Power Abuse Quotes

“I know you're competent and your thesis advisor knows you're competent. The question in our minds is are you really serious about what you're doing?"

This was said to a young woman who had already spent five years and over $10,000 getting to that point in her Ph.D. program.”
― Joanna Russ, How to Suppress Women's Writing

“What else do we have to expose and investigate corruption and maintain informed citizenry? When all levels of government and justice system are abusing power, where can people go with claims of that abuse? Only the press.”
― JoeAnn Hart, Stamford '76: A True Story of Murder, Corruption, Race, and Feminism in the 1970s

“Type II trauma also often occurs within a closed context - such as a family, a religious group, a workplace, a chain of command, or a battle group - usually perpetrated by someone related or known to the victim. As such, it often involves fundamental betrayal of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator and within the community (Freyd, 1994). It may also involve the betrayal of a particular role and the responsibility associated with the relationship (i.e., parent-child, family member-child, therapist-client, teacher-student, clergy-child/adult congregant, supervisor-employee, military officer-enlisted man or woman). Relational dynamics of this sort have the effect of further complicating the victim's survival adaptations, especially when a superficially caring, loving or seductive relationship is cultivated with the victim (e.g., by an adult mentor such as a priest, coach, or teacher; by an adult who offers a child special favors for compliance; by a superior who acts as a protector or who can offer special favors and career advancement). In a process labelled "selection and grooming", potential abusers seek out as potential victims those who appear insecure, are needy and without resources, and are isolated from others or are obviously neglected by caregivers or those who are in crisis or distress for which they are seeking assistance. This status is then used against the victim to seduce, coerce, and exploit. Such a scenario can lead to trauma bonding between victim and perpetrator (i.e., the development of an attachment bond based on the traumatic relationship and the physical and social contact), creating additional distress and confusion for the victim who takes on the responsibility and guilt for what transpired, often with the encouragement or insinuation of the perpetrator(s) to do so.”
― Christine A. Courtois

“he uses my body
to make his dream come true”
― Laura Gentile, you ate popcorn in my house of grief: transgenerational poetry

“Mungkinkah engkau tidak di ruangan ini, Ibu? Apakah Ayah masih sakit? Hidungnya pun terus bergerak ke sana ke mari, mencari-cari bau yang dikenalnya, bau dada yang hangat penuh susu, bau matahari dan hujan rintik di atas rumput. Namun hidungnya tak bisa menangkap bau itu. Yang dapat ditangkapnya hanya bau tubuhnya yang meringkuk di tempat duduknya dan luka yang menganga di antara kedua pahanya. Bau nanah dan darah dan bau busuk dan amis nafas dan keringat sepuluh lelaki, yang tanda-tanda goresan kukunya masih ada di tubuhnya, dengan suara-suara kasar mereka, ludah mereka dan bunyi mereka mendengus. Salah seorang dari kesepuluh laki-laki itu, ketika masih menindihnya, berkata: Beginilah caranya kami menyiksa engkau perempuan -- kami rampas sesuatu yang paling berharga yang kau punyai. Tubuhnya yang berada di bawah tubuh laki-laki itu sedingin mayat, tapi ia mampu membuka mulutnya dan berkata: Kalian tolol! Sesuatu yang paling berharga yang kupunyai bukan yang terletak di antara kedua tungkaiku ini. Kalian semua tolol. Dan yang paling tolol di antara kalian semua adalah dia yang memimpin kalian.”
― Nawal El Saadawi, In Camera