FEM AFF

SAY TRIGGER WARNING

 First is the Framing
Structural violence comes first because it is based in moral exclusion. Winter and
Leighton 01:
Winter, D. D., and Dana C. Leighton." Structural violence." Peace, conflict and violence: Peace
psychology for the 21st century (2001): 99-101. 
Finally, to recognize the operation of structural violence forces us to ask questions about how and why
we tolerate it, questions which often have painful answers for the privileged elite who unconsciously
support it. A final question of this section is how and why we allow ourselves to be so oblivious to
structural violence. Susan Opotow offers an intriguing set of answers, in her article Social Injustice. She
argues that our normal perceptual cognitive processes divide people into in-groups and out-groups.
Those outside our group lie outside our scope of justice. Injustice that would be instantaneously
confronted if it occurred to someone we love or know is barely noticed if it occurs to strangers or those
who are invisible or irrelevant. We do not seem to be able to open our minds and our hearts to
everyone, so we draw conceptual lines between those who are in and out of our moral circle. Those who
fall outside are morally excluded, and become either invisible, or demeaned in some way so that we do
not have to acknowledge the injustice they suffer. Moral exclusion is a human failing, but Opotow
argues convincingly that it is an outcome of everyday social cognition. To reduce its nefarious effects, we
must be vigilant in noticing and listening to oppressed, invisible, outsiders. Inclusionary thinking can be
fostered by relationships, communication, and appreciation of diversity. Like Opotow, all the authors in
this section point out that structural violence is not inevitable if we become aware of its operation, and
build systematic ways to mitigate its effects. Learning about structural violence may be discouraging,
overwhelming, or maddening, but these papers encourage us to step beyond guilt and anger, and begin
to think about how to reduce structural violence. All the authors in this section note that the same
structures (such as global communication and normal social cognition) which feed structural violence,
can also be used to empower citizens to reduce it. In the long run, reducing structural violence by
reclaiming neighborhoods, demanding social jus- tice and living wages, providing prenatal care,
alleviating sexism, and celebrating local cultures, will be our most surefooted path to building lasting
peace.
Structural violence excludes individuals from society, meaning it’s impossible to create
a coherent moral code without resolving issues of structural violence – resolving this
must always come first
Nixon ’11 (Rob, Rachel Carson Professor of English, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Slow Violence
and the Environmentalism of the Poor, pgs. 2-3)

we need to rethink "slow violence."

Three primary concerns animate this book, chief among them my conviction that urgently -politically, imaginatively, and theoretically-what I call By slow

that occurs gradually and out of sight

violence I mean a violence dispersed across time , a violence of delayed destruction that is

and space Violence is customarily conceived as an event

, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all. or action

that is immediate in time We need to engage a , explosive and spectacular in space, and as erupting into instant sensational visibility. , I believe,

different kind of violence that is incremental its calamitous , a violence neither spectacular nor instantaneous, but rather and accretive,

repercussions playing out across a range of temporal scales. we also need to In so doing,

engage the representational challenges posed by the relative invisibility , narrative, and strategic

of slow violence Climate change toxic drift . deforestation, the , the thawing cryosphere, , biomagnification,
radioactive aftermaths of wars, acidifying oceans, and a host of other slowly
unfolding environmental catastrophes present formidable representational
obstacles that can hinder our efforts to mobilize The long dyings and act decisively. -the staggered and staggeringly

are underrepresented in strategic planning as

discounted casualties, both human and ecological that result from war's toxic aftermaths or climate change-

well as in human memory . Had Summers advocated invading Africa with weapons of mass destruction, his proposal would have fallen under conventional definitions of violence and been perceived as a military or

Advocating invading countries with mass forms of slow-motion toxicity

even an imperial invasion. ,

requires rethinking our accepted assumptions of violence to include slow

however,

violence Such a rethinking requires that we complicate conventional

.

assumptions about violence as event focused We need a highly visible act that is newsworthy because it is , time bound, and body bound.

to account for how the temporal dispersion of slow violence affects the way we
perceive a variety of social afflictions
and respond to -from domestic abuse to posttraumatic stress and, in particular, environmental calamities. A major challenge is representational: how

slow violence is often not just attritional

to devise arresting stories, images, and symbols adequate to the pervasive but elusive violence of delayed effects. Crucially,

but also exponential, operating as a major threat multiplier; it can fuel long-
term, proliferating conflicts in situations where the conditions for sustaining
life become increasingly but gradually degraded.
 We must engage in talking about those oppressed based on gender
Watch 18
Eu Panel Watch, 2018, Medium 11-9-2018, ["Why we need to get better at talking and listening, and
how feminism can help" https://medium.com/@info_1315/why-we-need-to-get-better-at-talking-and-
listening-and-how-feminism-can-help-a6b309bd17e6] AVM 10-11-2019

When hyper-confident and powerful male steamrollers stifle their speech, too many women say they
feel powerless. That’s because we still live in a world that prioritizes men’s voices, egos and ambitions,
but not women’s. Our focus should shift away from developing strategies for women to modify their
behavior to fit masculine speaking and leadership styles. Instead, we should apply a feminist approach to
relationships and group dynamics, and get better at talking and listening to each other.
 Some women get erased a little at a time,
some all at once
We’ve been brought up to believe that women talk more than men, but research shows that this idea is
totally misguided. Sociolinguist Deborah Cameron found that in most situations — like business meetings,
political debates or TV interviews — men take up 75% of the speaking time, which consequently also
leaves decision-making mostly to men. Research also shows that women are more likely to be
interrupted than men by both women and men, especially when men outnumber women. Even when
women speak an equal amount to men, listeners perceive women to be talking more than men. This
explains the unfair stereotype that women are ‘the chattier sex’. Where only token numbers of women
and minorities are present, organizational culture tends to become competitive and hierarchical, putting
great pressures on the minority to conform to culture of the majority. But should we expect women to be
gender bilingual and adapt to masculinist culture — mediated by race and class — that encourages
competition for speaking time and hierarchy in decision-making?

Debate is an educational activity used to break barriers. Smith 14

Smith ’14:
Smith, 2014 (Elijah, last year’s NDT and CEDA champion writes in 14, Elijah competed in L-D at University HS in New Jersey. In 2013, Elijah helped "unite the crown" by winning both of collegiate policy debate's national championships: the NDT and CEDA Nationals, “Developing Our
Environment Planting the Seeds For The Activist Model”, Victory Briefs, January 30, 2014, http://victorybriefs.com/vbd/2014/1/developing-our-environment-planting-the-seeds-for-the-activist-model#TW)

. Debate’s static notions of what it means to be topical

Proponents of accessible debate invested in critical education should start to think of their politics as a question of praxis

will fail students unless they can be allowed to grapple with those issues that are
(or even political for that matter)

literally right in front of them we should make room for students to practice
. When I say “Activist model” I really mean that

the skills needed in the real world. and discourses should be voting issue
to activate their politics Assumptions, performances,

whether they indict the topic, , or the debate community itself an opponent even . Advocates who practice by allowing their contemporaries to garble the names

start with
of African nations, trade their stories and bodies like poker chips, and marginalize their voices in the process aren’t individuals I ever want advocating on my behalf. Portable skills how the activist chooses to engage in topical discussion or discussions of

the topic, but [which creates] a more accessible

their vision of space itself. debate When competitors get settled into a room and ask me what I want to see for the next 45
minutes I tell them that it’s not my job to tell them. I don’t really care if they sit, stand, backflip, recite poems, or spread cards in and between every speech because LD isn’t my activity anymore, it’s theirs. My only job is to render a decision and remain invested and responsible for what
norms I endorse for debate. A major requirement for making room for the activist model in LD is changing the way judges situate themselves. First and foremost, realize high school debate isn’t about you. Sucks to grow up, huh? As an adult you aren’t just some cool “first year out” or a
point fairy but an adult and role model that coaches have left responsible for the care of their students until they can get back to their chaperone. That puts you in a unique position to support or break down someone in the middle of a tournament they hope to do well at or the end of
their career. This is especially important in a world where students are trying to broaden the scope of the conversation and bring marginalized students into the space. If you are about to give an RFD to one of the few black or Latino students in the activity, think about what your words
sound like in the context of a student who probably thought you were going to vote against them because of the subject matter of their arguments regardless of the substance of the debate. 
With that in mind Our Sole Contention is
Perpetuating Oppression
Fem oppression in Venezuela is mitigated in 2 ways with a NEG ballot
 The first is Water
Venezuela is in the midst of a water crisis. Hernandez 2019 reports that 2/3 of the
population, or nearly 20 million people, don’t have consistent access to water.

This is in stark difference to just a few years ago, as UNICEF indicates back in 2015 that
93% of Venezuelans had access to improved water sources.

And sadly, sanctions are preventing Venezuela from recovering.

Flores 2019 of Hidrocapital, Venezuela’s main water company, explains that the
Venezuelan government has tried to send payments to foreign companies twice to
acquire new water parts, but both transactions were unsuccessful.

That’s because Fox 2019 reports that US sanctions block Venezuela’s financial
transactions to the companies selling the equipment. Specifically, US sanctions have
frozen $5.5 billion of Venezuela’s funds, making it nearly impossible to import any
parts.

Even worse, Flores continues that sanctions have also limited vehicle parts from being
purchased and consequently has decreased the fleet of water trucks the country relies
on to distribute water by 75%.

Without water, Venezuelans have to turn to dangerous water sources. Kurmanaev of

the Independent last week reports that already about 1 million Venezuelans have
already been exposed to contaminated water, putting them at high risk of contracting
waterborne diseases.

Mjeshtri 19: The water crisis affects women the most because
Arteida Mjeshtri, 7-9-2019, "Women and Girls Are Most Affected by Venezuela's Health Care Crisis,"
Global Citizen, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/venezuela-healthcare-system-women-girls-
affected/ //BB

Infection rates at the maternity hospital are high because cleaners do not have disinfectants to wash
away bacteria and there are no sterilizers for doctors to clean their equipment , she said. "Currently, maternity is a
risk for Venezuelan women, as it is for babies ... many give birth at home, in the street," Correa said. "And there are no blood banks. Any
complications from heavy bleeding is a very big risk of death for a patient." Correa, the
UN and women's rights groups all said
unsanitary hospital conditions along with food and medical shortages had led to a rise in maternal
mortality rates.
 The second is Mining
Weisbrot of the Nation writes in 2019 that Trump’s sanctions have cut Venezuelan oil
production by 700,000 barrels a day, and the IMF ‘19 reports that Venezuela’s
government revenue in proportion to its entire economy has declined by a remarkable
83% since sanctions were enacted in 2014.
Mark Weisbrot, 2-28-2019, "Trump’s Other ‘National Emergency’: Sanctions That Kill Venezuelans,"
Nation, https://www.thenation.com/article/venezuela-sanctions-emergency/ //NM

But the Venezuelan people have been even more vulnerable to US economic sanctions than Iraqis were. Venezuela
is dependent on
oil exports for almost all of the dollars the economy needs to import necessities such as medicine and
food. This means that anything that reduces oil production is primarily hitting the general population by
cutting off the dollars that both the private sector and government use to import goods for people’s
basic needs, as well as for transport, spare parts, and most goods that the economy needs in order to
function. The Trump sanctions of August 2017 imposed a financial embargo that cut Venezuela off from most
borrowing. This had an enormous impact on oil production, which had already been declining. The rate
of decline accelerated rapidly; during the year following the sanctions, it would fall by 700,000 barrels a
day, about three times as fast as it had fallen over the previous 20 months . This post-sanction acceleration in the
loss of oil production amounts to the loss of more than $6 billion. For comparison, Venezuela, when the economy was growing, spent about $2
billion per year on medicines. Total goods imports for 2018 are estimated at $11.7 billion. At the time of these sanctions, Venezuela was already
suffering from a deep recession and balance-of-payments problems that necessitated a debt restructuring. To restructure the debt, the
government has to be able to issue new bonds, but the US sanctions made this impossible. The
Trump sanctions—both the
August 2017 sanctions and now the new oil embargo—also make it pretty near impossible for the
government to take measures that would end the hyperinflation , currently estimated at 1.6 million percent annually.
To stabilize hyperinflation, you have to restore faith in the domestic currency. This would very likely be done through creating a new exchange-
rate system and other measures that would require access to the dollar-based international financial system—but the sanctions preclude that.
The sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in March 2015 (which also declared a “national emergency”) also had a very serious
impact. This is well-known in financial institutions, but generally not reported in the major media, which treat these sanctions as they are
advertised by the US government, as “sanctions against individuals.” But when the individuals are high-level government officials, for example
the finance minister, the sanctions cause enormous problems, as these officials are cut off from necessary transactions in most of the world
financial system.

As a result of declining revenue, Cotovio 2019 of CNN reports that Maduro in 2018 has
turned to mining for revenue to keep his funding afloat, increasing special funding for
mining development.

However, the mining operations occur within forests home to indigenous

communities, who face sexual violence.
Pacheco of Amnistia in 2019 details how mining is a male-dominating activity that
brings with it several forms of exploitation and sexual violence.

The growing military presence near the mines in Bolivar have enabled criminal
activity, and resulted in 28 femicides, with 40% of victims from the ages of 13-21.
Additionally, mining communities set up brothels, where adolescent women are
displayed for sexual exchanges or sold as slaves for 5-10 grams of gold. Once sold,
they are often abused, raped, and forced into criminal activity. As a result, these
areas have significantly high rates of femicide and territorial violence ignored by the
government.