Gender Based Violence Against Women Essay

For centuries domestic violence has been perceived as a private matter private of which the government has not been concerned about nor was it considered the government’s business to intervene on behalf of a battered spouse. The unlawful nature of this failure for state or federal government intervention against this crime contributed to the systematic abuse of women in the family. The traditions, customs, and common law found in both British and American societies continued right up until the last decade of the 20th century and left the battered wives and very frequently, her children, at the mercy of the husband. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when the government began to do something to protect mothers, wives, and lovers from intimate

For many decades, women have experienced all forms of oppression and constant violence that threatened their existence in the male-dominated society. Various forms of discrimination and oppression have been directed to women for decades. Violence directed at women such as rape and battery were seen and treated as isolated scenarios. However, as the need to foster gender equality took pace, such oppressive actions are now perceived as elements of a wider system of dominance in the society that that needs to be addressed as a whole rather than in singularity

Sociological imagination highlights how society places the two sexes in unequal positions of wealth, power and privilege. It is therefore very useful to look beyond the gender itself and see the global issues associated with it. There are differences regarding the type of gender in different countries, the levels of gender inequality and the amount of violence that are necessary to maintain both systems of difference and domination. Women were always viewed as weak, sensitive, dependent and unintelligent so the society formed a view that they have to sit home, do the housework and raise the children. They were always considered less skilled, incapable of doing a hard work and even now women are more likely to be paid less than man. Women are more likely to be abused and they are less likely to have access to formal power. According to the United Nations, “At least one in five of world’s female population has been physically or sexually abused by a man at some time in their life” (UNFPA, 2000: p. 25).

Feminism has not changed today, but its focus has changed. Many women today have good education and employment opportunities just like men, as the early feminist fought for them. Now, after getting all these, men are now discriminating them and at times abusing them in order to undermine their hard work and potentiality. Men are doing all they can to undermine the success women have been able to acquired, however, today’s feminism is struggling to protect women and girls from domestic violence, sexual harassment, and rape as well as discrimination.

Throughout history, women have continuously found themselves as the subjects of oppression. Although the treatment of women has drastically changed over time, women are still exposed to much of the violence that exists today. Per the National Organization for Women, “young women, low-income women and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape” (National Organization for Women, 2016). Women-centered violence is highly prevalent and reoccurring all over the world, even in our local communities. Individuals may be hesitant to consider just how much violence against women affects their communities.

All over the globe, violence and discrimination against women and girls violates their human rights and severely compromised their perception of equality. Culture, false beliefs and ancient traditions, such as early marriage, the nuclear family, gender-based discrimination, which lead to violence against women and femicide, destroyed young girls ' mental and physical wellbeing and self-esteem by supporting the ideas that gender-based discrimination and inequality is acceptable in our societies.

Another negative effect of gender inequality is the increased fear of violence for women. Women are often portrayed as weak and helpless beings that can easily be taken advantage of. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states that, “Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence –yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned” (Unite to End Violence Againist Women, 2006). Violence against women in the form of rape, spousal abuse, child abuse or spousal killing has become routine behavior over the years, so it rarely even makes the news anymore. “Women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, motor accidents, war and malaria, according to World Bank data”( Unite to End Violence Againist Women, 2006). Women are often blamed and questioned about their actions if they become the

I am a 38-year-old white American female. Some would argue that there is no better time to a woman in America – we have far more rights and privileges than either our colonial ancestors or women in many third world nations. Yet, even in my lifetime women have achieved milestones like the Violence Against Women Act, originally passed in 1994 but reauthorized and updated in 2013. Females in this country fight battles on many fronts that males, as a group, do not have to deal with on the same level. Women are sexually harassed, assaulted and raped far more than men. I myself have dealt with all three scenarios so far in my 38 years. Sexual harassment, sexual battery, and rape are all social problems that millions of American women face daily.

Barbara Perry’s article “Doing Gender and Doing Gender Inappropriately” addresses violence and gender, and how gender is influenced through the way it is perceived in society. The construction of gender comes in polar extremes, with masculine dominant men and feminine subordinate women. Gendered violence is used to control women as a class. It is a systematic tool used by men to reinforce gender norms and patriarchal ideas of masculine superiority and feminine inferiority. It “terrorizes the collective by victimizing the individual”. Like any dichotomy, it has scripts, and to deviate from these scripts will leave you labeled as ‘unnatural’ and ‘immoral’. These scripts “constrain everything from modes of dress and social roles to ways of expressing emotion and sexual desire”. In Judith Lorber’s “A World Without Gender” we are introduced to the possibility of eliminating gender and how “degendering [would] undercut the patriarchal and oppressive structure of Western Societies”.

In “Punished for Being Female” by Bob Herbert, a series of problems are being brought to light about how women are being mistreated just on the condition that they female. Herbert states that females being mistreated are a huge problem and it can be seen in multiple parts of the world. This undeserved punishment comes in forms of beatings, torture, rape, and even death. Herbert then goes on to present many of these examples from across the world such as the cases in India where the wives are murdered and set on fire. It is just as bad in countries like Ethiopia where men would abduct and rape young girls in order to claim them as a bride. Herbert mentions these wrongdoings because he states how they are happening due to the fact that they are women, which creates an enormous problem. It is an ever-growing problem as well. This can be seen in the U.N. report where they state how infanticide and prenatal sex selection have caused half a million girls to go missing every year. Intimate partners are noted to be one of the most common forms where abuse and violence is seen. This punishment females receive because of their gender is unacceptable in every means. Herbert concludes his article with a cry out for recognition that this brutalization against females must be dealt with.

Sadly, many countries and/or communities still have that macho way of thinking, believing that a woman only has two jobs in life, serve her family and bear children. Unfortunately, in many cases, these women are being mistreated, beaten and/or shut down. We can see examples of these situations in some countries of the Middle East.

Domestic violence has been a main issue throughout history and all over the world; it can evidentially affect children, the elderly, women, and even men. Although abuse can affect many individuals, a significant portion of domestic abuse cases are against women. Globally, women are constantly facing physical, social and mental abuse by men and/or their significant others. In past years, the issue of domestic violence has gained the attention of researchers. In fact, studies have shown that it is a global issue negatively impacting the social and health status of individuals, particularly women. A survey of domestic abuse in Canada signifies that 29% of married women have been abused by their partners at least once (Nwosu, 2006). Many argue

The first reaction upon hearing about the topic of battered men, for many people, is that of incredulity. Battered husbands are a topic for jokes (such as the cartoon image of a woman chasing her husband with a rolling-pin). One researcher noted that wives were the perpetrators in 73% of the depictions of domestic violence in newspaper comics (Saenger 1963).

Studies have shown that violence against women in various forms occur when: men perceived that women are their property (Saroca, 2012), the society is patriarchal (Rodriguez, L. L. 2012)., violence against women is culturally accepted (Papp, 2010), there is gender inequity (Gomez, A. M., Speizer, I. S., & Moracco, K. E., 2011), and when women agree that violence is justified (Yount, K. M., Halim, N., Hynes, M., & Hillman, E. R., 2011; Al-Badayneh, D. M. , 2012; García-Moreno, C., Jansen, H. A. F. M., Ellsberg, M., Heise, L., & Watts, C., 2005. While this is empirically verified in the national and international level, there is very limited empirical evidence it holds true in a rural setting. This study, a descriptive survey, addressed this gap by determining the perception of the residents and the prevalence of the various forms of violence against women in a rural community.

“People dominate animals, men dominate women.” Each is a relation of hierarchy, an inequality, with particularities and variations within and between them. (Cite Orange book pg. 92.) For centuries, women have been viewed and used as a man’s “property”, whether it is being used for sexual satisfaction or for the sake of bearing children and taking care of the home. Men are typically perceived as head of the household and whatever they say goes; anything to satisfy their hunger for power and control. Have women ever had a say about what they want to use their bodies for? Laws against rape may have changed over time, but men’s consistent aggressive behavior unfortunately, has not.