention to create a sexualized environment. However, the judge dismissed the claims ruling that most of the crowd were sophisticated adults. The victims claimed that Galloway’s behavior ruined their lives and dreams. However, the judge found the allegations to be a gross overreaction. A group of writers wrote to the university protesting about Galloway’s issue but were promptly accused of silencing the victims of sexual assault. Writer Lawrence Hill, however, refused to join his fellow writers in protesting in defense of Steven Galloway. Ms. Atwood, who was among the protesting writers, criticized the assumption that women are always right and men are always guilty claiming it undermined justice.

In her article, Margaret Wente has employed the use of language, logic, and evidence to shed more light on the case of Steven Galloway. Wente says Galloway was suspended because of “serious allegations.” The writer uses such language because the allegations were unspecified. She further indicated that the university was “prioritizing” the student’s safety, a statement that indicates the university’s bias towards the students because the university dismissed Mr. Galloway upon the allegations without enough evidence. Furthermore, the series of investigations found scant evidence which could not prove Galloway’s

guilty. According to the writer, the judge termed the allegations of harassment against Galloway as “a gross overreaction.” This language signifies the lack of enough evidence against Mr. Galloway. The writer gives evidence on the accusations against Galloway where some people accuse him of ruining their dreams and lives. Wente gives account on the cohesion of writers in Canada when they protested against universities action against one of their own. The writer has appropriately employed language, logic, and evidence to address the thesis in the article.

In conclusion, we can say that both articles address a similar issue of sexual assault, particularly against women. Both writers give their stand on sexual harassment and violence. The first article by Lawrence Hill provides more insight on the promotion and respect of women rights, how women should be allowed to report violations of their rights and protection of women from acts sexual abuse. However, the second article concentrates on a specific story of Steven Galloway how he was suspended, fired, investigated and reaction stirred by his story. The first article shows opposition to the writers’ movement for Galloway calling it a social movement to silence women but the second article gives more emphasis on the writers who argue in support of Galloway. It is true to conclude that the first article advocates more for women’s rights while the second is specific on the writer’s rights. However, both articles criticize violation of women’s rights and address the thesis on the protection of women from sexual violation by offering a platform to present their assaults and fair hearings to achieve justice for the victims.

References

1. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-galloway-affair-salem-comes-to-ubc/article32970624/
2. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/women-have-a-right-to-be-heard-and-respected/article32931267/