Gender equality

This topic reveals what gender equality means and how gender roles are projected to our social reality

Violence against women

Violence against women is one of the most significant and most tragic manifestations and consequences of Gender inequality. The term "violence against women", according to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, means:

„any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.“

Violence against women is called Gender-based violence because its cause is the abuse of power imbalances between women and men in society, based on Gender stereotypes.

In particular, this is the perception that women are the ones who have to obey the partners, that women are the ones that are to passively accept decisions of others, that women are sexual objects serving the needs of men, that women are the subject of trade as well as other prejudices and stereotypes.

Various types of violence against women as a result of an imbalance of power between men and women may be included in this term, such as violence against women in partnerships, forced prostitution and women trafficking, rape, violence against women as a means of fighting a conflict, but also forced marriages, female genital mutilation (also called female circumcision) etc..

Violence against women occurs in democratic and developed countries, too. Particularly, domestic violence against women, forced prostitution and women trafficking are problems in the developed world.

Gender-based violence as a global issue leads to many activities among human-rights organizations and individuals. Global campaigns within 16 days of activism against violence against women are intended to point out the seriousness of the problem and its causes. Men too are involved in the global movement White Ribbon, the fight against Gender violence. An important movement is the global V-day. Within The V-Day, the activity One billion Rising for Justice, is being held currently, which points out that around the world a billion women suffer from violence, and are waiting for justice and protection in vain. They drew worldwide attention by dancing.

Eve Ensler in her own words explains this action:

See how different countries added to this activity:

In Slovakia, campaigns drawing attention to Gender-based violence were held, too. As first, it was the first campaign →PIATA ŽENA (THE FIFTH WOMAN)←, which drew attention to domestic violence against women. The first nation-wide campaign on violence against women Fifth Women has had a deep impact on public opinion. The message “Every fifth woman is abused” has become a fact often repeated in media and news. The women NGOs that launched the campaign on violence against women “The Fifth Woman” in the year 2001/2002 founded the umbrella NGO “Initiative Fifth Woman”. That campaign continued in three yearly units. Slovakia also joined the global movement of 16 days of activism against violence against women. For more information and activities in Slovakia see here.

Task

Find out how your country is engaged in the activities against Gender violence.
Find out what you can personally do to help a woman experiencing violence. Be careful not to worsen her position, meaning that:
- you will (like her violent partner) push her to make decisions which she does not want / cannot do,
- you will not jeopardize her by worsening the situation,
- you will not endanger yourself by violence, etc.
(Who can help her in real terms? How can you contribute to it?)