Women Talking

Miriam Towes

Allen & Unwin

Otago Daily Times, November 17th 2018

Despite everything that has been achieved by those fighting for women’s rights over the decades, recent events remind us that these victories are fragile and far from universal. A case in point is what happened in the Mennonite community of Manitoba, Bolivia, between 2005 and 2009. Over the course of four years more than 100 women in the isolated colony were stupefied and sexually abused during the night, waking bruised, bleeding and in pain.

Rather than identify the perpetrators, some people attributed the attacks to ghosts or demons sent to punish the women for their sins. Others accused them of lying to cover up their own adultery, or of imagining the whole thing. Although eight local men were eventually imprisoned for rape, similar abuse has reportedly continued. Women Talking, Miriam Toews’ imaginary response to these events, is an acknowledgement of situation faced by girls and women living in patriarchal, authoritarian communities throughout the world, and a testament to the resourcefulness and strength of all those who refuse to be victims of men in power.

The events of the novel take place while the men are away posting to bail so the abusers can return to Manitoba, where those they have harmed will have the ‘opportunity’ to forgive and welcome them home. In their absence the women must decide whether to do nothing, fight back, or take their children and flee.  Eight have been tasked with making a decision on behalf of those who favour action, and the story documents their discussions as they weigh up the pros and cons of each option and attempt to reconcile them with the central tenets of their faith; pacifism, forgiveness, obedience and the injunction to live apart from the world.

Although it soon becomes clear that leaving is the only tenable choice, it requires a supreme act of bravery. How are a group of women and children who are unable to read or write, and who speak an obscure dialect known only to Mennonites, to find a home outside the colony? And what will become of those they love – husbands, brothers, and sons – they leave behind?

Whilst the book’s focus is on female voices, it is not an indiscriminate attack on men but rather a particular concept of masculinity and male power structures. The minute taker is a young man who, because he is not a farmer, is considered effeminate, and the women are hopeful that they can educate their younger sons  (those 12 and under) to treat women differently. They are even prepared to welcome their menfolk back if they are prepared to engage as equals. But they also recognise this cannot happen unless they establish a community on their own terms.

Women Talking is powerful and moving testimony to the ongoing battle many women face despite the best efforts of multiple waves of Western feminism. The way in which the women work through their individual differences to find the strength and solidarity to act is inspirational, but it is impossible to read about the suffering and injustice they face – suicide, a three year old girl suffering from an STI, an unmarried woman shunned by the community for carrying the child of rape, another who refuses to answer to a female name and will speak only with children – without anger.

For those who have experienced sexual violence or its fallout, it will be even more painful reading. Reader discretion is advised.