Gender violence: Robbing women of their human rights

Tanja Haque, our gender adviser, explains why tackling gender violence is so important to our work

Isn’t gender-based violence really all about women?

It is commonly thought that violence only affects women, but that is not always true. Gender stereotypes - such as men being macho and sexually charged, and women being weak and submissive – only reinforce these misconceptions.

This means working with both women and men for change. Men are affected as well, and it is important that we tackle the wider issues, such as inequality and power relations between women and men.

So what are the problems we are tackling?

The term “gender-based violence” is recognised by the United Nations as including physical, sexual and psychological violence.

This includes many issues such as domestic violence, rape used as a weapon of war, trafficking, forced marriage, female feticide, female genital mutilation, sexual slavery, honour killings, and emotional abuse such as coercion and abusive language.

We must also remember these forms of abuse not only occur within the family, but often within the extended family and the community. Those in authority - the police, the military, state officials, immigration authorities and even UN peacekeepers can also be responsible.

What consequences do we have to deal with?

Violence can be devastating for those affected. Many suffer life-long emotional distress and mental health problems. Often they can be left with injuries leading to poor reproductive health and, of course, sexual attacks increase the risk of HIV infection.

More often women are killed but, for those that survive, the impact often extends to future generations. Children who witness abuse experience severe psychological damage themselves.

At the most fundamental level this violence robs those affected of their human rights and freedoms. In every culture and society across the world, and in all aspects of economic, political and social life women, men and children suffer.

What are we doing about all this?

Uncovering such violence can be hard, as it is often masked behind arguments of culture and tradition. We work with our local partners to address and speak out against the harmful practices that perpetrate the violence.

Our partners address the issue in a variety of ways. Some provide physical assistance such as medical health care following a vicious sexual assault or beating, shelter for those fleeing violence, or family and community reintegration for those that have been shunned from their community due to perceived dishonour they have brought.

Psychological assistance is given to those that are mentally traumatised by their experience, there is lobbying of political leaders at local, national and international levels about the issue, and educational support for women forced to drop out of education.

related resources

Prayer: Behold the woman that I am (19.26 kB) Written by our partner Sabakan, meaning “womb” in the Cebuano language, the only Diocesan Ministry to Women in the Philippines

Reflection: All people have the same dignity (19.69 kB) ‘So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’ Genesis 1:27. As Christians we believe all people are made in the image of God and therefore all people, both men and women, have the same innate dignity

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