Gender violence is a vitally important issue that It concerns us all equally. It is a problem that continues to seriously affect a part of the population and that remains rooted in our society.
It starts with the most normalized behaviors, such as a joke or a joke, but its consequences can be fatal, even lethal. In Spain, for example, 49 people died in 20171 due to gender violence and in Mexico seven women are murdered every day2 due to the same circumstances.
It is very important to learn to detect it in time, whether you are suffering from it yourself or if you think that someone around you may suffer from it. To do this, in this Psychology-Online article, we will show you the different Types of Gender Violence and Their Characteristics.
What is Gender Violence?
We can define gender violence, also called sexist violence, as any act that attacks women for the mere fact of being women. This type of abuse threatens the well-being of the victim, his freedom and his dignity. It can occur in different spaces of our lives, for example at work, at home (domestic violence), in a public space and even on social networks.
Sometimes, it is very difficult to say when we are suffering abuse because we do not know to what extent it is. To do this, we can use some very simple premises: if it makes you feel bad, if you feel attacked, if you are afraid or if you have directly suffered an attack, it is gender violence.
Causes of gender violence
Sometimes, we tend to wonder why it happens to us, what we have done to suffer abuse or mistreatment. The reality is that the causes of gender violence have social roots and start from Inequality between men and women. These inequalities are enhanced and maintained because of those who place women below men in all (or almost all) aspects of her life.
Many times, the person who attacks does so to maintain power and dominate the other. The aggressors usually have problems of insecurity, low self-esteem and have received an education in which certain types of gender violence are normalized.
In relationships, for example, it usually happens in a subtle way at first, controlling who you talk to and how you dress, until reaching insults, shouting and, finally, physical violence.
Types of Gender Violence and Their Characteristics
1. Physical Gender Violence
Probably the most recognized type of Gender Violence, it involves the use of the body or other objects that can cause damage to the victim’s body. We distinguish attacks such as punching, pushing, slapping or scratching towards the woman. This type of violence can leave visible marks that, sometimes, victims of gender violence cover up or lie about their origin for fear of possible retaliation.
2. Psychological Gender Violence
This type of abuse is more common than we can imagine. They are acts that cause emotional and psychological damage to the victim, they usually have consequences such as anxiety, depression and a . We talk about acts such as insults, mockery, shouting and threats.
It is very dangerous and completely annuls the woman, making her live in fear and feel alone, without hope and believe that no one can help her.
3. Sexual Violence
This type of violence covers all those acts of a sexual tone that do not imply the consent of the victim, or if the victim has agreed it is because they have received threats and intimidation. The most obvious type of sexual violence is rape. Normally, we talk about abuse outside the couple, but sometimes sexual violence can occur within the couple.
4. Economic/Patrimonial Violence
We talk about economic violence when we encounter barriers, imposed by the abuser, to be able to access our money or our resources to obtain it. That they coerce us not to work and stay at home or that they control our credit cards are very clear examples of economic violence.
5. Symbolic Violence
In some countries, symbolic violence has been recognized as another type of gender violence. We use this term to talk about all acts that, indirectly, contribute to keeping women in a position of inferiority in society. An example that helps us see this type of gender violence is the imposition of beauty standards that we must follow. This can sometimes cause discomfort and very serious psychological consequences.
6. Social Violence
We understand social violence when the aggressor humiliates, attacks and exposes the victim in a public setting. We also consider social violence to isolate the victim from her friends and family since, in this way, she distances herself from her usual environment. It is strongly related to psychological gender violence since it also causes serious consequences on mental health of the woman.
7. Obstetric Violence
This type of gender violence occurs in hospitals and other health institutions. It occurs when doctors or health personnel point out some natural processes in our body as pathological or bad. By singling them out as evil, they proceed to make painful and unnecessary interventions on our bodies. It is usually during pregnancy and we find examples like.
- Make a cesarean section without justification medical
- Unnecessary use of forceps
- Criticism of the state of pregnant women
- Deny information about your health status
- Accelerate childbirth without consent of the pregnant woman
8. Vicarious Violence
A third factor intervenes in this type of gender violence: children.
Vicarious violence consists of use children to harm their mothers, whether through threats, insults or even physical attacks. The aggressors seek to control and dominate the woman so that she does not separate from them, or does not report her actions, through fear that something bad will happen to her children.
It’s not your fault
Finally, comment that if you are suffering gender violence, do not feel guilty about it. You have not done anything to deserve it and if you must act in time it is to be able to get out of this situation as soon as possible. The responsibility is the abuser’s and not yours.
Seek help, tell other people about your situation so that they can help you with everything you need and if you see it appropriate, report the person who is committing gender violence. You are not alone.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Types of gender violence, definition and its characteristicswe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- National Citizen Observatory of Femicide ©
- Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, Government of Spain.