Violence against Women - Essay Example

Psychology of Women – Gender-based Violence against Women Introduction Violence against women is nodoubt a very significant developmental issue apart from being a very serious violation of women’s human rights. The fundamental basis from which gender-based violence roots on is gender inequality and it can have drastically negative effects on the female’s sexual and reproductive health. There is an extremely urgent requirement to challenge such social norms which promote violence against women. I am strongly against gender-based violence which is why I have selected this topic for this paper. I believe that helpless women need to be helped and those promoting and carrying out this violence should be caught and dealt with on an urgent basis. It is the responsibility of the government as well as that of the individuals to deal with his issue as early as possible. Context of the topic Gender-based violence against women is an important aspect of the book by Miller (2008). This topic is discussed on and off in Getting Played: African American Girls, Urban Inequality, and Gendered Violence and has been given quite some attention. In the book gender-based violence against women has been discussed with reference to urban African American girls. Miller writes about how those girls are always at a risk of being hit, raped and abused. The author has focused her survey on three kinds of gender-based violence namely, sexual harassment, sexual coercion and assault, and dating violence. It was found that violence against young females of that community was something like a routine. The author’s interviews with the locals provided great insight to the research. She found out how dangerous a neighborhood there could get for both men and women. Men could get killed while women could get raped. Walking alone, especially at night, was not a choice but still males were better off than females as they could protect themselves better. Besides the violence, the women there were also mistreated simply because they were considered lower than males. Males had more authority and thus it became more difficult for females to stand up against them and against the violence they were subjected to. Intimate partner violence was also found to be common and even carried out in the public. And more often than not the people do not interfere in the fights. They just look on. Some find it amusing while others feel that it is not their place or responsibility to interfere. They consider it a personal matter that should remain between the two. At times the violence got so brutal that the victim ended up at a hospital. Still, the neighbors would prefer staying out of other people’s business. It was more or less a desensitized and callous community but it is probable that the violence against women in that kind of a society had left them with no other option. However, that does not mean the police is never called when a woman is being abused. Three incidents were recalled during the interviews in which police was called to resolve the issue and have the perpetrator arrested. This usually happened only when there was an adult at the scene who could take up the responsibility or when the victim looked very innocent and the others felt bad for her. Research Gender-based violence against women has been defined as “any act that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life” (United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)). Although women experience all kinds of violence, interpersonal violence is the most common and globally used method, and it occurs in all societies (Krantz and Garcia-Moreno). Interpersonal violence is subdivided into family or intimate partner violence and community violence. The former takes place at home with a family member or the partner of the victim being the perpetrator. In case of the latter the perpetrator and victim may or may not know each other and the victim is tortured out in the public. Violence could be physical, sexual or psychological. The reason behind the violence could range from plain hatred to just letting off their anger about something else on the woman possibly because they feel that they own the girl and can treat them as they wish. Gender-based violence is prevalent in almost every part of the world in one way or the other. In Asia and Middle East the girls are killed for honor. In West Africa they have to go through the painful, harmful and unnecessary process of genital mutilation because that is their custom. In southern Africa girls are a target of rape and they get HIV and AIDS simply because the perpetrators have this belief that having sex with a virgin would cure their disease. And in the rest of the world, the most developed nations, women are beaten up to the point of death by their partners. According to the United Nations gender-based violence against women is an international health and development problem, and a number of educational programs are being conducted throughout the world to help reduce this issue (Russo and Pirlott). This is a very important step towards curbing the issue. Because of gender-based violence against women not only is the girl the victim but her children and family also suffer, and so does the society. The effects of violence go beyond physical wounds; the victim is affected psychologically and her mental health is at risk. Personal Reactions This research was an eye opener for me. Although I knew that violence against women happens throughout the world and it is a very grave issue that needs urgent attention, I was not aware of how common this problem is. The statistics I discovered through this research definitely surprised me. For instance, I found that a WHO report stated that 35% of all women would go through physical and/or sexual abuse (Wilkinson). It is sad that people torture and harm women, both physically and mentally, for no rhyme or reason and just to satisfy their egos. Another surprising finding was that this issue is not limited to or less in the rich and developed countries or among the educated class; they also equally hit their women. Women rights are not given any attention. Some people blame the women only for putting up with the torture they are given. However, not every woman has the strength to stand up for their rights and they are most probably of being caught and further beaten up if they spoke against their torturer. They need to be helped. These women need to be approached and be reassured of being protected. Their trust needs to be gained. They would open up only if they can trust the person trying to help them. In cases of intimate partner violence the women are also seen even defending their torturer. This could be due to various reasons one of which is that they cannot bear to leave them and would rather go through the torture. Another possible reason is the lack of financial support and this is more applicable in cases of women with children. These women need to be taught that what they are doing is wrong and they are equally capable of supporting themselves and their children. Conclusion Gender-based violence against women is a very complicated phenomenon with several facets. It is necessary that sophisticated approaches in theory and practice are conceptualized and those elements are studied which intercede and control the violence. Violence against women has its roots in the patriarchal social structures and the roles that society has set up for men and women. These roles are also reinforced by media, television shows and advertisements and these have a strong effect on the people. It is the need of the hour to understand, predict and prevent gender-based violence for which a complicated and understandable approach will be required which would intervene at personal, interpersonal and structural levels besides being open to cultural difference. Violence against women is also an issue directly concerned with the public health sector because public health workers, if trained properly, can contribute significantly to this issue as they are brought into contact with the victims. Work is being done against gender-based violence by the United Nations and individual support groups in various countries, but more needs to be done and at a faster pace. Presentation Works Cited Krantz, Gunilla and Claudia Garcia-Moreno. "Violence against Women." Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 59.10 (2005): 818-821. Miller, Jody. Getting Played: African American Girls, Urban Inequality, and Gendered Violence. NYU Press, 2008. Russo, Nancy Felipe and Angela Pirlott. "Gender-based violence: concepts, methods, and findings." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1087.1 (2006): 178-205. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). "Declaration on the elimination of violence against women. Proceedings of the 85th plenary meeting." Geneva, 1993. Wilkinson, Amelia. "Violence against women." CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 12 (2013): 580. Read More