(GBV) Gender-based violence

Gender-based violence: It is all violence that occurs against the will of a person, resulting from a difference in power and strength based on a difference in social role.

Young men can sometimes be victims of intimate partner violence or sexual assault, but in general young women are more exposed to sexual, physical and economic violence and are controlled by male partners (including husband, boyfriend, brother, father…) and whomever. Whatever pronoun is used, we mean both genders Exposed to violence, which comes in many types.

Types of gender-based violence

Physical violence: It is violence that aims to physically harm a young man and may or may not leave clear and visible effects on the abused person. It includes beating using the hand or any other tool, kicking, burning, restraining, or rape, etc. This is a form of violence that aims to cause physical harm. . Physical violence can have physical health consequences such as wounds, fractures, internal bleeding, and psychogenic physical symptoms, as well as psychological symptoms such as loss of self-confidence, depression, self-harm or suicide, and poor ability to concentrate. Sexual disorders, substance and alcohol abuse…
Psychological and emotional violence: Psychological and emotional violence may not appear outwardly and does not leave an external impact like physical violence, but it leaves devastating effects in the psychological and mental sphere. Psychological violence includes neglect, abandonment, intimidation, insults, humiliation, threats to destroy things you care about, belittlement, ridicule, frequent criticism, and cursing that reduces the value of a person who often occupies a lower position in the world. It is based on power relationships, and it is common for males to have more power than females, and older people may also have a higher status It gives them more strength than youth or children, and so on…
Sexual violence: Any act or statement that violates the privacy of a young man’s body and harms his or her dignity, whether in the form of sexual language in different places (at home, on the street, or over the phone), or through an attempt to touch any of the body parts. Without the desire of the other party, Its levels range from looking at words to touching and ending with rape, which constitutes the highest degree of sexual violence, which includes forcing a person to have sex or perform sexual acts without his/her desire or harming him/her during the sexual act. Or forcing her to have sex without protection from pregnancy or infection. Sexual violence includes early marriage, sexual exploitation, forced sex with adolescents, and youth trafficking, including sexual or economic trafficking, as it facilitates incomplete development and maturity among adolescents and youth, and lack of mental judgment, and now Defensiveness, tendency to engage in risky behaviour, love of experimentation and competition… facilitates Exploiting them in various ways, as well as exploiting the need to work for maids, nannies, and nurses… in order to facilitate sexual relations with them and sex across generations… and honor killings and female circumcision. These forms increased severely after the war, and some Multiplied several times.
Economic violence: which is depriving a person of his production resources or of his entitlements, such as depriving a woman of her salary, the freedom to dispose of it, or her inheritance, property, and documents, so that she becomes a person who has lost the most basic rights to manage his resources, as it reverts to Her responses to another person, such as a father, brother, or husband… In addition to her work at home or on agricultural lands and other work that is not valued financially by society.

The underlying causes of gender-based violence

Discrimination based on sex.
Lack of respect for human rights and abuse of authority and force.
Cultural factors and prevailing norms that accept and sometimes encourage this violence.
The spread of violence increases with the presence of major societal problems such as poverty, marginalization, extremism, ignorance, and the absence of the law. This is reinforced in crises, where the role of the law is absent and social control institutions collapse, so violence strikes everyone, albeit in varying proportions. However, violence against women comes to the forefront, as statistics indicate that one One in every three women has been exposed to sexual or physical violence during some period of her life, and this percentage increases in crises.

Effects of gender-based violence

The effects of gender-based violence vary from one person to another, as the person’s response varies according to the type and severity of the violence to which he is exposed, as well as according to his personality type, his ability to adapt, the way he was raised, and in general Its effects are divided into the following:

Psychological effects:
1 Loss of self-confidence, self-esteem, and feelings of guilt and inferiority.

2. Dependency and a feeling of helplessness and inability to make a decision.

3. Frustration, loss of ability to take initiative, and difficulty in achieving.

4. Psychological disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

5. Loss of trust in others and a feeling of insecurity.

6. Generates thoughts about suicide, violence, or even murder.

7. Feeling multiple organic pains and disturbances in sleep and appetite without an organic cause.

Social family effects:

Relationships become disturbed, family and societal disintegration increases, divorce rates rise, and the impact of violence within the family or violence against women extends to include children as well, as their academic achievement weakens and they drop out of school, and their financial development is affected. Naturally, they become more inclined toward aggression and delinquency, which causes society to lose many of its resources and increases its needs for During the increase in economic and health burdens, in addition to the perpetuation of violence as a means of resolving conflicts, even family ones.

Economic impacts:

Gender-based violence has huge economic impacts. Medical and psychological care for a survivor of violence has a huge cost, and the disabling health effects of violence may continue throughout her life. On the other hand, gender-based violence reduces The individual’s ability to work and produce is diminished, so society loses its youthful energies and produces a dependent class. Financially dependent on others and unable to achieve economic independence.