Violence against women - Essay Example

Violence against women Violence against women Introduction As much as the world has made significant strides in terms of globalization, civilization and advancement in technology, women continue to be trivialized through violence perpetrated against them. In essence, violence against women abbreviated as VAW is a collective term that denotes all the forms of violent acts against women across the globe. Mostly, this tends to be gender based, which normally targets women because of their gender attributes and also because of the simple fact that they are women.

Some of the categories that violence against women fall under include rape, sexual harassment, female genital mutilation, forceful marriages, wife inheritance, trafficking as sex slaves among a list of other forms of violence as this tends to differ in terms of nations (Ghanim, 2009). Essentially, some states tend to support violent treatment of women, especially those by strict Islamic laws making it hard for women to survive in these regions, meaning the state to be in support of those that commit violent acts among women.

Based on this overview, this essay will delve into the causes and effects of violence committed against women across the states. Causes of violence against womenIn some African and Middle East states, violence against women is a dominant factor in which neither the state nor the society can intervene because this is their way of life since they tend to view women as voiceless beings and objects (Ghanim, 2009). In some African states, women tend to experience violence based on the fact that these nations are on a constant path of civil war in which armed rebels rape and commit all manner of atrocities against women without being answerable for it.

Therefore, civil war can be one of the causes that can influence violence against women because the women become vulnerable because those that should protect them become their foes. On the other, religious extremism can also be another cause of violence against women because some of them permit the ill treatment of the so-called weaker gender by having stiffer penalties for them. Essentially, the nations that practice sharia law, subject women to punishment if they get pregnant outside marriage or for even dressing indecently, which is as per what they prescribe.

In this case, women do not have the freedom to dress as they please and live under a male dominated society (Ghanim, 2009). It becomes difficult for the women to liberate themselves against such forms of violence because their societies do not view this as going against their rights and freedoms. Consequences/effects of violence against womenThe effects or consequences brought by violence against women that range from their physical, emotional and psychological, which can last through their entire lives.

As a result, these effects can affect their level of contribution and participation in societal matters because of the level of degradation that their society attaches to them. On an individual level, women that have experienced any form of violence tend to become less productive at their work places, meaning that they may withdraw from their normal selves and may often become depressed. Other forms of violence, such as (FGM) female genital mutilation and wife inheritance also tend to bring about health effects as there is a high likelihood that the women that experience this may contract incurable diseases in the process.

Violence against women can also lead them to withdraw from the relationships that they might have with their spouses or men in general as an emotional consequence. As per the effects presented above, any form of violence against women, irrespective of the cause is unacceptable and society should develop policies and legislations that can discourage this vice. Additionally, states and societies should also safeguard the rights and freedoms of women based on the consequences that violence against them brings upon their lives and also on society to which most of them oppose (Ghanim, 2009).

ReferencesGhanim, D. (2009). Gender and violence in the Middle East. Westport, Conn: Praeger.