LESSON 13

Overview:

This lesson will mainly discuss about gender-based violence, its types and the root causes
of gender crimes and violence.

Objectives:

At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:

 define gender-based violence;

 identify the root causes of gender crimes and violence;
 identify different types and sites of gender-based violence, its main victims and
perpetrators;
 discuss what gender-based violence is and why it is a violation of women’s human rights;
 analyze gender-based violence from the women’s human rights perspective; and
 review current policies that protect people from gender violence

Take off:

Analyze the picture and answer the following questions.

Image from: [Link]

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1. What is the image all about?

2. What acts do you classify as violence? Why?

3. What does the phrase “gender-based violence” means to you? And how it is different from
other types of violence?
Content Focus:

Gender-based violence (GBV)

GBV is violence directed against a person because of that person's gender or violence that affects
persons of a particular gender disproportionately.

Violence against women is understood as a violation of human rights and a form of

discrimination against women and shall mean all acts of gender-based violence that result in, or
are likely to result in

 physical harm,
 sexual harm,
 psychological,
 or economic harm
 or suffering to women.

It can include violence against women, domestic violence against women, men or children living
in the same domestic unit. Although women and girls are the main victims of GBV, it also
causes severe harm to families and communities.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a grave human rights violation that can cause long-term and
life-threatening injury and trauma to victims/survivors. All human rights and humanitarian actors
must ensure that efforts are made from the onset of an emergency to prevent and respond to acts
of gender-based violence and provide adequate care, treatment and support to its
victims/survivors.

Forms of Violence

GBV can take various forms:

 Physical: it results in injuries, distress and health problems. Typical forms of physical
violence are beating, strangling, pushing, and the use of weapons. In the EU, 31 % of
women have experienced one or more acts of physical violence since the age of 15.
 Sexual: it includes sexual acts, attempts to obtain a sexual act, acts to traffic, or acts
otherwise directed against a person’s sexuality without the person’s consent. It’s
estimated that one in 20 women (5 %) has been raped in EU countries since the age of 15.
 Psychological: includes psychologically abusive behaviours, such as controlling,
coercion, economic violence and blackmail. 43% of women in the 28 EU countries have
experienced some form of psychological violence by an intimate partner.
  Harmful traditional practices Include female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C); forced
marriage; child marriage; honour or dowry killings or maiming; infanticide, sex-selective
abortion practices; sex-selective neglect and abuse; and denial of education and economic
opportunities for women and girls.
 Socio-economic violence Includes discrimination and denial of opportunities or services
on the basis of sex, gender, or sexual orientation; social exclusion; obstructive legal
practices, such as denial of the exercise and enjoyment of civil, social, economic, cultural
and political rights, mainly to women and girls.

Main Causes of gender-based violence

Gender-based violence is deeply rooted in discriminatory cultural beliefs and attitudes that
perpetuate inequality and powerlessness, in particular of women and girls. Various other factors,
such as poverty, lack of education and livelihood opportunities, and impunity for crime and
abuse, also tend to contribute to and reinforce a culture of violence and discrimination based on
gender.

Such factors are frequently aggravated in times of conflict and displacement as the rule of law is
eroded and families and societies are torn apart. The result is often an increase in both the
frequency and brutality of gender-based violence. In its worst form, gender-based violence has
become a weapon of war, intentionally directed against and aimed at terrorizing, displacing and
destroying certain communities or ethnic groups.

Combating gender-based violence requires an understanding of its causes and contributing

factors, which often also serve as barriers to effective prevention and response:

Causes Common barriers to Prevention and Response

Physical Lack of physical security owing to break-down of law and order, presence of
factors armed forces/groups, collapse of law enforcement, justice institutions and
family, social or community structures. Women and girls are particularly
vulnerable when leaving their communities in search of work, food, water
and/or firewood.

Poverty, lack of education and livelihood opportunities, and inadequate

access to shelter, food, water, fuel, and income generation can increase
exposure to GBV, including forced prostitution or survival sex.
Social / Discriminatory social, cultural or religious laws, norms and practices that
cultural / marginalize women and girls and fail to respect their rights.
political
factors Collapse of family, social and communal structures and disrupted roles within
the family often expose women and girls to risk and limit coping mechanisms
 and avenues for protection and redress.

Lack of confidence and/or trust in social or public institutions, including law

enforcement and justice institutions that discourage victims/survivors from
seeking redress.
Judicial Lack of access to justice institutions and mechanisms, resulting in culture of
barriers impunity for violence and abuse

Lack of adequate and affordable legal advice and representation.

Lack of adequate victim/survivor and witness protection mechanisms.

Inadequate legal framework, including national, traditional, customary and

religious law, that discriminate against women and girls, fails to guarantee
their rights, or exposes them to further harm and abuse. As an example,
national law may fail to guarantee a certain right (e.g. non-discrimination),
fail to criminalize certain cts (e.g. rape), or narrowly interpret them (e.g. rape
defined as not including marital rape). In some cases, national law also
criminalizes the victim (e.g. rape defined as adultery) or criminalizes acts that
allegedly are primarily associated with women (e.g. witchcraft or sorcery). In
some cases, the victim/survivor faces harassment, intimidation and/or severe
punishment.
Individual Threat or fear of stigma, isolation and social exclusion.
barriers
Exposure to further violence at the hands of the perpetrator, the community or
the authorities, including arrest, detention, ill-treatment and punishment.

Lack of information about human rights and on how and where to seek
remedies.
Humanitarian Failure to address or prioritize GBV in assessments, strategy development,
programming planning and programming because of a lack of information or understanding
obstacles about the extent or nature of GBV.

Lack of gender-sensitive design of programmes, services and facilities,

including inadequate registration practices and distribution of food and non-
food items.

Sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, human rights and

humanitarian workers.

Other challenges including weak links with other assistance and protection
programmes, lack of confidentiality, confusing reporting and referral
mechanisms, and GBV committees that are isolated, under-resourced and
weak, and lack support from the wider community.
Examples of gender-based violence

 Domestic violence includes all acts of physical, sexual, psychological and economic
violence that occur within the family, domestic unit, or between intimate partners. These
can be former or current spouses also when they don’t share the same residence. 22 % of
all women who have (had) a partner have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by
a partner since the age of 15.
 Sex-based harassment includes unwelcome verbal, physical or other non-verbal conduct
of a sexual nature with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person. Between
45% to 55% of women in the EU have experienced sexual harassment since the age of
15.
 Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the
external female genitalia. It violates women’s bodies and often damages their sexuality,
mental health, well-being and participation in their community. It may even lead to death.
Today, more than 200 million girls and women alive worldwide have undergone female
genital mutilation. At least 500,000 women living in the EU have undergone FGM.
 Forced marriage refers to marriage concluded under force or coercion – either physical
pressure to marry or emotional and psychological pressure. It’s closely linked to child or
early marriage, when children are wed before reaching the minimum age for marriage.
 Online violence is an umbrella term used to describe all sorts of illegal or harmful
behaviours against women in the online space. They can be linked to experiences of
violence in real life, or be limited to the online environment only. They can include
illegal threats, stalking or incitement to violence, unwanted, offensive or sexually explicit
emails or messages, sharing of private images or videos without consent, or inappropriate
advances on social networking sites. One in 10 women in the EU has experienced cyber
harassment since the age of 15.

What are the consequences?

Gender-based violence can have serious long-term and life-threatening consequences for
victims/survivors. These can range from permanent disability or death to a variety of
physical, psycho-social and health-related problems that often destroy the survivor’s self-
worth and quality of life, and expose her or him to further abuse. Gender-based violence can
lead to a vicious cycle of violence and abuse as survivors risk being rejected by their family,
excluded and ostracized by society, and even arrested, detained and punished – and
sometimes abused again – for seeking protection, assistance or access to justice.
Who are the primary victims/survivors?
Gender-based violence affects women and men of all ages and backgrounds. Women and girls
are the primary victims/survivors but men and boys are frequently targeted as well. They may
however face different forms of violence. As an example, women and girls may be more often
exposed to rape and other forms of sexual violence, while men and boys may be more likely to
be forcibly recruited into armed forces or groups.
Persons who have been separated from their family or community, and/or lack access to shelter,
education and livelihood opportunities, are among those most at risk of GBV. This includes
unaccompanied or separated children, female and child heads-of-households, boys and girls in
foster families or other care arrangements, persons with disabilities, persons in detention,
working girls, girl mothers, and girls and boys born to rape victims/survivors. Persons that have
been exposed to such violence are referred to as “victims/survivors.”

Who are the main perpetrators?

Gender-based violence is usually perpetrated by persons who hold a position of power or control
others, whether in the private or public sphere. In most cases, those responsible are known to the
victim/survivor, such as intimate partners, members of the (extended) family, friends, teachers or
community leaders. Others in positions of authority, such as police or prison officials, and
members of armed forces and groups, are frequently responsible for such acts, in particular in
times of armed conflict. In some cases, this has also included humanitarian workers and
peacekeepers.
The Responsibility Of The State
The State has primary responsibility for preventing and responding to gender-based violence.
This includes taking all necessary legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures to
prevent, investigate and punish acts of gender-based violence, whether in the home, the
workplace, the community, while in custody, or in situations of armed conflict, and provide
adequate care, treatment and support to victims/survivors. To that effect States should, for
example:
 Criminalize all acts of gender-based violence and ensure that national law, policies and
practices adequately respect and protect human rights without discrimination of any
kind, including on grounds of gender.
 Investigate allegations of GBV thoroughly and effectively, prosecute and punish those
responsible, and provide adequate protection, care, treatment and support to
victims/survivors, including access to legal counseling, health care, psycho-social
support, rehabilitation and compensation for the harm suffered.
 Take measures to eliminate all beliefs and practices that discriminate against women or
sanction violence and abuse, including any cultural, social, religious, economic and legal
practices.
 Take action to empower women and strengthen their personal, legal, social and
economic independence.
The Role Of Human Rights And Humanitarian Actors
While primary responsibility lies with the national authorities, human rights and
humanitarian actors also play an important role in preventing and responding to gender-based
violence. In addition to ensuring an effective GBV response from the outset of an emergency,
this entails ensuring that gender concerns are adequately integrated into and mainstreamed at all
levels of the humanitarian response.
Human rights and humanitarian actors, as well as peace-keepers, must not under any
circumstances, encourage or engage in any form of sexual exploitation or abuse. We must at all
times ensure that such acts do not take place by our staff or partners or as a result of our
interventions. This includes any act or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential
power, or trust, for sexual purposes, as well as any actual or threatened sexual act, whether by
force or under unequal or coercive conditions. Such acts include, but are not limited to, all forms
of rape and sexual assault, forced prostitution, trafficking and various forms of transactional or
survival sex in exchange for money, food, access to shelter, education and other services.
Several guidelines provide useful guidance on GBV prevention and response. These
include, in particular, the IASC Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in
Humanitarian Settings, which focus on minimum prevention and response to sexual violence in
all sectors during emergencies; the UNHCR Guidelines for Prevention and Response,5 which
provide a comprehensive guidance on prevention and response, including in post-emergency and
early-recovery settings; and the IASC Gender Handbook,6 which sets forth standards that guide
the integration of gender in humanitarian action.
 In the Philippines, there are also several laws which aims to protect individuals
particularly women and child against violence.
Activity
Scenario 1
Fatima comes from a very traditional family. She is 16 and does very well in school. She has
always dreamed of becoming a doctor, and her teachers have told her about scholarship
opportunities if she keeps up her studies. She has decided to tell her father that she wishes to
apply for scholarships to study in the capital. The same day she comes home from school to
speak to her father, he tells her he has arranged for her to marry a very wealthy man from the
next village, and she will have to discontinue her studies. Fatima has never met the man, and she
does not wish to get married, but she respects her father and was raised to not disagree with her
parents. Although she is very sad, she agrees to marry the man and is forced to drop out of
school.
• Does Fatima give her consent to the marriage?
• Was any force used in this incident?
• Who has the power in this situation?
• What kind of power does the father have?
• What kind of power does the daughter have?
• How does power relate to choice in this example?
• What advice would you give Fatima?
• What advice would you give her father?
• Does this happen in your community?

Scenario 2
Mrs. Hernandez is a teacher at a primary school and often has morning duty to monitor the
students while they are playing outside before school. She notices that the boys and girls play
separately, which is normal at this grade level. One of the girls is older and much larger than the
other girls. She is always with a group of girls and picks on the younger girls. One day, Mrs.
Hernandez notices that they are being very cruel to a smaller girl; some are running up and
pinching her breasts and she is crying. They are calling her names and teasing her. Mrs.
Hernandez can tell that the smaller girl is upset, but she thinks this sort of teasing is normal so
she leaves the girls alone.
• Is force being used in this situation?
• Who has the power in this situation?
• What kind of power does the older/bigger girl have?
• What kind of power does the smaller girl have?
• What advice would you give to the smaller girl?
• What advice would you give to the larger girl?
• What advice would you give to the teacher?
• Does this scenario happen in your school?

Assessment:
Search a news story or article related to gender violence. Identify and analyze why the violence
happened and cite a law or policy (in the Philippines or International) that could prevent such
violence to happen again. Include the full story if possible.

What is gender violence? (European Commission) [Link]

fundamental-rights/gender-equality/gender-based-violence/what-gender-based-violence_en
[Link]
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