Throughout
the life cycle
|
Phase
|
Type of violence
|
|
Pre-birth
|
Sex-selective abortion; effects of battering during pregnancy on birth
outcomes
|
|
Infancy
|
Female infanticide;
physical, sexual and psychological abuse
|
|
Girlhood
|
Child marriage;
female genital mutilation; physical, sexual and
psychological abuse; incest; child prostitution
|
|
Adolescence and
adulthood
|
Dating and courtship
violence (e.g. acid throwing and date rape); economically coerced sex (e.g.
school girls having sex with “sugar daddies” in return for school fees);
incest; sexual abuse in the workplace; rape; sexual harassment; forced
prostitution and pornography; trafficking in women; partner violence; marital
rape; dowry abuse and murders; partner homicide; psychological abuse; abuse
of women with disabilities; forced pregnancy
|
|
Elderly
|
Forced “suicide” or
homicide of widows for economic reasons; sexual,
physical and psychological abuse
|
There are
different types of physical and mental harassment on women these days-
1) rape
2) marital rape
3) domestic violence
4) dowry violence
5) acid throwing
6) forced marriage
7) mob violence
8) human trafficking
Achievements of the VAW movements
On the Global level:
·
The first major document
that highlights the recognition of violence against women as a human rights
violation: the United Nations Declaration
on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Vienna, 1993.It was a result of collective effort of global
feminist movement to transform the Vienna conference from a general and
mainstream human rights conference into the conference on women's rights. As
before the other human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch did not focus on the issue of VAW and did not consider rape
and domestic violence as violations of human rights despite of the fact that
they also have agenda on women's rights.
·
The 1995 Fourth World Conference on
Women in Beijing During the 4th Women Conference, VAW was emphasized and named as
a critical concern. Also, the spillover effect was that this push highlighted
the need for the development of "new international norms" that have
often been used by activists and governments the proposition of legislation
that provide other action to redress the acts of violence.
·
Subsequently, the push from
the global feminist movement also push for the fully incorporation of the VAW
issues into the "Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women" or CEDAW whereas the "original text of CEDAW in 1979 did not explicitly mention violence against women"
On the regional level:
·
Americas: the Inter-American
Convention on Violence Against Women, which was formally announced and
adopted by the Organization of American
States (OAS) in 1994, immediately after the Vienna Conference.
·
Europe: The European Union (EU)’s initiatives to combat violence against women after the
1990s: the 1997 resolution
calling for a zero tolerance: specifically
on UN human rights instruments of CEDAW and the Vienna Declaration.
·
The Council
of Europe also developed "a
series of initiatives" related to the issue of VAW: "the 2000 resolution on trafficking,
the 2003 resolution on domestic
violence, and the 2004
resolution on honor crimes" as
well as promoted "the 2002
recommendation on the protection of women against violence and established its monitoring
framework."
·
Africa:
·
There emerged a series of
regional meetings and agreements, which was triggered by the UN processes on
the international level such as Third
World Conference on Women in
Nairobi, 1985; the 1993
Kampala Prep Com; the 1994
Africa-wide UN women's conference that
led to the identification of VAW as a critical issue in the Southern African Women's Charter.
Challenges faced by women in accessing justice and limitations of
measures
There can be a de
jure or de facto acceptance of violent behaviors and lack of remedies for
victims.
* Lack of criminalization. In
many places, acts of abuse, especially acts such as female genital mutilation, marital rape, forced
marriage and child marriage,
are not criminalized, or are illegal but widely tolerated, with the laws
against them being rarely enforced. There are instances where crimes against
women are also categorized as minor offenses.
*Lack of
awareness of the existing laws. In many places, although there are laws
against violence on the books, many women do not know of their existence. This
is especially the case with marital rape - its criminalization being very
recent in most countries.
* Challenges in making a case in
court. The burden of proof can be placed on the victim. For instance in the
Philippines, before a change in law in 1997, rape used to be described as a
crime against chastity; and virginity played an important role in court. In
various countries, such as Bangladesh, a woman's past sexual experience continues to be very
important in a case of rape. It
can also be difficult to make a case of sexual assault in court, when members
of the judiciary expect evidence of severe struggle and injury as determinative
evidence of non-consent. On the other hand, there are measures like the 2012
law in Brazil that allow for cases to be filed even without the representation
of the victim.
* Existing laws are insufficient,
conflicting, and have no effect in practice. Some laws on domestic
violence, for instance, conflict with other provisions and ultimately
contradict their goals. In Ukraine, a law on domestic violence also provides
that the police can arrest the victim for « provocation ». Legal frameworks can also be flawed
when laws that integrate protection do so in isolation, notably in relation to
immigration laws. Undocumented women in countries where they would have, in
theory, access to justice, don’t in practice for fear of being denounced and
deported. The CEDAW Committee recommends that a State authority’s obligation to
report undocumented persons be repealed in national legislation.
Hope that there must
be a change in the present situation….
Every person
irrespective of gender should strive for the freedom of women.
As gandhiji said-we
did not get independence. Actual independence would be-“whenever a women would go out and return safely at 12:00pm
even-that would be the real independence.”
Every indian must do
this-
A special thanks to
everyone who read this with great interest by spending your valuable time.
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