JOIN THE FASTEST GROWING ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK THAT GIVES BACK 70% OF ITS REVENUE TO ITS MEMBERS
WATCH THIS VIDEO ON HOW MEMBERS MAKE MONEY WITH PEOPLE STRING Click Here
We Can End Violence against Women.
What should be done to end all violence against Women? Please sign the guest book and tell us What should be done.    |
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Violence against women is any act of
gender-based violence that results in, or may result in, physical, sexual or
mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such, coercion or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private
life. There are many forms of violence
against women, they may be; - Sexual physical, or emotional abuse by an intimate partner. -Physical or sexual abuse by family members or others -Sexual harassment and abuse by authority figures (such as teachers, police officers or employers) -Trafficking for forced labour or sex. -Traditional practices as forced or child marriages. -Dowry-related violence. -Honour killings;when women are murdered in the name of family honour. -Systematic sexual abuse in conflict
situations is another form of violence against women a good example is the recent post election violence. ABOUT
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
They Have Taken It Watch my eyes, shower
my cheek,
Melting the tears do, from the depths of womanhood, Riding down in streams, until the big river Is fed at the throat, A silence, with quiet sobs; paining the interior, Bleeding the exterior, crying from my sou, Because , The
men violently took it , Without my permission.
She started crying again
She
wandered lost Time
ceased to exist Her heart broken Loss,
sadness All engulfing limitless Memories
of their Deep deception That was called affection, [ Was
used to robe her knowing
that she would Always live remembering She started crying again  The message was very clear 'WE CAN' WE CAN END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN More about Violence against women Continuation of the top introduction Forms of (VAW) 1) Physical violence: Here a woman is: -slapped, or had something
thrown at her. - pushed, -Had her hair pulled. -Hit with a fist or something
else that could hurt. -Choked or burnt. -Threatened with a weapon or
the same used against her. 2)Sexual violence: Here a woman is; -physically forced to have sexual
intercourse had sexual intercourse because she was afraid
of what her partner might do. -Forced to do something sexual that
she finds degrading or humiliating. -Raped 3)Emotional violence: Here a woman is; -Being humiliated or belittled. -Being scared or intimidated
purposefully. 4)Intimate-partner
violence (domestic violence)
Here a woman faces any of the above types of violence in the hands of an
intimate partner or ex-partner. HOW WE CAN FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN(VAW)
We can fight this (VAW) by six measures they are: -
Eradicating extreme poverty and
hunger -
Achieving universal primary
education -
Promoting gender equality and
empower women -
Improving maternal health
-
Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other diseases -
Ensuring environmental
sustainability 1) Eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger Violence against women occurs in all
social and economic classes, but women living
in poverty are more likely to experience
violence. Although we need to fully
understand the connections between poverty and
violence against women, it is clear that
poverty and its associated effects are important
major in making women vulnerable. Men in difficult economic
circumstances e.g. unemployment, poor jobs, low socioeconomic status or those
who fail to advance in education due to poverty may resort to violence out of
frustration, and a sense of hopelessness. At the same time, poor women who
experience violence may have fewer resources to
escape violence in the home. With respect to these cases
efforts to reduce poverty and hunger may help,to prevent violence against women
and should thus be supported; this should be directed to both sexes because if
that man will be satisfied he might be less violent. Although this economic support
must be strategically planned to address gender inequality. This they must do by: -Addressing gender gaps in earnings
as well as barriers to accessing credit for
women. -Promote increased access to
post-primary, vocational and technical education
for women; -Extend and upgrade childcare
benefits to enable women's full participation in
the paid labour market; -Address issues of occupational
segregation that often translate into inferior
conditions of employment for women. -Ensure social protection and
benefits for women in specific employment situations
such as those involved in informal employment where they tend to be misused. Eradication of poverty as a tool of
fighting (VAW) should aim for decent, productive work for all although,
increasing women’s educational status and
economic independence does not guarantee the elimination
of violence and may actually increase
women’s chances of experiencing violence. Improved economic conditions
therefore may provide more opportunities to escape and avoid violence, but they are
only part of the ways to achieve complete eradication
of violence against women. In summary programmes of
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger should be designed
specifically to promote women’s economic participation and independence of women in ways that
do not expose them to increased violence. 2) Achieve universal
primary education Girls face many barriers to
education, some of which involve violence or make them more vulnerable to it.
For example, many families place little value on educating girls, and prefer to
keep them working at home or for wages elsewhere. Some poor families can only
afford to send one child to school, and the selected child is usually a boy.
Poor girls who want to attend school, but whose families cannot afford tuition
fees can be pressured into exchanging sex for school fees, uniforms,
books, and lunches. Higher education empowers
women by giving them greater self-confidence, wider social networks, and
greater ability to use information and resources, and attain economic independence. A larger percentage of the world’s
children who do not attend school are girls and two thirds of the world’s illiterate people are
women. There is evidence that women with less education are generally
more likely to experience violence than those with higher levels of education. Enrolment in and completion of
secondary education is also a critical area of concern as it is clearly
associated with employment opportunities and women’s empowerment. Some men may react violently to
women’s empowerment through education, particularly if educated women then
challenge traditional gender roles, thus girls may find little reason to attend
school if the curriculum or their schools convey the message that girls are
less important than boys. In some cases there
are high levels of sexual violence and harassment from teachers and male
students including rape, assault, and physical and verbal harassment towards
girls therefore Social and educational policies should seek to eliminate
harmful gender norms that devalue the education of girls, together with
practices such as child labour and early marriage. Educational programmes should
include measures that enable girls and women to benefit from their increased
educational level without fear of violence. A number of preventive interventions
can be carried out. For example, curricula can be designed to change attitudes
towards violence in general and violence against women in particular and school
facilities can be designed to reduce opportunities for physical assaults. At
the same time, schools must adopt clear policies, including the enforcement of
sanctions for perpetrators of violence who may be teachers or students. In summary educational authorities
must ensure that schools are safe places for all students, with special
attention to the security of girls. 3)Promote gender equality
and empower women Promoting gender equality and
women’s empowerment is central to the elimination of violence against women.
Since violence against women has such serious impacts on women’s lives and
their health, productivity and well-being gender-based
discrimination in laws and policies and deeply embedded social and cultural
norms that perpetuate gender inequality should be fought. Violence against women and gender inequality result from many factors. These include : -Harmful
gender norms and traditions, and social acceptance of violence as an
accepted means of conflict resolution.
- Violence against women is often embedded in social customs that allow
it to be perpetrated with impunity even, in many cases, without
being considered as violence, let alone a
crime. -
In many parts of the world, women have no social or legal recourse
against violence by their husband or partner.
-Harmful gender roles can be reinforced by traditional
practices such as widow-cleansing, wife inheritance, child marriage
and
female genital mutilation.
-Dowry and bride-price can become a basis for demands, resentment, threats
and abuse by husbands and in-laws, and women who try to
leave abusive marriages may be murdered or driven to suicide.
-Women and girls are killed because they are thought to have tarnished the
honour of their husbands or families since such murder is
considered justified, the perpetrators face no consequences. Efforts to empower women must
address current norms and traditional social customs that legitimize violence
against them as well as legislation and enforcement of laws that discriminate
against them. A wide variety of tools and
strategies will be required to overcome deeply embedded
gender norms and systemic discrimination
against women. These include;
-visible and sustained leadership by politicians and other key figures
in
society,
-Communication campaigns aimed at changing norms and attitudes.
-Law reforms on issues such as property rights, divorce, and
political
participation.
-Credit and skills-building programmes to increase women’s economic
independence. Greater equality and empowerment
will help many women to avoid violence. But the violence will never disappear unless men also
change their attitudes and reject violence against women as acceptable behaviour in any context
including in the home. Most of the violence experienced by
women is perpetrated by someone they know – most often, their husband or partner.
However, a significant amount of violence is perpetrated by strangers, as
well as authority figures such as the police or men in government, and by
combatants during armed conflict. The effects on women range from death and
injury to psychological trauma, chronic ill health, and reproductive health
consequences such as sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), unwanted pregnancy,
miscarriages, and increased numbers of induced abortions. Initiatives to promote gender
equality must deal openly and vigorously with the issue of partner violence,
because women will never be equal in their public lives until they are equal at
home. A number of interventions
specifically aimed at reducing violence and protecting women will be required. These interventions
include: -Enactment and
enforcement of sanctions against men who perpetrate violence
against women. -Training of the
judiciary, police and health care workers to recognize and deal
appropriately with violence against women -Services for women
experiencing violence such as shelters, telephone hotlines; psychological and legal
advice, and support networks should be availed and a continuous monitoring of
such is
important. Despite doing all
these the governments should ensure that statistics on violence against
women, including ongoing cases and prosecution and conviction rates,
are regularly collected and disseminated and
interventions to address violence are properly evaluated. 4) Improve maternal health
Partner violence during pregnancy is
widespread and has significant consequences for
maternal health. Providers of reproductive health
care should be trained to recognize signs of violence against women, and
referral systems put in place to ensure that appropriate care, follow-up and
support services are available. [ Partner violence may have both
short-term and long-term physical and psychological impacts on the
victims. Whereas physical injury can be an immediate and visible consequence of
violence, STIs and gynecological problems, including chronic pelvic pain are
consistently associated with abuse. Mental health problems resulting
from violence that would affect maternal health include: -Depression, -Post-traumatic stress syndrome. -Feelings of helplessness. -Alcohol and substance abuse Generally efforts to improve
maternal health should include measures to reduce partner-violence against
women. 5) Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases As of 2003, women and girls
represented approximately 50% of those living with HIV/AIDS globally.
Traditional prevention strategies that rely on male compliance, such as
condoms, do not always protect women and girls. This is especially true in
societies where violence against women is condoned and where gender norms
restrict or deny sexual autonomy for women and girls. Abused women and girls have a
greater risk of contracting HIV infections and other STIs because they lack
autonomy to decide when, with whom and under what circumstances they will have
sex. Fear of violence can prevent women suggesting that their male partner use
a condom, still less insisting on It. Violent or forced sex, especially
among adolescent girls, may be more likely to lead to transmission of the virus
through tears in the vagina or anal canal. Thus, violence against women is a
significant factor impeding effective prevention of HIV in women and young
girls. Risk in marriage is especially
relevant where cultural norms condone male promiscuity or where husbands
control the couple’s sexual activity. The majority of countries have no laws
against marital rape - Therefore National HIV prevention strategies
should include components that aim to reduce violence against women, challenge
social norms that condone such violence and empower women and girls to protect
themselves against unwanted or forced sex. Violence against women in the form
of childhood sexual abuse has been shown to increase the probability of risky
sexual behaviour later in life. Such behaviours include consensual sex at an
earlier age, multiple partners, transactional sex, and heavy use of alcohol or drugs. These
behaviours also increase the risk for HIV, other STIs and unintended
pregnancies – Therefore HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns should include
information about the relationship between violence against women and HIV/AIDS,
and the HIV-related health risks of harmful traditional and formal
practices. Fear of violence is a reason why
many women do not seek testing for HIV In some cases, women whose positive
status becomes known may be beaten, abandoned or thrown out of the home by
their male partner or family. Since testing is a prerequisite for access to
antiretroviral treatment, it is essential that women can be tested without fear
of violence – Therefore AIDS treatment initiatives should address
intimate-partner violence as an obstacle to both testing and treatment, and ensure
confidentiality and support for women who seek either. 6) Ensure environmental
sustainability Environmental degradation, such as
deforestation and pollution, is making wood for fuel and safe
drinking-water increasingly scarce in large areas of Africa and Asia, with the
result that women have to walk ever-greater distances and incur increasing risk. In many societies, both rural and
urban, gathering fuel and fetching water are among the most important domestic
tasks that women and girls are expected to carry out.
Fulfilling these tasks often requires women to walk long distances, often by
themselves, through isolated areas, this can put them at risk of physical and
sexual assault. Therefore efforts to provide
sustainable access to drinking-water and fuel should take into account
the safety needs of women, both by reducing the distances they have to travel
and increasing their security as they make the journey. Competition for resources is at the
heart of much of violent conflict and
displacement of populations which bring conflict situations which are generally
associated with high rates of physical and sexual assault of women. Thus,
efforts to reduce environmental degradation can contribute to reducing conflict
which will in turn also reduce women’s risk from war, civil unrest and involuntary
migration. The benefits of increasing security
for women not only include reducing violence-based injury and death, but
also give women the independence to pursue economic and social activities.
Improving policing, including providing training on how to deal appropriately
with violence against women (as well as tough sanctions against police who abuse women), can
contribute to increasing safety for women in urban areas. Improvements to the
environment such as good lighting, and designing streets and buildings to
eliminate areas in which assaults can occur without being seen or heard, are also
relevant - Therefore efforts to improve the lives of slum dwellers should
include interventions to reduce the risk of violence against women through
designs and services that enhance security in public places. In summary advocacy for sustainable
development should emphasize its importance in preventing violentconflict,
thereby protecting non-combatant women and children. Conclusion We should be aware that violence
against women hinders development in society and governments should be ready to
make policies that fight violence against women and inequalities in
society as they make development plans these policies should be about
about creating more dignified living conditions for all. If we as a society will
approach development goals while ignoring gender dimensions we risk
leaving existing inequalities unchanged or only slightly improved. The
politicians, decision-makers and all other relevant players in society should remember
that women and men live different lives, and that women's lives often include
violence for no other reason than that they are women they should also know
that for a society to develop comprehensive approaches that acknowledge the links between gender
inequality and violence against women must be
observed if we are to go ahead as a society. | WE CAN on Facebook
|
