Gender-Based Violence: A Continued Struggle of Today - Literature review Example

Gender-based violence: A Continued Struggle of Today Introduction Terry and Hoare (2007) defined gender based violence (GBV) as the type of violent behavior directed towards an individual because of their gender. Any detrimental act that is committed against an individual’s will that is based on gender differences between males and females is considered as gender based violence in the society. In the past, women and girls in some societies were oppressed by men and boys by being made to do a lot work in the community, in addition, they were exposed to rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment and harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation because of the women’s subordinate status. Veur et al (2007) stated that in the current community, some men and boys are victims of gender-based violence basing on the socially determined expectations, behaviors, and roles that are linked to the ideas concerning masculinity in the society. This paper is going to discuss the impact that gender-based violence has on international development and on overall international peace and security. The paper will secondly discuss the implications for progressing on the Millennium Development Goals that is the Post-2015 MDG agenda and lastly it will explain the possible methods to reduce the causes and consequences of gender-based violence. The thesis statement for this essay is picked from Penn and Nardos (2002), who stated that gender based violence in the communities, should be stopped because of the detrimental effects it has on both the women and men’s welfare in terms of their sexual, physical, psychological, and emotional health and the overall social economic effects it brings in the society. Reducing gender-based violence will lead to a society that has gender equality, high sense of security, peace and there is capability to develop their economically, socially, and politically. Impact of GBV on international development GBV causes a great threat to international development because of the harm it brings to the society members by dividing the men and women against each other. Titley (2004) stated that forms of GBV include sexual harassment, domestic violence, and harmful traditional practices such as honor crimes, forced marriages, and female genital mutilation. Women are more subjected to GBV because of their submissive nature and could be subjected to detrimental activities that harm their health such as forced abortions, forced sterilization, female infanticide, forced pregnancies, and sometime forced to use contraceptives against their will. Pelser (2005) stated that GBV causes development and economic problems since the individuals who are mistreated in the society cannot full engage in economic activities because of embarrassment or fear of victimization. Women who are exposed to sexual and physical violence cause indirect or direct cost to the businesses in their countries since instead of working towards ensuring that they earn an income for their families they are in the hospitals or home nursing their wounds hence affecting both the economy of their countries and international development. The children who are denied the chance to go school because they are female in some communities, have a negative impact on international development since education is important for all the children regardless of their gender because it enables the children to learn different skills that enable them to be good at various professional careers. Individuals in many communities in the world spend most of their savings trying to regain what they lost in cases involving GBV instead of working towards promoting international development. For instance, Kistner (2003) stated that the legal services, health care, potential salaries, lost productivity and costs incurred in prosecuting perpetrators are the economic costs that accrued in a society where cases of GBV are common. An example of a threat to international development due to GBV is in Chile where it was found that women lost their salaries of approximately US$1.56 billion, which was more than 2% of the Gross Domestic Product of their country because of domestic violence. In other countries like the Canada, the annual costs for activities involving GBV are approximately more than 1 billion per year, where an estimate of 684 million Canadian dollars are given to the criminal justice system, 294 million for training and counseling costs and 187 million to the police to solve cases that are relating to GBV (Pelser,2005). According to the research studies done by Penn and Nardos (2002), it stated that more than 5.8 billion dollars are used per year in the cases of violence against women especially violence done by their intimate partners. A reduction in the violent activities that are directed towards the women and girls in the society will improve international development since there will be increased productivity and reduced expenditures as all the efforts of the individuals in the society will be focused on boosting the economy of their countries. Simister (2012) stated that ending violence against women and men would bring costs down and productivity up hence promoting international development. Impact on peace GBV denies individuals in the society a chance to live in peace because of the physical, psychological, and emotional injuries it leaves on the victims. The women who experience domestic violence end up with broken families or divorce hence leaving their children in fear of what will happen in their future. Mathur (2004) stated that women who experience GBV sometime give birth to babies who have health disorders because of the violence they experienced during pregnancies. Children who grow up in hostile environments where they experience domestic violence grow up learning the same behaviors hence becoming victims or perpetrators of violence. The victims of violence live in fear, withdrawal, have low self-esteem, experience nightmares, and blame themselves for all the bad things that happen in life. Stopping GBV will enable the people in the society to live in harmony in a peaceful environment. Impact of GBV on security Burrill et al (2010) stated that GBV leads to insecurity among the victims since every time they are in contact with the perpetrators they are in constant fear of what will happen to them. The communities that encourage the men to be superior make the society insecure because of threats such as rape, murder, and cases where dangerous acids are thrown in the faces of the victims as punishments for committing wrongful acts in the society. Kistner (2003) stated that GBV causes damage to the life of the victims and a big burden to the development and stability of countries through high social, economic, and human costs. Human trafficking is an example of GBV that causes insecurity to the people in the society. Juma and Klot (2011) stated that 80% of the women and girls are trafficked and out of this number, it is noted that 50% are minors. In the reports published by the Department of State (DOS) and Trafficking in Persons (TIP) it was estimated that 700,000 individuals are trafficked annually in the world and 14,500-17,500 are taken forcefully to the United States where human trafficking is untaxed and unregulated. Juma and Klot (2011) stated that the bureau of Justice Statistics cited 83% of the individuals trafficked in the U.S were forced into prostitution and labor. The women and girls who are trafficked are often drugged, raped, threatened with violence, or assaulted, which makes them feel insecure as they carry out their daily activities. Millennium development goals GBV has various implications on the progression of the millennium development goals especially on the Post-2015 MDG agenda. Richter et al (2004) stated that the millennium development goals (MDGs) are focused on eradicating poverty and hunger, ensuring adequate education, promoting gender equality and women empowerment, reducing children mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing partnerships for development. Burrill et al (2010) stated that the focus of MDGs on gender equality has advocated for the needs of the women and girls who are oppressed in the society by emphasizing equality in the community. The goal on gender equity is focused on reducing GBV and has facilitated accountability for various commitments made about gender equity hence enabling the governments to be accountable and the women organizations to advocate for rights of women. The post-2015 agenda is a program initiated by the United Nations to consult on what issues they should put more emphasis in the MDGs in 2015. Burrill et al (2010) stated that the Irish Consortium on GBV is taking part in the global consultation process by addressing inequalities and doing research on various ways to eradicate GBV. The consortium stresses that GBV should be addressed because it is essential for international development and should be part of post 2015 new framework. In order for progress to be achieved in addressing GBV, both response and prevention interventions must have credibility, visibility, wide support and leadership of high level. The post 2015 MDG agenda should integrate targets to address gender inequality GBV in any new framework to ensure international development in the world. Juma and Klot (2011) stated that if the consequences of GBV are not addressed in the poverty reduction strategy plans (PRSPs); the achievement of MDGs will be undermined, which are the essential goals for the realization of a just and sustainable development. GBV has negative implications on the MDGs hence hinder international development. For instance, GBV increases the levels of hunger in the society and child malnutrition, which affects the first MDG to eradicate poverty. Studies done in India by Ramcharan (2006) show that domestic violence affects the economic stability of various families because of lost work, which in return leads to food insecurity hence increased hunger and poverty. Progress in education is an MDG that is affected by GBV when the girls are restricted from going to school and prevented from participating in vocational programmes that are important for their career development. For example, 67% of the girls in Botswana schools report to have been asked for sexual relations by the teachers and in South Africa, it was found out through the population surveys that 38% of the rape victims identified a principal or teacher as a rapist (Morna, 2012). GBV has direct impacts on maternal health and child mortality. Domestic violence leads to an increase in low birth weight and infant death hence hindering the progression of MDG. Simister (2012) stated that GBV has led to 16% of maternal deaths in India. Sexual harassment leads to the spread of HIV/AIDS since the female victims lack the opportunity to negotiate for safe sex practices due to the violent behaviors of the victims hence implicating negatively the MDG to combat HIV/AIDS. GBV undermines the MDG of ensuring environmental sustainability through its influence on participation of the women in development. Women in some communities do not participate in environmental sustainability due to domestic violence. Simister (2012) stated that partnerships and co-operation among all those individuals engaged in development is undermined by GBV, and hence negating the possibility of ensuring the right based on development that is at the heart of MDGs. Possible ways to reduce GBV Gender based violence is a universal pandemic to the people in the society and therefore the governments, civil society and the donors should address the issues that cause it and look for ways to discourage it in order to save people’s lives and the overall economy. At the international level, the United Nations Security Council 1888, 1889, 1325, and 1820 are the important advancements that have been made to dismantle the impunity related with perpetrators of GBV (Packer, 2002). The Security Council of the United Nations advised other international leaders to ensure protection of the women and girls from GBV during armed conflicts to end the harmful acts. The Security Council advocated for increased prosecutions for the perpetrators and those who condone GBV and encouraged participation of women in peace building and conflict resolution. The governments of various countries, which fall, at the national level should enact laws and regulations that criminalize GBV hence making the perpetrators know the consequences of their actions. The government needs to train the health care givers on how to respond on issues to do with GBV and ways of identifying the victims at early stages and assisting them. All the health care providers in private and public institutions need to learn how to recognize the signs of GBV and help the victims. The government needs to provide victim assistance services such as homeless shelters, battered women shelters, social welfare programs, suicide prevention hotlines and programs to assist the victims financially hence enabling them to have a place to escape during times of conflicts (Richter et al,2004). The perpetrators of GBV can be helped by enhancing the batterer intervention programs that helps in reducing GBV by approaching the source of the problem and changing his behavior. The government needs to encourage the awareness campaigns and media information to make GBV visible and make people aware of their rights through advertisements in the televisions, radio, magazines, newspapers, and theatre among others. The government needs to ensure that education includes sexuality education and, counseling programs in their curricula to convey messages that GBV is wrong and teach the students other ways of conflict resolution. At the local level, the community members need to train the boys to respect the women and girls at their tender ages to avoid violent behaviors when they are mature. The community members should provide services for the survivors of GBV to rebuild miserable lives and enhance legal reforms that address the culture of the harmful acts against humanity (Morna, 2012). Conclusion Gender based violence is any form of suffering that is done against a girl or woman, boy or man that causes negative impacts on the psychological ,physical, sexual or emotional health or identity of the individual. Most of women and girls in the community are the victims of GBV because of the way they are socialized to be submissive from a tender age. Forms of GBV include harmful acts such as, sexual assaults, rape, forced prostitution, female genital mutilation, child marriage, honor killings, and trafficking among others. GBV has negative implications on international development, peace, and security. GBV also affects the MDG agenda negatively since they cannot progress with the influence of violence. GBV can be reduced by implementing laws to punish the perpetrators, education, and training on health care among others. GBV should be stopped because of the detrimental effects it has on both women and men’s welfare and the social economic effects it brings to the society. References Burrill, E., Roberts, R. L., and Thornberry, E. (2010). Domestic violence and the law in colonial and postcolonial Africa. Athens, Ohio, Ohio University Press. Juma, M. K., and Klot, J. (2011). HIV/AIDS, gender, human security, and violence in Southern Africa. Pretoria, South Africa, Africa Institute of South Africa. Kistner, U. (2003). Gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS in South Africa: a literature review. Johannesburg, CADRE. Mathur, K. (2004). Countering gender violence: initiatives towards collective action in Rajasthan. New Delhi, Sage Publications. Morna, C. L. (2012). The gender based violence indicators study. Oxford?, Gender Links. Packer, C. A. (2002). Using human rights to change tradition: traditional practices harmful to womens reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa. Antwerpen, Intersentia. Pelser, E. (2005). Intimate partner violence: results from a national gender-based violence study in Malawi. Pretoria, Institute for Security Studies. 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