introduction to gender based violence speech pdf

Introduction

What is gender-based violence.

“GBV is an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, and that is based on socially ascribed gender differences between males and females. Acts of GBV violate a number of universal human rights protected by international instruments and conventions. Many, but not all, forms of GBV are illegal and criminal acts in national laws and policies.

Around the world, GBV has a greater impact on women and girls than on men and boys. The term gender-based violence is often used interchangeably with the term violence against women.

The term gender-based violence highlights the gender dimension of these types of acts; in other words, the relationship between females’ subordinate status in society and their increased vulnerability to violence. It is important to note, however, that men and boys may also be victims of gender-based violence, especially sexual violence.”

Inter-Agency Standing Committee, 2005. Guidelines for GBV Interventions in Humanitarian Settings: Focusing on Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence in Emergencies, page 7.

Note that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is also used by some agencies to refer to gender-based violence (GBV).

GBV exists across the world and in a range of contexts. Situations of displacement often increase the risks of GBV as community protective mechanisms may be weakened or destroyed. Displacement sites, instead of providing a safe environment for their residents, can sometimes increase exposure to violence.

Worldwide, GBV occurs both within the family and community, and is perpetrated by persons in positions of power. This may include spouse/partners, parents, members of extended family, police, guards, armed forces/groups, peacekeepers and humanitarian aid workers.

Sexual violence is the most obvious and widely recognised type of GBV. However, all forms of GBV can increase in humanitarian contexts, including domestic violence, trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, early and forced marriage, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, sexual exploitation, forced prostitution, honour killings and denial of the right to widow inheritance. For example, living under stress in overcrowded spaces can lead to increased domestic violence, and early or forced marriage may be used as a protection mechanism or a measure to address economic hardship.

In camp settings vulnerable groups are particularly exposed to GBV risks. It is important to note that although the vast majority of those who experience GBV are women and girls, men and boys may also experience violence, including of a sexual nature, based on their gender. In all cases, survivors of violence should receive timely referrals to confidential and appropriate care and support.

While women and girls remain the most at risk of GBV, it is important to acknowledge that men and boys may also experience GBV and are provided with the support they need. As in the case of providing services for women and girls, assisting male survivors of violence requires specialised expertise.

Gender-based Violence Against Men and Boys

GBV against men and boys may include both sexual violence and other forms of violence in which men are targeted based on the socially ascribed roles of men. Men and boys may be exposed to several forms of GBV. This includes physical, sexual and psychological violence against men perceived to be transgressing ascribed gender roles; for example, transgender individuals, men who have sex with men, or men and boys who do not conform to the expected norms of masculinity in the culture.

The Camp Management Agency plays a pivotal role in decreasing the risks of these multiple forms of violence by ensuring that the needs of all persons are understood, addressed and monitored across sectors intervening in the camp. Assisting GBV survivors in a way that meets their specialised needs requires careful consideration and collaboration between multiple sectors and national stakeholders. It is the responsibility of the Camp Management Agency to work within a protection framework and understand the protection risks that women, girls, men and boys face.

Factors Contributing to GBV

Gender discrimination is an underlying cause of GBV. The risks of GBV are often heightened during conflict or while in flight, and can continue during displacement. The environment of the camp must ensure that everyone living there is safe and protected. The following are examples of how camp responses may exacerbate the risk to GBV:

registration: Women not individually registered may not be able to access services, food and non food items, and as a result may be at higher risk of sexual exploitation and abuse.
camp layout: Female-headed households who arrive and register once much of the camp is already established may be pushed toward the camp outskirts. This isolation can expose them to opportunistic rape and/or attack from hostile surrounding communities, bandits or armed actors. Camp layout should take into consideration, among others, the location of military posts and markets.
site infrastructure: Where service delivery is poor or inadequate, women and girls are most often tasked with leaving the camp and traveling long distances in search of food, fuel and water. This exposes them to risk of attack.
psychosocial stress: The danger and uncertainty of emergencies and displacement place great strain on individuals, families and communities, often contributing to the likelihood of violence within the home or family.
livelihoods: The absence of livelihoods in the camp might lead individuals to engage in maladaptive practices, such as child marriage or sex work.
distributions: How, where and when food and non-food items are targeted and distributed can either increase or reduce the risks to women and girls. Distribution points should be safely accessible to women and girls, and distribution monitoring should look at safety issues that arise both during and after the distribution.
others factors, like overcrowding in camps, poor or no lighting in common areas, unlit and unlockable latrines, poor access to education and vocational activities, absence of women or child friendly spaces can increase the risk of GBV during the staying in a camp.

Certain groups may also be at heightened risk of GBV, such as female heads of households, persons with physical or mental disabilities, or associated with armed forces or groups. Adolescent boys and girls, particularly those who are unaccompanied, are in foster families, or are child mothers, are also a group subject to high levels of GBV. Notably, adolescent girls may lack social power due to the combination of their age and gender, and often missed in traditional child protection interventions in emergencies, such as child-friendly spaces, but also cannot be reached with the same programming used to reach women.

☞ For more information on GBV, see the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings in the References section.

The consequences of GBV can be physical, psychological and social in nature. The below table, although not exhaustive, lists a few examples of possible consequences.

Physical health consequences Psychological health consequences Social health consequences

☞ For more information on the health effects of GBV, see World Health Organization (WHO), 1997. Violence Against

A woman who has experienced sexual assault has just 72 hours to access care to prevent the potential transmission of HIV or infections, 120 hours to prevent unwanted pregnancy, and sometimes just a few hours to ensure that life-threatening injuries do not become fatal. Although medical services are essential, they are not the only lifesaving aspect of emergency GBV interventions. The Camp Management Agency should advocate for case management, including both basic psychological first aid and safety planning, which is also critical and necessitates the establishment of specialised GBV programming. Wherever possible, these services should build on and work in collaboration with existing support structures, such as local civil society organisations and governmental social service institutions. Finally, efforts to reduce risks to women and girls must be mainstreamed across all sectors in humanitarian response. The Camp Management Agency plays an essential role in reducing risks, preventing GBV and ensuring that all actors recognise and take responsibility in this area.

Chapter Listing

Speech: Together, ending violence, the most de-humanizing form of gender oppression

Date: Wednesday, 20 September 2017

[As delivered]

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed,

Ms. Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union,

Mr. Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development,

Colleagues from the UN system, especially the Acting Executive Director of UNFPA, my sister Natalia Kanem, and the Administrator of UNDP, Achim Steiner, who are core to this initiative and who I acknowledge for the work they have put into this.

I want also to thank the team and the colleagues from the Executive Office of both the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General, as well as the colleagues and the teams from the EU, for the speed with which this work has been done. Intergovernmental bodies are not usually known for speed. However, it is clear that this issue is so high on all of our agendas, and with the Deputy Secretary-General’s determination, we have been able, in relatively few months, to be here today and to present this initiative.

Gender-based violence is the most de-humanizing form of gender oppression. It exists in every society, in every country, rich and poor, in every religion, and in every culture. If there was anything that was ever universal, it is gender inequality and the violence that it breeds against women. It is also one violation and crime that is perpetrated by relatives and people that women trust, love and depend on, bringing about conflict in the lives of women. We have to bring these people to book. The level of tolerance in society for this crime is seen by the extent to which law enforcement is able to ignore the steps that they need to take to prevent and to prosecute this crime.

When we talk about one out of three women having experienced violence in their lifetime, this is based on scientific research led by WHO. A lot of the data gathered came from health practitioners. Not all women who experience violence report these crimes, so we can deduce that the figures may be even higher. Emergency rooms in hospitals, dentists, eye specialists, orthopedic surgeons, mental health specialists, and even pathologists give us the statistics that explain to us how complex this crime is and how frequent it is.

For the longest time violence was regarded as something that was private. The UNiTE campaign to end violence against women, which involves many of you in the United Nations, has helped us a lot to bring this crime into the forefront of attention and to make sure that it is not private. We have also been able, with the help of many of you—civil society, the EU itself, and many governments who are here today—to make sure that we do not allow this crime to be treated as anything else but as a crime, just like any other. It is not acceptable to regard violence against women from a partner as a crime of passion. There is no passion in beating up and killing anyone.

When a man kills a woman, and for that matter, when a woman kills a man, it is murder. When a man kills a woman, we often hear that passion is involved in it, as if it has to be justified, and the perpetrator has to be given the benefit of the doubt. With the work that we are hoping to do now, we will be dealing with the fundamental stereotypes that perpetrate this kind of outlook and value system. We will be engaging and dealing with the challenges of families that we need on our side, with communities and men and boys, and strengthening civil society and women’s movements who have been in the forefront of this work with very limited resources.

We will be dealing with the power relations that rob women of the capacity to decide about their own bodies. We hope this Spotlight Initiative will be a game changer. It is critical for us to build a movement for gender equality that is able to work across all countries and all nations determined to be game changers, and to ensure that by 2030, as projected in the Sustainable Development Goals, we are in a much different world.

What has been positive in the fight to end violence against women has been the resilience of women; the determination for women to survive. The Deputy Secretary-General has said to me that I must let you know that she is a survivor, and she is sitting here, and she is strong, and that is why this is so important.

Speaking for UNFPA, for UN Women, and for UNDP: we have the privilege of chaperoning this on the part of the UN, but we are determined to work with all other sister agencies, like ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the others who are also active in this space. We will be reaching out to work with civil society. We are excited that the EU is just as committed as we are to ensure that this is not just about governments; it is about civil society; it is about also bringing the private sector, with its own resources, into the fold, so that they too can make a difference.

This endeavour is also about bringing young people and men and boys to take responsibility, so that it is they who will say: as a man and a boy, ‘I will not marry a child’, as a man and a boy, ‘I will not beat up a woman’, as a man and a boy, ‘I will not stand by and watch a situation in my home and at work where a woman is being abused’.

We thank you for being here, and we hope you’ll travel the journey with us.

Theoretical Perspectives on Understanding Gender-Based Violence

2021, International Journal of Political Activism and Engagement

This study focuses on the various theoretical perspectives that have been developed by various scholars to understand gender-based violence (GBV). These theories are very important as they influence on the interventions that can be taken to reduce GBV. The following nine theoretical perspectives will be discussed in this article: psychological, sociological, feminism, exchange, resources, stress, economic exclusion, intersectional, and ecological. This study will look at the strength and weaknesses of all the theoretical perspectives.

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