On this week’s 51%, we meet women experiencing motherhood in two countries… the U.S. and Germany.
We meet three women who share their experiences of motherhood on both sides of the Atlantic. From giving birth to receiving support, Big Pond producer Melissa Gerr looks at the role and expectations of being a mother in the U.S. and in Germany, pluses and minuses in both countries.
This was from The Big Pond, a series of dialogues between Germans and Americans from PRX and the Goethe Institut.
Sexual violence is more widespread in Switzerland than commonly thought, with dangerous and outdated laws failing women and girls. This is according to a survey commissioned by Amnesty International. According to the research involving interviews with nearly 4,500 women and girls aged 16 and over, one in five women surveyed has been subjected to sexual violence, and more than 10 percent of women surveyed had been raped. And 8 percent of women surveyed reported the assault to the police.
The managing director of Amnesty Switzerland says the findings should be a wake-up call for the authorities in Switzerland and spur the urgent reform of Switzerland’s antiquated rape laws.
Under the Istanbul Convention, ratified by Switzerland in 2017, rape and all other non-consensual acts of a sexual nature must be classified as criminal offences. However, Swiss law still does not define rape on the basis of lack of consent. Instead, it uses a definition based on whether physical violence, threat or coercion is involved. Amnesty has analysed rape legislation in 31 countries in Europe and found that eight of 31 countries have consent-based legislation in place. These are Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Germany, Cyprus, Iceland and Belgium.
That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Elizabeth Hill for production assistance. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. Our theme music is Glow in the Dark by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio. If you’d like to hear this show again, sign up for our podcast, or visit the 51% archives on our web site at wamc.org. And follow us on Twitter @51PercentRadio
