2008 Woodie Awards
Columbian Women Protest Gang Wars: Lysistrata Brought to Life
Katie Meyer
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
A dozen Columbian women from Pereira are protesting their husbands and boyfriends involvement in gangs by refusing to have sex with them. This attempt to stop the violence in Columbia mirrors the classic Greek tale Lysistrata, a play read by students at Manhattan College.
Lysistrata by Aristophanes is the story of a community of women who refuse sex with their husbands until a peace treaty ending the devastating Peloponnesian War is signed. Aristophanes' work is a clear condemnation of war; just as the women of Pareria's temporary abstinence is a protest against gang violence.
The BBC reports that last year there were 480 murders in the city of Pareria. The mayor of the city decided that the gang member's weapons would first need to be disarmed if there was going to be any hope that crime would diminish.
According to the BBC, Columbian radio reported that local gang members are not drawn to a life of crime because of financial troubles. Instead, they choose crime because they believe it will lead to "status, power, and sexual attractiveness." Thus, the women of Pareria, with the support of the city's mayor, decided that the most effective campaign against gang violence is through abstaining from sexual intercourse. The ban is being appropriately called the "strike of crossed legs."
The mayor's spokesman explained to Reuter's news agency, "We met with the wives and girlfriends of gang members and they were worried some were not handing over their guns and that is where they came up with the idea of a vigil or a sex strike."
Journalist Alvaro Vargas Llosa of the TCS Daily writes about the importance of the Columbian women's movement toward peace. "The ultimate hope for halting indiscriminate violence lies in civil society. Unless there is a grass-roots effort to uproot violence, terror cannot be stopped. It will merely be replaced by another type of terror," Vargas writes.
This sex strike in Columbia, however, is not the first time that women have used Aristophanes' classic play to spark change within their community. According to TCS Daily, in the late '90s, Columbian women declared their bodies off-limits at the demand of an army chief. Also, Turkish wives and girlfriends instated a similar ban to force their partners to bring back the water supply.
Literature is an art form that is primarily used for enjoyment and education, but seldom is it used as a means of political activism. Lysistrata, however, proves to be a work that rejects this notion, as it has inspired many small movements throughout the globe in the past decade.
Lysistrata by Aristophanes is the story of a community of women who refuse sex with their husbands until a peace treaty ending the devastating Peloponnesian War is signed. Aristophanes' work is a clear condemnation of war; just as the women of Pareria's temporary abstinence is a protest against gang violence.
The BBC reports that last year there were 480 murders in the city of Pareria. The mayor of the city decided that the gang member's weapons would first need to be disarmed if there was going to be any hope that crime would diminish.
According to the BBC, Columbian radio reported that local gang members are not drawn to a life of crime because of financial troubles. Instead, they choose crime because they believe it will lead to "status, power, and sexual attractiveness." Thus, the women of Pareria, with the support of the city's mayor, decided that the most effective campaign against gang violence is through abstaining from sexual intercourse. The ban is being appropriately called the "strike of crossed legs."
The mayor's spokesman explained to Reuter's news agency, "We met with the wives and girlfriends of gang members and they were worried some were not handing over their guns and that is where they came up with the idea of a vigil or a sex strike."
Journalist Alvaro Vargas Llosa of the TCS Daily writes about the importance of the Columbian women's movement toward peace. "The ultimate hope for halting indiscriminate violence lies in civil society. Unless there is a grass-roots effort to uproot violence, terror cannot be stopped. It will merely be replaced by another type of terror," Vargas writes.
This sex strike in Columbia, however, is not the first time that women have used Aristophanes' classic play to spark change within their community. According to TCS Daily, in the late '90s, Columbian women declared their bodies off-limits at the demand of an army chief. Also, Turkish wives and girlfriends instated a similar ban to force their partners to bring back the water supply.
Literature is an art form that is primarily used for enjoyment and education, but seldom is it used as a means of political activism. Lysistrata, however, proves to be a work that rejects this notion, as it has inspired many small movements throughout the globe in the past decade.