Violence against women

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Violence against women is a technical term used to collectively refer to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. Similar to a hate crime, this type of violence targets a specific group with the victim's gender as a primary motive. The United Nations General Assembly defines "violence against women" as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." The 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women noted that this violence could be perpetrated by assailants of either gender, family members and even the "State" itself.[1] Worldwide governments and organizations actively work to combat violence against women through a variety of programs. A UN resolution designated November 25th as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.[2]

Contents

[edit] History of violence against women

Some experts believe that the history of violence against women is tied to the history of women being viewed as property and a gender role assigned to be subservient to men and also other women.[3]

[edit] Impact on society

The World Health Organization reports that violence against women put an undue burden on health care services with women who have suffered violence being more likely to need health services and at higher costs.[4]

[edit] Types of violence

[edit] Domestic violence

Main article: Domestic violence

Women are more likely to be victimized by someone that they are intimate with, commonly called "Intimate Partner Violence" or (IPV). The impact of domestic violence in the sphere of total violence against women can be understood through the example that 40-70% of murders of women are committed by their husband or boyfriend.[5] Studies have shown that violence is not always perpetrated as a form of physical violence but can also be psychological and verbal.[6][7] In unmarried relationships this is commonly called dating violence, whereas in the context of marriage it is called domestic violence. Instances of IPV tend not to be reported to police and thus many experts believe that the true magnitude of the problem is hard to estimate.[8]

Though this form of violence is often portrayed as an issue within the context of heterosexual relationships, it also occurs in lesbian relationships,[9] daughter-mother relationships, roommate relationships and other domestic relationships involving two women. Very little research has been done on lesbian relationship violence, so reliable source information is hard to come by.[9] Violence against women by women also exists outside the sphere of relationship violence, probably even less research has been done on this subject.[citation needed] Some researchers report of violence against men from women or other men. There are statistics in USA, UK, and Australia, but no systematic study was yet performed to get evidence of all different cases of domestic violence[10].

[edit] State violence

Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya Let me feed my child for the last time
Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya Let me feed my child for the last time

[edit] Labor camps

Many women underwent extrajudicial punishment in labor camps of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Their suffering was described in memories of former Gulag women prisoners Yevgenia Ginzburg, Eufrosinia Kersnovskaya and others.

[edit] War and militarism

Militarism produces special environments that allow for increased violence against women. For example, during World War II, the Japanese military established brothels for soldiers, exploiting women for the purpose of creating access and entitlement for men (see Comfort women). Another example of violence against women incited by militarism during war took place in the Kovno Ghetto. Jewish male prisoners had access to (and used) Jewish women forced into camp brothels by the Nazis, who also used them.[11]

[edit] Violence in empowerment systems

Shelter workers are often reduced themselves to contributing to violence against women by exploiting their vulnerability in exchange for a paying job.[12]

[edit] Activism

Many activists believe that working towards the elimination of domestic violence means working to eliminate a societal hierarchy enforced through sexism. INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence cited racism within the anti-violence movement and suggest that violence against women will not end until the anti-violence movement re-directs its goal from "ending violence against women" to "ending violence against women of color."[13] The same conclusion can be drawn for other systems of oppression.

[edit] Criticism

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In 1997, the Canadian Advertising Foundation ruled that a National Ad campaign that featuring Nicole Brown Simpson's sister Denise with the slogan entiled, "Stop violence against Women" was in fact portraying only men as aggressors, and that it was not providing a balanced message and was in fact contributing to gender stereotyping. (The murder of Nicole Simpson also included the murder of Ronald Goldman) [14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ United Nations General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993)
  2. ^ UN Resolution 54/134-International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
  3. ^ Penelope Harvey & Peter Gow Sex and violence : issues in representation and experience (1994) pg 36 Routledge ISBN 0-415-05734-5
  4. ^ WHO Factsheet Violence against women
  5. ^ Intimate Partner Violence. World Health Organization (2002). Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
  6. ^ A Pourreza; A Batebi; A Moussavi (2004). "A Survey about Knowledge and Attitudes of People towards Violence against Women in Community Family Settings". Iranian Public Health Journal 33 (2): 33–37. 
  7. ^ Violence & Victimization Research Division's Compendium Of Research On Violence Against Women 1993-2005 1998-WT-VX-0014 pg 35, 1999-WT-VX-0014 pg 59
  8. ^ Intimate Partner Violence: Overview. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006). Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
  9. ^ a b Girshick, Lori B., "No Sugar, No Spice: Reflections on Research on Woman-to-Woman Sexual Violence." Violence Against Women Vol. 8 No. 12, December 2002, pgs. 1500-1520.
  10. ^ Male Victims Of Domestic Violence
  11. ^ Dworkin, Andrea: Scapegoat: The Jews, Israel and Women's Liberation. pg. 316. Free Press, 2000. ISBN 0-684-83612-2
  12. ^ Koyama, Emi "Disloyal to feminism: Abuse of survivors within the domestic violence shelter system." in Smith A, Richie BE, Sudbury J, eds. The Color of Violence: INCITE! Anthology. Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2006. ISBN 0-89608-762-X
  13. ^ INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence: Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology. pg 4. South End Press, 2006. ISBN 0-89608-762-X
  14. ^ The Power of One, Pamela Bron, Chronicle-Journal, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, April 18, 1997, p. B1

[edit] External links

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