CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES of GENDER VIOLENCE

In order to understand the causes and consequences of gender violence, first we will see what it is in depth: we will explain all its characteristics and types.

Characteristics of gender violence

The UN has defined violence against women as any act of violence based on belonging to the female sex that results in, or may result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats such as coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.

  • One of the main characteristics of gender violence is that the risk factor is being a woman.
  • Includes both attacks physical as psychologicalsexual as well as threats of all these acts.
  • Attacks can occur both in the Public ambit as in the private and its objective is to maintain the subordination of women to men.
  • Furthermore, it should be noted that the violence within the couple It is the most common form of gender violence around the world.
  • This violence shares with other forms of violence the fact that be intentional and to pursue as an objective the submission and control of another person.

Finally, we must mention that no list of forms of gender violence is absolute, as they are constantly changing, reflecting social, economic and political dynamics.

The different ones are:

Violence ppsychological

It could be said that in one way or another this is inherent to all other forms of violence. That is, all violence implicitly entails psychological violence. This type of violence includes acts such as saying “you are a whore”, contempt such as “you are worthless”, humiliations and blackmail. We can also find within this section the ignore systematically to the couple and threats. Continued psychological abuse causes feelings of humiliation that destroy a woman’s self-esteem and the consequences can be very long-lasting. Some of the behaviors that we can find in this type of violence are:

  • Treating women as inferior or stupid.
  • Devalue women in general.
  • Not taking into account or systematically criticizing their opinion.
  • Find flaws in all your actions.
  • Not allowing you to make decisions or devaluing them.
  • Insulting her physical appearance, making her feel unattractive or too provocative.
  • Belittle her with unpleasant names.
  • Not taking into account their feelings or their tastes.
  • Coerce her and manage her with gestures, nods, jokes, etc.
  • Twist the arguments so that she is always the one to blame for everything.
  • Mocking and laughing at her.
  • Public humiliation.
  • Praise and humiliate her alternately until she becomes confused.
  • Not recognizing their qualities.
  • Compare her to other people to make her feel inferior.
See also  ANHEDONIA: meaning, causes, symptoms and treatment

With these behaviors, the objective pursued by the aggressor is to devalue the victim.

Physical violence

Physical violence responds to any physical act carried out by a man to harm a woman. This can range from a push intentional, a slap or throw objects with the intention of causing harm, bitespinches, to the end of the murder. In this type of abuse, in addition to putting the health and life of the attacked person at risk, it also causes intense fear and a feeling of humiliation that little by little diminishes the woman’s self-esteem. The behaviors that we find in this type of abuse are:

  • Hitting, biting, slapping, kicking, tying, hair pulling.
  • Push, shake, chase her.
  • Burns.
  • Using sharp objects to attack (knives, scissors, etc.)
  • Strangulation attempts.
  • Spanking with the belt.
  • Murder.

The objective of all these behaviors is to dominate, subdue and control women by instilling fear and physical punishment.

Environmental violence

This type of violence responds to the coercion exerted by the abuser on the woman through destroying personal belongings, killing pets, hiding belongings or isolating them from their surroundings, not letting her go outside and exercising control over her surroundings and environment. The behaviors that characterize this type of abuse are:

  • Breaking or throwing objects with the intention of intimidating.
  • Destroy or damage everything that has emotional value for the woman (animals, objects, plants, photos, souvenirs, jewelry, etc.).
  • Driving recklessly, putting her at risk and knowing that this makes her suffer.
  • Disrupting her rest intentionally and with the aim of disturbing her (turn on the TV, the light, the radio, etc.)

The objective of all these behaviors is to intimidate and instill fear in the woman as well as to transmit a threatening message to achieve her submission to the requests she makes.

Social violence

In social violence we find control of external relationships, either preventing them – with acts of psychological manipulation, physical manipulation, emotional blackmail, etc. – or accompanying them all. The behaviors that we observe on the part of the aggressor are:

  • Prohibit him from interacting with his environmentfamily, friends, co-workers, etc.
  • Making the woman lack time to interact with other people, taking care of children, household chores, having to be present at home.
  • Sabotage her social events.
  • Leaving her locked up or with the phone disconnected when he leaves to prevent her from going out or communicating.
  • Preventing the woman from accompanying him to social activities or forcing her to attend even if she does not want to.
  • In social gatherings, he forces him to leave when he wants, prohibits him from talking about certain topics, dancing, having fun, etc.
  • Imposing the way she should dress or make up.
See also  How to OVERCOME DEPRESSION due to LONELINESS - Tips to achieve it

The objective of all these behaviors is to control the woman and exercise dominance and authority in the relationship.

Violence andeconomic

This type of violence is characterized by a lack of freedom that the aggressor exercises over the victim in making expenses. The woman must justify all expenses incurred and must ask permission to carry them out, even if they are to cover basic needs. The behaviors that we find in this type of violence are:

  • Manage economic resources without consulting or giving accounts to women.
  • Manage and dispose of the money she earns, preventing her from directly accessing her own resources.
  • Disqualify how women manage money.
  • Lying about income.
  • Hide resources.
  • Do not allow her to go shopping or make purchases so as not to provide the woman with cash.
  • Go into debt or sell common belongings without her consent.

The objective is to control women by preventing their access to resources.

Sexual violence

Sexual violence responds to any unwanted sexual act, which can range from a compliment in the street, to lifting a girl’s skirt, to rape. These, apart from producing fear, also produce strong feelings of humiliation and psychological damage. Sometimes, this type of violence has been attributed more to people outside the couple’s relationship, the person who walks down the street and gives an unpleasant compliment and if you say something he insults you, or the rapist who rapes the girls when he comes back to them. home. Sometimes it is forgotten that this type of violence can also be exercised within the couple, since “as my partner is, it is normal that he wants to have sexual relations and sometimes out of love we have to give in if he wants to”, well. if someone in the couple does not want to have a relationship and there is some kind of pressure to maintain it, it is considered sexual violence. The behaviors that we find in this type of violence are:

  • Demanding to maintain relationships when the woman does not want it.
  • Become aggressive, irritable if she does not agree to have relations.
  • Forcing her to practice certain sexual practices with which she does not feel comfortable.
  • Demanding sex from her at inappropriate times and places such as in the presence of children, breastfeeding, after a beating, after an attack of jealousy, when she is sick, at work, etc.
  • Compare her with other women in the sexual sphere to humiliate and undervalue her.
  • Not wanting to use a condom.
  • Taking care of your own pleasure without taking her into account.
  • Being inconsiderate and violent when having sexual relations.
  • Perform any type of touching when she doesn’t want to.
  • Treating women as sexual objects.
See also  Why the hummingbird remembers the loved one who is no longer here

The objective pursued by the person is also to exercise dominance over the woman while humiliating and subduing her.

Emotional blackmail

This form of violence consists of showing submission, dependence and self-degradation. In emotional blackmail, the woman can take responsibility for the partner’s well-being, putting it before her needs and feeling guilty if she does not do it or puts her own judgment first. This feeling of guilt can be paralyzing for the person. Emotional blackmail vitiates the woman’s will and ends up controlling her actions through crying, begging, expressing dependence: “If you leave me, I’ll die”, etc. Some control behaviors are:

  • Acting unhappy when she has a plan and he doesn’t.
  • Threaten to hurt yourself or kill yourself if you leave him.
  • Express your discomfort with the purpose of instilling pity.
  • Inducing feelings that generate compassion to manipulate the other person’s behavior; illnesses, unhappy childhood, etc.

The objective of all this is to instill pity to exercise control and manage the couple.

Gender violence can have very serious consequences for women. Below we show you some of them:

Health consequences

Gender violence causes serious physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems in the short and long term. Among some of the consequences we find:

  • Deadly consequencessuch as murder and homicide or suicide.
  • Produce injuriesAccording to a WHO analysis, 42% of women victims of gender violence report suffering some injury as a consequence.
  • Cause unwanted pregnanciesinduced abortions, gynecological problems, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) -among them HIV-.
  • To level emotional we find; depression, anxiety, insomnia, eating disorders, substance abuse disorders, suicide attempts and post-traumatic stress disorder and .
  • Higher prevalence of ailments: headaches, low back pain, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal disorders. Limitations of mobility, worsening of the general state of health and quality of life.
  • In the case of sexual violence, especially if it occurred in childhood, it can increase the alcohol and drug useas well as risky sexual practices in later stages of life.

Social impact

In many cases, abuse represents a 180-degree turn in a woman’s life. This can be found isolated and unable to work, lose your salary, stop participating in activities and see your strength diminished to take care of yourself and if you have children of your children. Furthermore, sometimes, the woman is so threatened that she is forced to leave her home, residence and city. The social and economic costs of gender violence are enormous and have repercussions throughout society.

Impact on children

Boys and girls who grow up in…