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.
☞ 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
The Problem of Gender-Based Violence Essay
Introduction, global context of the problem, gender-based violence among adolescents, gender-based violence towards the lgbtq community, ways to mitigate the problem.
With the development of humanity, the problems of gender interaction in society have become less acute compared to the situation in past eras. Nevertheless, despite the success of the struggle for equality and established moral values, the issue of gender-based violence continues to exist. Women, in this case, are a vulnerable side, although there are cases of violence against men.
According to the World Health Organization, the most common causes are domestic disagreements that account for 38% to 50% of women murdered by their intimate partners (5). The situation is aggravated by the fact that gender-based violence occurs not only among adults but also among young people, which creates additional difficulties and is a good reason to draw various stakeholders’ attention.
Despite widespread access to information and opportunities to receive help, victims of physical abuse often seek to cope with their challenges individually, and this does not contribute to solving the issue effectively. Gender-based violence is an urgent problem that affects people of different ages, countries, and sexual orientations and requires addressing through the creation of an adequate preventive environment and strengthening measures to persecute aggressive citizens successfully.
As people move towards democratic freedoms and human rights, along with the values of equality and mutual respect, gender-based violence remains a problem in a global context. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, in some world regions, the existing patriarchal foundations do not contribute to creating a favorable environment for dealing with the issue in question.
Wood et al. examine the rural region of Tajikistan, the country in Central Asia, and note the distinctive perceptions of violence between men and women, particularly the empowerment of the male population (1). In such archaic conditions, women are not endowed with an opportunity to fight for their rights, and any manifestations of violence against them are permissible at the level of traditional perception and people’s cultural background.
Another factor proving the global context of the problem under consideration is the economic crisis in many world regions. As Dowd argues, gender-based violence develops where the authorities are more concerned about financial problems than social ones (42). Violence between intimate partners is a consequence of social and economic challenges that impede normal life and are a catalyst for aggression (World Health Organization 5). As a result, women often experience physical abuse while living in poverty because low social status is one of the concomitant factors of violence.
Today, a number of agencies work to strengthen the regulatory framework and publicize the problem at the international level. Simister cites the examples of UNECE, the World Health Organization, and some other organizations that aim to disseminate information about the inadmissibility of gender-based violence (190). As Gerlach notes, with the emergence of the United Nations, the first attempts to reduce pressure on women were undertaken globally and across different social spheres (86).
However, given the aforementioned challenges, particularly economic difficulties and patriarchal canons, the problem has not been resolved until now. Therefore, in an international context, conducting targeted work to help vulnerable populations and prevent physical abuse has weight as an activity to emphasize the importance of this issue and its urgency in modern society. Notably, the manifestation of violence among young people is an acute problem within the stated topic.
Gender-based violence in adolescence is a particularly dangerous phenomenon since the psyche of young people is not formed comprehensively, and physical abuse based on gender can be a stimulus for the development of severe disorders. According to Mathews and Gould, adolescents who have experienced gender-based violence are prone to intellectual disabilities and even chronic illnesses (61). However, despite these threatening prospects, this form of social conflict exists, and individual social constraints exacerbate it.
For instance, Chandra-Mouli et al. state that “the percentage of countries with gender gaps in school attendance increases from 37% for primary education to 54% and 77% for lower and upper secondary education, respectively” (239). Teenage girls become objects of health-harming acts, and the current social regulations cannot address this issue adequately due to the lack of proper control and sustainable policies to protect vulnerable adolescents.
The existing social norms of some groups can also be a negative driver of gender-based violence in relation to vulnerable adolescents. Sommer et al. remark that gender-based stigma may arise, and what is contrary to modern values in a civilized society may be acceptable in individual communities (155). As an example, the authors cite the concept of victim-blaming, according to which a girl is initially guilty of committing violence against her due to her overly defiant behavior, appearance, and other controversial factors (Sommer et al. 155).
This practice does not fit into modern social norms, which, nevertheless, does not affect the episodic nature of cases of violence. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization, young boys can also be targets of violence from older girls, and precedents exist (21). As a result, stigmatization manifests itself against both genders, albeit unequally.
The need to ensure the protection of vulnerable adolescents from gender-based violence is felt acutely during military conflicts. Etienne gives dire cases of young females’ abuse by soldiers and notes that such incidents should be regarded as a war crime against humanity and punished to the fullest extent of the law (139).
However, even if victims of violence are assisted, they are at risk of developing dangerous mental disorders caused by acute shocks. Ensuring the safety of adolescents from gender-based abuse should be a mandatory practice in a modern democratic world, and this category of the population should be given no less attention than adults. Thus, discussing the ways to mitigate these issues from different perspectives is critical.
Issues related to gender-based violence arising from the topic of sexual orientation are the problems that concern both adults and young people. In particular, the LGBTQ community is vulnerable, and many of its members are forced to face stigma and bias from the sexual majority. Crooks et al. state that schoolchildren who identify themselves as belonging to the LGBTQ community are often harassed and pressured by peers (45). This, in turn, affects their morale negatively and is a favorable factor for the development of concomitant mental disorders. Therefore, countering such a form of bullying is an important aspect of creating a normal environment in which people with equal opportunities can defend their interests.
To provide vulnerable categories of the population with protection from gender-based violence, targeted work should be carried out from an early age. Crooks et al. propose to create special youth programs for primary and secondary school children, which include teaching social interaction skills (31). This practice can be useful as a tool to educate children and adolescents about the dangerous consequences of gender-based abuse, and building healthy behaviors is a valuable outcome of such work.
Maintaining an adequate preventive environment at the international level should be supported by responsible organizations and agencies dealing with social regulations. The World Health Organization offers a special algorithm that includes several stages of targeted work, in particular, joining the efforts of different committees, investing in maintaining a stable regulatory framework, and developing individual community practices (19).
The aforementioned problem of the perception of gender-based violence within outdated cultural values can be addressed through the involvement of local representatives to implement corresponding security programs at the regional level. These initiatives may contribute to addressing the issue as effectively as possible while taking into account the characteristics of each population group.
With regard to gender-based violence in the LGBTQ community, special measures can be taken. In particular, Crooks et al. pay attention to the program of assistance to schoolchildren with non-traditional sexual orientation as one of the tools to address the problem (45). Such a program aims to give students an opportunity to share experiences and create a communication environment in which bullying gives way to positive interaction.
Addressing this form of gender-based violence at an early age is an important aspect of the formation of appropriate social values and norms. As a result, in adulthood, the likelihood of facing open aggression can be minimized due to timely work with the population.
In addition, educating the adult population as a tool for strengthening preventive work is no less important aspect than corresponding regulatory decisions. According to Simister, education is an effective form of combating gender-based violence since, despite distinctive deviant features in different communities, the background of the problem is the same – abuse allowance by the gender factor (70).
The more often people hear about the inadmissibility of humiliating others’ honor and dignity, the higher are the chances of reducing the incidence of physical abuse against vulnerable groups. Moreover, through education, stakeholders can not only build but also assess the sustainability of specific measures taken to reduce risks (World Health Organization 21). Therefore, outreach work, complemented by appropriate regulatory constraints, is a valuable practice.
Addressing the issue of gender-based violence by introducing both relevant legal practices and educational projects at different levels is a crucial task due to the dangerous implications of this social problem. Particular attention should be paid to the topic of physical abuse by the gender factor among children and adolescents since their psyche is the most vulnerable, and a number of health problems can develop. The representatives of the LGBTQ community are also under the threat of social pressure and may need support and protection to defend their interests and social rights.
The reasons for gender-based violence can be distinctive, but the main prerequisites for the issue are economic constraints and impaired cultural norms promoted in individual communities. According to Etienne, local groups can educate the population successfully and build an adequate preventive environment (139). At the same time, international organizations’ activities are also valuable due to the popularization of the issue globally and an opportunity to attract public attention.
Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman, et al. “Addressing Harmful and Unequal Gender Norms in Early Adolescence.” Nature Human Behaviour , vol. 2, no. 4, 2018, pp. 239-240.
Crooks, Claire V., et al. “Preventing Gender-Based Violence Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Lessons from 25 Years of Program Development and Evaluation.” Violence Against Women , vol. 25, no. 1, 2019, pp. 29-55.
Dowd, Douglas. Inequality and the Global Economic Crisis: Douglas Dowd . Pluto Press, 2009.
Etienne, Margareth. “Addressing Gender-Based Violence in an International Context.” Harvard Women’s Law Journal , vol. 18, 1995, p. 139.
Gerlach, Christian. Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World . Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Mathews, Shanaaz, and Chandré Gould. “Preventing Violence: From Evidence to Implementation.” ChildGauge , edited by Lucy Jamieson, Lizette Berry, and Lori Lake, University of Cape Town, 2017, pp. 61-67.
Simister, John. Gender Based Violence: Causes and Remedies . Nova Science Publishers, 2012.
Sommer, Marni, et al. “How Gender Norms Are Reinforced Through Violence Against Adolescent Girls in Two Conflict-Affected Populations.” Child Abuse & Neglect , vol. 79, 2018, pp. 154-163.
Wood, Elizabeth A., et al. “Exploring the Differences Between Men’s and Women’s Perceptions of Gender-Based Violence in Rural Tajikistan: A Qualitative Study.” BMC Women’s Health , vol. 21, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-15.
World Health Organization. RESPECT Women: Preventing Violence Against Women . World Health Organization, 2019.
- Intimate Partner Violence: Overview
- What Causes Domestic Violence?
- Addressing Gender-based Issues at the Work Place
- Witch Craze in Europe: Gender-Based Interpretation
- Gender-Based Assessment of Cigarette Smoking Harm
- Elora Chowdhury’s “Transnationalism Reversed”
- The Damage in Permitting Prostitution
- Emotional Abuse and Children
- Domestic Violence and COVID-19: Literature Review
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Domestic Violence in the US
- Chicago (A-D)
- Chicago (N-B)
IvyPanda. (2022, October 23). The Problem of Gender-Based Violence. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/
"The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." IvyPanda , 23 Oct. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.
IvyPanda . (2022) 'The Problem of Gender-Based Violence'. 23 October.
IvyPanda . 2022. "The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." October 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.
1. IvyPanda . "The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." October 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.
Bibliography
IvyPanda . "The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." October 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.
- To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
- As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
- As a template for you assignment
IMAGES
VIDEO