POLITICAL-LEGAL

PERSPECTIVE IN GENDER
AND SEXUALITY
Gender-based Violence:
Survivor, Victim,
Perpetrator, And Human
Rights
• Gender-based violence is one of the most
widespread and human rights abuses, but least
recognized in the world.
• It refers to any harm perpetrated against a
person's will on the basis of gender, the socially
ascribed differences between males and
females.
• Gender-based violence has devastating
consequences not only for victims, but also for
society as a whole. (Sigal [Link] 2013) It results
in physical, sexual, and psychological harm both
men and women
• In the Philippines, prior to 1993, most
governments regarded violence against women
largely as a private matter between individuals.
(Loi et. al 1999)
Gender-based violence experienced by women and girls
refers to battering and other forms of intimate partner
violence including
• marital rape • early marriage
• sexual violence • forced marriage
• dowry-related violence • female genital cutting
• female infanticide • honor crimes
• sexual abuse of female children in the household
CONSEQUENCES OF
GENDER-BASED
VIOLENCE
Health consequences
• include unwanted pregnancies, complications
from unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted
infections including HIV, injuries, mental health,
and psychosocial effects (depression, anxiety,
post-traumatic stress, suicide and death).
• Violence also affects children's survival,
development, and school participation.
Social consequences
• extend to families and communities.
• Families can also be stigmatized as a
consequence of gender-based violence. For
example, when children are born following a
rape, or if family members choose to stand by a
survivor, fellow members of their community may
avoid them.
Economic consequences
• include the cost of public health and social
welfare systems
• the reduced ability of many survivors to
participate in social and economic life.
SURVIVOR, VICTIM,
AND
PERPETRATOR
• Survivor is the preferred term (not a "victim")
of a person who has lived through an incident
of gender-based violence.
• A perpetrator is a person, group, or institution
that inflicts, supports, or condones violence or
other abuse against a person or group of
persons.
Characteristics of perpetrators include:
• a. persons with real or perceived power;
• b. persons in decision-making positions;
and
• c. persons in authority.
Human Rights
• Human rights are universal, inalienable, indivisible,
interconnected, and interdependent.
• Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms without
distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth, or other status.
• Acts of gender-based violence violate a number of human
rights principles enshrined in international human rights
instruments and in our Philippine Constitution.
These include the following, amongst others:
• the right to life, liberty, and property of persons;
• the right to the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health;
• the right to freedom from torture or cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;
• the right to freedom of opinion and expression
and to education (UNFPA 2014).
POLITICAL-LEGAL
PERSPECTIVE IN GENDER
AND SEXUALITY
Gender-based Violence:
POWER, USE OF FORCE,
AND CONSENT
POWER
Some examples of different types and powerful
people are the following:
• social- peer pressure, bullying, leader, teacher,
parents;
• economic-the perpetrator controls money or access
to goods/services/money/ favors; sometimes the
husband or the father;
• political―elected leaders, discriminatory laws,
President of the United States;
• physical—strength, size, use of weapons,
controlling access or security; soldiers, police,
robbers, gangs;
• gender-based (social)—males are usually in a
more powerful position than females; and
• age-related-often, the young and elderly people
have the least power.
• Power is directly related to choices. The more
power one has, there are more choices available.
The less power one has, fewer choices are
available.
• Unempowered people have fewer choices and are
therefore, more vulnerable to abuse. GBV involves
the abuse of power. Unequal power relationships
are exploited or abused.
USE OF FORCE/VIOLENCE
• "Force" might be physical, emotional, social, or
economic in nature.
• It may also involve coercion or pressure.
• Force also includes intimidation, threats,
persecution, or other forms of psychological or
social pressure.
INFORMED CONSENT
• Consent means saying "yes," agreeing to
something.
• Informed consent means making informed choice
freely and voluntarily by persons in an equal power
relationship.
• GBV occur without informed consent (female
genital cutting (FGC), marriage, sexual relations)
CYCLE OF VIOLENCE
• The cycle of violence refers to repeated acts of
violence in a relationship.
• It starts with minor incidents and moves on to more
serious levels of violence.
• The cycle of violence may start in a child who is a
victim or witness to violence and may be repeated
when the child becomes an adult.
• The impact of being a victim or a witness to
violence on a child is traumatic.
• It can make a child scared, unhappy, lonely, lose
self-confidence, blame themselves, lose sleep, and
pick up fights with peers.
• Children should understand that having conflicts is
alright, but resolving conflict through violence is not
right.
Reflect on the following cases
In a very traditional and patriarchal family, the
father of a 19-year old girl tells her that he has
arranged for her to marry a certain man. The
girl does not know the man very well. The man
is much older than she is, but she agrees to the
marriage.
1. Do you think this kind of situation could happen?
2. Did she give her informed consent to this marriage?
3. Was there any force used in this incident? Who is more
powerful in this father or daughter?
4. What kind of power does the father have? The
daughter?
5. How does power relate to choice in this example?
Reflect on the following cases
A student is failing in her subject. She
approached her professor and asked for
assistance because her failure might cost her
scholarship. Her professor told her that the
only way that she can pass the subject is for
her to have sex with him.
1. Do you think this kind of situation could happen?
2. Did she give her informed consent?
3. What kind of power does the professor have?
The student?
4. How does power relate to choice in this
example?