According to the World Health Organization,
violence causes more death and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than
cancer, malaria and war. In some countries, seeking a divorce is considered
a crime that can warrant death.
http://www.feminist.com/violence/spot/
In Africa and the Middle East, Female Genital Mutilation still continues — endured by an estimated 130 million women.
Last year, an estimated 5,000 girls were put to death because they were victims of rape.
Two million girls younger than 15 became sex slaves — forced into prostitution.
To see links for information on organizations
helping women around the world see:
www.creativefolk.com/abusesongs.html
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Folk Plus
airs Saturdays from 11:00
am to 1:00 pm on WJFF
90.5 Jeffersonville, NY. and 94.5 in Monticello.
We are Hydro-powered Public Radio serving the Mid-Hudson Region, North
East Pennsylvania, and the Upper Delaware Valley.
Format: Artist - "Track
Title" - Album - Contacts
Theme: Jay Ansill
-
"The
Two Horizons" - Origami - Flying Fish
Thanks to Geri Gribi for most of these ideas and annotations. For more information and ideas see a page of annotated web site links: wjffradio.org/FolkPlus/010310linkspage.html
Cosy
Sheridan, "Bad Cliche," Grand Design, Wind
River 2000
A victim of her undles
"I have an uncle, he's a dirty old man - I grew up with a bad cliche
I have learned
to find other things to do - on family holidays
I have tried
to love the sinner- and only hate the sin
But whoever wrote
that never got caught - in a dark corner with him."
Bird Sisters "Am I" She and She and She "The insanity of domistic violence brings on madness"
Shania
Twian, "Black Eyes Blue Tears," Come On Over PGD/Polygram 1997
A woman finds
her self-esteem and decides "I'd rather die standing than live on my knees."
Joan
Baez, "Crack in the Mirror" (Betty Elders) Gone From
Danger, EMD/Angel 1997
In this song,
a child is sexually abused by a "hired hand" from the time she is a baby.
Not only does no one help her...they don't believe her.
Andrew
Lorand "Eight Short Minutes" Location, Loction, Location
Rape is
actually committed more like every four short minutes.
Peggy
Seeger "Emily", Odd Collection Rounder Records 1996
One of Peggy's
"radio ballads" based upon the true story of a woman she met at the Forest
Hill Refuge for battered women.
Devonsquare
"Far Side of Love" Bye Bye Route 66
Incest and sexual
abuse of the past produce the inability to know true love.
Kat
Eggleston "Fury"Second Nature Waterbug 1994
A man is two
men, a dozen roses, and then fists. written for Kat's friend Jill, "who
has great courage"
Sarah
Mclachlan "Good Enough", Fumbling Towards Ecstasy BMG/Arista
1994
A daughter tries to
convince her mother that she deserves a better life than one of abuse.
Lucinda
Williams, "He Never Got Enough Love" - Sweet Old World,
Chameleon Records.
Perhaps men grow up
to be abusive because the were abused as a child..
Darcie
Deaville "Icy Barrel of a Loaded Gun", ,Tornado In Slo Mo Redwing
Music 1999
This specific
song is about Darcie's personal experience of having been molested by her
grandfather, and her resolve that "Nobody's ever gonna hurt me now, it's
something that I will not allow."The entire CD is a survivor's journey.
Read a review.
Kristina
Olsen, "Keeping This Life of Mine (Song for Battered Women)"
, Love, Kristina Philo 1993
Kristina says,
"I wrote it about a friend of mine who was in an abusive relationship.
She ended up in the hospital and at that time realized
she had to get away from this very abusive man, but she had no self esteem
left. She finally said, "I'm keeping this life of mine" and walked
away. I was so impressed with the courage it took her to do that that I
wrote this song from her point of view. The nice tag to her story is that
she's doing great now."
Suzanne
Vega, "Luka"
Solitude Standing
A child is hit until
she cries. She hides the facts and asks not to be asked about it.
Erin
Benjamin, "Long
Hard Fall" - Erin Benjamin BabyHugh Productions
Childhood sexual
abuse.
Burns
Sisters "No More Silence" In This World - Philo
"Shout it out,
no more silence"
Jackie
Tice, "Once Like You", Blue Coyote, Saja Maka Music 1997 Listen
Online
A song about
child molestation in which a mother, remembering her own lost innocence,
as she watches her child.
Sally
Fingerette "She Won't Be Walking",, Ghost Town Girl
This song was
inspired by an incident several years back. Governor Celeste of Ohio pardoned
several women who were imprisoned for killing abusive husbands, on
the grounds that they suffered from Battered Wife Syndrome when they committed
their crimes. The ending of the song in purposely confusing. Sally writes,
"I love the debate that incurs....Did she kill him. Did she shoot the gun?
Did he shoot her, and she died and flew away? I won't answer that,
I'll let the mystery be!"
Lori
B "To Be Or Not To Be," , Hurricane Child, pARADOX aRTS
Lori writes,
"Child-like in its simplicity, To Be or Not To Be is a chilling anthem
about a girl who is attacked by someone she knows and left for dead. Awakening
in the woods, she faces the age old existential question: whether to live
or to die... "
Chuck
Brodsky, "Until You Can Forgive", Letters in the Dirt Red House
1996
Chuck told
me, "The song is written from a man to his partner who was sexually abused
as a child. It's compassionate, and the forgiveness I wrote about is the
woman forgiving herself, not the perpetrator of the abuse."
The
Wyrd Sisters "Warrior," Inside the Dreaming 1994
Written by Kim
Baryluk, "I can and will fight, I can and will a warrior be, It is my nature
and my duty, It is the sisterhood in me"
Ani
DiFranco "Two Little Girls,", Little Plastic Castle 1998
Lyrics at Danah
Beard's site Lesbian domestic abuse is a quite common, underrepresented
topic. Abuse comes in many forms, from physical to emotional and
everything in between. Ani addresses this topic through her experiences
with a friend whose involvement with heroin is a result of her girlfriend.
Jody
Kessler "Walk Without Fear," ,
Leap of Faith, In the Moment Productions
This song
was written at the request of a rape crisis center that wanted a song that
could be used in their educational programs with young people. It
has an empowering message and dispels some of the myths surrounding
rape and sexual assault. This song is also featured on the MP3 compilation
CD "The Best of Independent American Music", produced by Songs.com.
Dana
Cooper "Walking Waste of Time", Miracle Mile Compass 1997
A woman finally realizes
she isn't going to change an abusive partner, that "She could not feed
his angry need" and leaves.
Terri
Allard, "La La Rosie Goes," Loose Change and Spare Parts, Reckless
Abandon Music
Terri says, "
This is a song about a woman who has stayed in an abusive relationship
30 years too long. She doesn't have the strength
to leave this man physically so she checks out mentally."
Gerri
Gribi, "Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here" Womansong Collection
CD and also Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here - Cassette Lilyfern 1996
(See also "We Say No" and "The Crafty Maid's Policy")
Based on true
stories of women who survived both domestic abuse AND the welfare system,
Gerri wrote this for the award-winning documentary "Poverty Shock."
Creed,
"Wash Away Those Years", Human Clay, Bmg/Wind Up 1999
A song expressing
the thoughts of a sexual assault victim.
Resurfacing Purchasing this
compilation will benefit the Woman's
Shelter of Ottawa Canada.
Dedicated to the women
who struggle for freedom and a place to call home. The shelter lost it's
funding and musicians are trying to help provide funding to reopen.
Respond
-
by Various Artists, 1998 Signature Sounds www.signature-sounds.com/
800 694 5354
Respond is a compilation
to benefit Respond Incorporated, a non-profit organization that has provided
confidential, free services for battered women and their children in the
Boston area since 1974. The compilation was a grassroots effort intiated
by Boston-area songwriters and sponsored by WBOS. Many local musicians
donated their time, performances and energy to the project, including Catie
Curtis and Patty Larkin.
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