Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
In Bangladesh and Nepal, gender-based violence is the major cause of intentional homicides, while caste-based gender violence in India is rampant.
One in every two women in South Asia is facing violence while you read this. I tried to look at the data of South Asian countries as cross-national data of violence against women. It helps to confirm the broader structural factors that impact violence against women across regions, regardless of societal differences.
The year 2021 saw a steep rise in the number of violence against women reported cases that have opened doors to a discussion on the already prevalent arenas of gender-based violence.
There are different forms of gender-based violence, which include Sexual Violence, Physical Violence, Emotional and Psychological Violence, Harmful Traditional Practices and Socio-Economic Violence.
Understanding Violence against women as just another form of conflict needs to be corrected pertaining to the underlying causes that contribute to such situations.
The socio-economic structure, power relations within households, and institutionalized patriarchy are a few of the many societal factors that undermine a human’s identity based on gender.
In Bangladesh and Nepal, gender-based violence is the first or second cause of intentional homicides. A report by Oxfam states that 80% of women in Pakistan experience violence within their homes.
Female feticide and honour killings in India, missing girls in Nepal and Srilanka who are trafficked and forced into prostitution.
Acid attacks in Bangladesh and Pakistan are examples of gross human rights violations.
Apart from this, there are other types of gendered violence happening in everyday life within the private sphere which is invisible. Intimate partner violence and domestic violence are the most pervasive examples. Wife beating is intricately related to consequences of pregnancy loss and fetal mortality.
The idea that violence should remain within the private setting is a product of institutionalized norms. Ideological relationships within a social structure that makes GBV invisibiliz-ed especially in cases of domestic violence and intimate partner violence.
Mostly, violence which has not been reported but is visible to close circles (neighbours, friends and colleagues) is normalized as way of life voicing obvious acceptance according to societal norms.
Few forms of violence like dating violence, cyberbullying, coercive control, workplace trauma, and stalking have become so ingrained and embedded in everyday life that it often goes unrecognized.
In some cases where the perpetrator is a family member, psychological burdens like hope or belief that the violence will end refrains the victim from reporting it.
Fear of shame and embarrassment is one of the most researched reasons for invisibiliz-ing gender-based violence. The public-private divide leads to a reversibility of structural violence, where public and political violence against women is seen, but violence which is committed in the private sphere goes unnoticed.
Gender-based violence against adolescent girls is complex and multifaceted, which mostly goes unrecognized. This form of violence is used as a tool to assert control over female bodies and restrict them to the domestic sphere.
The complexity of understanding this problem arises from the fact that individual attitude is less important than the broader social context and norms which define gender roles.
Girls who witness generational violence against women in families face mental trauma and are socially vulnerable. The ones who are themselves subjected to such violence by family members tend to exhibit low self-esteem and weak academic performance.
GBV has serious impacts when girls avoid going to school or drop out altogether.
Sexual violence is a particularly destructive form of GBV on young girls, manifested as verbal and psychological harassment, sexual assault, rape, coercion, and discrimination in and around schools. It adversely impacts the process of educational attainment of female children.
Data from the 2017 Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics show that dropout rates for girls are at a high 42 percent at the secondary school level!
School completion rates are low, with grade 10 rates bottoming at only 10 percent, and secondary level completion rates reaching a mere 59 percent.
UNICEF’s Nepal Country Study (2016) reveals that girls are much more likely than boys to never enter school, and 5.7 percent of girls compared to 4.3 percent of boys are especially likely to be out of school at lower secondary school age.
The annual average dropout rate of girls in India was 17.3% at the secondary education level and 4.74% at the elementary level in 2018-19, said the Women and Child Development ministry. Caste-based gender violence in India is rampant and pervasive.
Girl students are vulnerable to multiple crimes; gender-based violence is one of the leading factors that put female students in a disadvantaged position and hinders their education.
Identifying poverty as the main reason for school dropout makes gender-based violence perpetrated by family or school or society go unnoticed as a vital underlying cause.
This arena requires more emphasis and scrutiny to help minimize the female dropout rate from Schools.
The severity, type, and underlying causes of gender-based violence vary across different countries in South Asia, adhering to socio-cultural norms and traditions that broadly shape the position of a woman in the society.
It is ineffectual to attempt to conceptualize gender at only one level. We need to identify the ways structural gender inequalities, gender performances and gender identities interact to facilitate or challenge coercive control.
Violence in all its forms can have a concerning impact on a woman even long after the violence may have ended. To address the issue, the first step is to reduce the stigma around this issue, which will eventually reduce its invisibility and dismantle the foundations of gender inequality.
Image and Banner Source: Kameleon007 via Getty Images, Pixelshot, Anete Lusina via Pexels, and New Africa Studio, free on Canva Pro
A Postgraduate in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. I write on social issues with special focus on children and women. I believe in voicing opinions through the art of writing. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
Please enter your email address