[www.amnesty.org.uk] - a long post, but interesting and useful inshallah.
Q. Can States (governments) be held accountable for violence against women by non-state actors (private individuals)?
Yes. International Human Rights Law asserts that States can be held responsible for all acts of violence against women – whether by state actors or non-state actors – if they fail to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, and punish acts of violence.
Q. Isn’t VAW ‘normal’ in some religions and cultures?
Culture, religion or tradition should never be invoked as justifications for perpetrating violence against women. In fact, international treaty bodies, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW) call on governments to abolish local practices and laws that condone VAW and which allow VAW to occur with impunity.
Human rights are universal, and all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, sexual identity can be denied their fundamental human rights.
Inshallah.
Q: Why are some men violent?
There is no simple answer to this question. The phenomenon of violence against women is complex and is the result of a combination of factors. Among other things, male violence is the result of behaviours they learn at a young age to express their "masculinity".
Throughout the world, men learn at an early age to use their strength and power to dominate and control others around them. Unfortunately the side effect of this is that the use of violence then seems more acceptable in their eyes.
The lack of severe penalties for violent acts compared with the gravity of these acts also contributes to the continuing perpetration of violence by men. While there are many explanations for violence, there are no excuses. (Not even religion, if you examine the hadiths and sourats violence is not in any way condoned towards women, and the passage recommending to beat a woman LIGHTLY in case of extreme disobedience ca also be interpretted as sleep separately from her.)
Q: What are the most common forms of violence against women?
Violence against women can take many forms. It includes, but is not limited to: Psychological violence: Encompasses various tactics to undermine a woman's self-confidence such as yelling, insults, mockeries, threats, abusive language, humiliation, harassment, contempt, threats, deliberate deprivation of emotional care or isolation.
Physical violence: The most obvious, ranges from pushing and shoving to hitting, beating, physical abuse with a weapon, torture, mutilation and murder.
Sexual violence: Any form of non-consensual sexual activity (i.e., forced on a person) ranging from harassment, unwanted sexual touching to rape. This form of violence also includes incest.
Financial violence: Encompasses various tactics for total or partial control of a couple's finances, inheritance or employment income. May also include preventing a partner from taking employment outside the home or engaging in other activity that would lead to financial independence.
Spiritual abuse: Works to destroy an individual's cultural or religious beliefs through ridicule or punishment, forbidding practice of a personal religion or forcing women or children to adhere to religious practices that are not their own, etc.
Source: The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women (1993), Final Report, Changing the Landscape: Ending Violence~Achieving Equality, p. 6-7.
Q: What causes violence against women?
The underlying cause of violence against women lies in discrimination, which denies women equality with men in all areas of life. Violence is both rooted in discrimination and serves to reinforce discrimination, preventing women from exercising their rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women states that violence against women is a “manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men” and that “violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men.”
The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women identified six underlying causes of VAW: Historically unequal power relations: The political, economic and social processes that have evolved over many centuries have kept men in a position of power over women.
Control of women’s sexuality: Many societies use violence as a way to control a woman’s sexuality, and likewise, in many societies, violence is used to punish women who exhibit sexual behaviours, preferences and attitudes that violate cultural norms.
Cultural ideology: Culture defines gender roles and some customs, traditions and religions are used to justify VAW when women transgress these culturally assigned roles.
Doctrines of privacy: The persistent belief in many societies is that VAW is a private issue seroiusly impedes attempts to eradicate this violence.
Patterns of conflict resolution: Links have been identified between VAW in the home and community in areas that are in conflict or that are militarised. Often heightened insecurity means that tensions within the home are more pronounced and can contribute to perpetuation of vaw in the family. Equally, because eyes tend to be on the conflict, women's suffering is often overshadowed. Additionally, VAW is frequently used as a formal military tactic.
Government inaction: Government negligence to prevent and end VAW establishes a tolerance of VAW throughout the community.
Problems of human relations, stress, alcohol and drug consumption, depression or unemployment, for example, can contribute to violence against women, but these are not root causes of, or excuses for this violence.
Q: What are the consequences of violence against women?
The consequences of violence against women go far beyond immediate physical damage to the victims. Psychological violence and the threat of further violence erodes a woman’s self-esteem, inhibiting her ability to defend herself or take action against her abuser. When the violence is unrecognised and unacknowledged, there are even further psychological consequences and the woman is less likely to seek help. Some of the long-term effects of violence against women are abuse of alcohol and drugs, depression, and other mental health disorders and suicide.
Psychological consequences include fear, distrust, anxiety, feelings of guilt and/or shame, loss of self-esteem, difficulty concentrating, depression and thoughts of suicide, use of drugs and alcohol and/or other medications, etc. Physical signs of abuse include wounds, restless sleep, nightmares, insomnia, nausea, etc. Social indicators of abuse include being isolated, being stigmatised, poor performance at school or work, absenteeism, financial difficulties, etc.
Violence against women also affects society. The fear of violence is present in the lives of many women. Women feel unable to travel alone, walk alone at night, use public transport late at night, catch taxis alone etc.
Inshallah I hope that as more people realise this is a serious problem it will be less tolerated, and inshallah there may be a change in society (in many places).
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