If only it were too bizarre to be true, but its being talked about everywhere. An Austrian man had his daughter locked in a dungeon for over twenty years and fathered seven children to her. A BBC news report examines the issues.
Politicians by the dozen now issue appeals to the public not to look the other way in the future.
Similar appeals have been made in all the other three cases since 1996 where girls have been found in confinement, in a coffin, in a closet and – in the case of Natascha Kampusch – in a dungeon for eight years.
The public seems to be confused at the moment about where to draw the line between undue interference in somebody else’s affairs and heightened sensibility to possible abuse and crime in the neighbourhood.
The Radical Radish agrees, yes, this horrific case raises important questions about the public / private debate, how much attention do we need to pay to what’s going on behind closed doors, but perhaps there are also larger issues at play here. Are our communities so disconnected and fragmented that these type of crimes can be committed within their midst? In Austria this is the fourth case of this nature in twelve years.
The Radical Radish feels that this case is a vivid illustration of the type of abuse that feminism aims to eradicate. This case is not merely one twisted father behaving in a despicable manner, this case, it could be argued, is a reflection of the belief that women are to be valued as nothing more than readily available sex objects. Radical Radish understands that there are violent women out there also, but there is something about this case that reflects the patriarchal presumptions of power and value that continue to shape our cultural worldview. Men, in general and as a gender, do not have to worry about this sort of thing happening to them. But the sad reality is that the fear of rape is a harsh reality for many women. It has been argued elsewhere that the war on women never ends. It is for this reason that the Radical Radish is an avowed feminist and believes that feminism is both necessary and relevant today.
May 2, 2008 at 9:47 pm
“In Austria this is the fourth case of this nature in twelve years” – This is not peculiar to Austria – in the US there have been 7 cases in the same time period. As well as other cases in Australia, Poland, Germany, Wales, India and Russia http://www.feralchildren.com/en/children.php?tp=2
May 2, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Thanks for that link.
May 25, 2008 at 7:56 am
The above link deals mainly with confined and neglected children
who, in the main, may have had mental problems or challenging
behaviours. The interesting thing is that a third of the reported cases were carried out by the mother or grandmother alone where only two were by fathers. Maybe there are more ‘violent’ women out there than the media reports.
May 31, 2008 at 12:22 am
[...] its media. The country has had 4 cases of than nature in 12 years and I guess that the question of feminism being relevant today has to look at what that means for Austria in particular. No Comments so far Leave a comment [...]