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Studies have shown that violence is not always perpetrated as a form of physical violence but can also be psychological and ]. <ref></ref> <ref> </ref> Women are more likely to be victimized by someone that they are intimate with, commonly called "Intimate Partner Violence" or (IPV)<ref> </ref>. In unmarried realationships this is commonly called ], whereas in the context of marriage it is called ]. 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. <ref></ref> | Studies have shown that violence is not always perpetrated as a form of physical violence but can also be psychological and ]. <ref></ref> <ref> </ref> Women are more likely to be victimized by someone that they are intimate with, commonly called "Intimate Partner Violence" or (IPV)<ref> </ref>. In unmarried realationships this is commonly called ], whereas in the context of marriage it is called ]. 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. <ref></ref> | ||
] reports: "Four out of 10 Irish women who have had sexual relations have experienced domestic violence .... a number of things violence against women. One of them is for their partner to have punched walls or furniture." | |||
====Violence against women by women==== | ====Violence against women by women==== | ||
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Feminists are allowed - not empowered - to do anything that "looks good" and generates more funding, but doesn't really change the status quo.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | Feminists are allowed - not empowered - to do anything that "looks good" and generates more funding, but doesn't really change the status quo.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | ||
] workers, thus, are often contributing to violence against women by exploiting their vulnerability in exchange for a paying job. | ] workers, thus, are often reduced themselves to contributing to violence against women by exploiting their vulnerability in exchange for a paying job.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | ||
"A young girl who recently managed to gain her freedom from the Halton Women's Shelter in Burlington, Ontario, has disclosed some bone-chilling information about just what goes on behind the closed doors of that facility, something which those operating the shelter would not like the community to know about. | |||
One of the troubling things that this child revealed was that she and the other children in the shelter were made to watch a video in which a man was graphically shown beating up on a woman. | |||
This video was part of a children's program at the shelter and all children who came to the women's shelter were forced to attend shortly after their arrival. | |||
The young girl said she and her siblings did not like watching the violent video and that watching it made them feel very upset and uncomfortable. | |||
The young girl also said that it seemed to her that the women who worked at the shelter did not like men and that everyone at the shelter was supposed to think the same way as the shelter staff. | |||
It would appear that this program is being used to condition the children into believing that it is a normal for men to go around beating up women. | |||
The children were also being told that what was on the video was what they could expect to happen to them when they get older." | |||
==Activism== | ==Activism== |
Revision as of 06:48, 7 February 2007
Violence against women (VAW) is a term of art 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. . 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.
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. .
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.
Types of violence
Domestic violence
Main article: Domestic violenceStudies have shown that violence is not always perpetrated as a form of physical violence but can also be psychological and verbal. Women are more likely to be victimized by someone that they are intimate with, commonly called "Intimate Partner Violence" or (IPV). In unmarried realationships 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.
Violence against women by women
Very little research has been done on lesbian relationship violence, so reliable source information is hard to come by. Contrary to sexist gendered beliefs, women have the capacity to be violent. Thus, this form of violence can occur in lesbian relationships, daughter-mother relationships, roommate relationships and other domestic relationships involving two women. Violence against women by women also exists outside the sphere of relationship violence, probably even less research has been done on this subject.
State violence
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 Auschwitz. Jewish male prisoners had access to (and used) Jewish women forced into camp brothels by the Nazis, who also used them.
"Shelter Industrial Complex"
The main challenge for feminists working to end violence against women comes from the very systems that claim to support their efforts: the court system, the media, their sources of Federal and State funding, and Academia, which is steeped in a system of power and control that is male dominated. Feminists are allowed - not empowered - to do anything that "looks good" and generates more funding, but doesn't really change the status quo.
Shelter workers, thus, are often reduced themselves to contributing to violence against women by exploiting their vulnerability in exchange for a paying job.
Activism
Many activists believe that working towards the elimination of domestic violence means working to eliminate a societal hierarchy enforced through sexism. Women of color have long cited racism within the antiviolence movement and suggest that violence against women will not end until the antiviolence movement re-directs its goal from "ending violence against women" to "ending violence against women of color." The same conclusion can be drawn for other systems of oppression.
References
- United Nations General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993)
- UN Resolution 54/134-International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
- Penelope Harvey & Peter Gow Sex and violence : issues in representation and experience (1994) pg 36 Routledge ISBN 0-415-05734-5
- WHO Factsheet Violence against women
- A Survey about Knowledge and Attitudes of People towards Violence against Women in Community Family Settings Iranian Public Health Journal Vol. 33, No. 2, pp.33-37, 2004
- 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
- WHO IPV Facts
- CDC IPV Fact Sheet
- Dworkin, Andrea: Scapegoat: The Jews, Israel and Women's Liberation. pg. ?. Free Press, 2000. ISBN 0-684-83612-2
- Incite! Women of Color Against Violence: Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology. pg 4. South End Press, 2006. ISBN 0-89608-762-X
External links
- Stop Violence Against Women, Amnesty International
- U.S. Violence against women: Home Page
- Phillips, J. & Park, M, Measuring violence against women: a review of the literature and statistics Australian Parliament House Library E-Briefs: Online only, issued 06 December 2004
- US Dept of Justice Office on Violence Against Women
- UK Home Office Violence against women
- United Nations Human Rights Commission Women and Violence
- European Union Daphne Project
- World Health Organization Violence against women
- Full report of the prevalence, incidence, and consequences of violence against women: Findings from the national violence against women survey. Publication No. NCJ183781
- Extent, nature, and consequences of intimate partner violence: findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. Publication No. NCJ 181867
- Rape as a hate crime (gender bias crimes)
See also
- Bride burning
- Domestic violence
- Domestic violence against men
- Female genital cutting
- Foot binding
- Infibulation
- Lissette Ochoa's domestic violence case
- Men's Movement
- Prostitution
- Rape
- Sati
- Sexual slavery
- Violence Against Women Act