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Violence against women persists, so what now?

November 29, 2022 at 4:02 pm

Gaza campaigners reject violence against women [Mohammed Asad/MEMO]

This year, 25 November marked the first day of the sixteen days of activism to end violence against women and girls. The final day will coincide with International Human Rights Day on 10 December.

Despite awareness about the issue — 155 countries have passed laws on domestic violence, and 140 have legislation about sexual harassment in the workplace — data, legislation and resilience to fight against such violence, as well as preventive measures, are still insufficient to protect women in a world where 1 in 3 will experience violence first hand. Many people still regard this scourge as a minor issue. They are wrong. It looks increasingly like a global war against women.

It is important to point out that violence is never limited to physical assault. Verbal, sexual and psychological assaults, and even unequal treatment, are also categorised as violence and should not be considered distinct from each other in normal circumstances. As is clearly stated in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, it covers “any act of gender-based violence 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 in private life.”

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Another significant factor that must be underlined is that the laws and regulations tend to be formed around what to do after an assault has taken place. Unfortunately, data in many countries has proven that this is ineffective, especially if there are loopholes in the laws that prevent the perpetrator from being rehabilitated. Punishment without rehabilitation is rarely effective. Even how these laws are narrated may result in the perpetrator being considered a hero for specific acts of violence. Thus, preventive measures become even more vital to eliminate violence before it happens, since they require searching for the root cause and the risks associated with violence. Violence against women and girls is fundamentally based on stereotypical ideas, discrimination stemming from social and cultural norms that deem women to be “the weaker sex”, and obedience to strictly defined gender roles. Many factors feed into this understanding that are too long, deep, historic and comprehensive even to begin to be discussed here.

Although issues around violence against women and girls revolve primarily around women, they are not the only group hurt by this. Women have fundamental roles in all areas of life, and are a significant part of society, wherever they are and whatever they do. Their well-being plays an important part in many areas as they take on the main burden of responsibility within families, especially during times of conflict. Violence has an adverse effect on women’s general well-being, resulting in their exclusion from contributing fully to society in their assigned roles. Moreover, this exclusion has a domino effect on the family, community, society and the state, as it has dire consequences on the economy, productivity and sanity. Preventing girls and women from receiving an education, for example, is a form of violence threatening nearly all stages of both individual and social development, economically and intellectually.

Sexual Harassment – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Simplifying the impact of violence, tolerating acts of violence against women, or even justifying violence against women will have adverse consequences on the next generation. This was noted by the former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 14 August 2012: “Impunity for violence against women compounds the effects of such violence as a mechanism of control. When the State fails to hold perpetrators accountable, impunity not only intensifies the subordination and powerlessness of the targets of violence, but also sends a message to society that male violence against women is both acceptable and inevitable.”

Children who witness domestic violence at home may fall into the cycle of violence as either the abuser or the abused. Constant narrations that shift the blame from the perpetrator to the victim, especially in mainstream media, create a wrong idea of justice, equality and access.

Despite the constant repetition of violence against women and girls being the most pervasive human rights violation worldwide, there is no real and concerted action to end it. Although experts and NGOs have repeated ad-nauseam that 1 in 3 women experience gender-based violence during their lifetime, such figures fail to mobilise society at large to do something about it. Statistics show that an average of five women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family, and yet little or no action ensues to stop this violence. Even when it is emphasised that around 40 per cent of victimised women seek help, no effort of note is undertaken as a result.

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Worse still, these numbers have increased with the Covid-19 pandemic and will continue to rise with ongoing conflicts around the world and economic instability that makes women even more vulnerable. This state of affairs shows that we need to change our narration; we need to change our perspective; and we need to change our stance. Women must be taught about their rights, and we need to teach men about those rights as well. We must modify the systems that present a discriminatory discourse to our children if we are genuine about wanting to break the cycle of violence. States need to introduce preventive measures against violence as a matter of urgency, and punishments must include a rehabilitation process.

We also need to expose the abusers rather than the victims: without the perpetrators, there would be no violence against women and girls. It is clear, therefore, that the perpetrators are the problem, not women and girls, and it is towards the perpetrators that efforts must be directed in the first instance.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.