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Feminism, Occupy, and Sexual Violence

A group of women participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement have founded a “women only” tent as part of the encampment in order to provide a safe space. “This is all about safety in numbers,” said one 24-year-old female protestor, in reference to the emerging reports of sexual assault complaints and arrests at the encampment. The concept of a “women only” space is not a new one (some rape crisis centers are “women-only zones”), but the need for such a solution at Occupy locations is disheartening.

Notice that I did not say that such a solution is frivolous, silly, or unnecessary. If anything, the demonstrable need for such enclaves is chillingly real. What disheartens me is that the problem of sexual violence reveals an unfortunate lack of feminist direction in the Occupy movement.

This vital, dynamic movement is at risk for being misunderstood as a purely economic complaint, including by its own members. If the agenda of the movement is reduced to a grievance against income inequality, then the movement restricts itself to a materialistic cause: “We don’t have as much stuff as they have.” Income equality simply must not, ever, be the leading concern of the Occupiers. Rather, human equality, in all its forms, must be our collective goal. The equality of races, of classes, and of women and men—these must be the unanimous principles of any progressive movement, even before the specific topics of the social action are delineated.

To put it ...