Violence against Women

Violence against Women
Abstract
Violence and abuse against women is one of the fastest spreading human right violations. Women are violated not only physically but also they are being abused psychologically and economically. Their degradation is an international issue now days and that do not depend on culture, race, wealth and age. Domestic violence as well as public humiliation in the street or in the workplace is not very rare to find in different socio-economic communities. Gender issues and tendency of overpowering women by "keeping women in their place" attitude are the two most crucial causes for the violation against women. And the shocking matter is this issue is not limited only among poor or conservative countries; even the most educated and developed societies are used to in considering women as second class citizen and are not concern about mental or physical tortures on women. This gender based violence has severe impact on society as it can demoralize economic growth. Also different forms of violence grow risk factors towards mental and physical health of women while increasing vulnerability to life threatening diseases like HIV. In this paper, we are going to discuss violation against women and the mental and physical state and impact of abused women as well as go through the acts by social organizations and governments from different countries to prevent violence against women.
Keywords: violence against women, domestic violence, sexual assault, and women`s right
Violence against women
The term violence against women refers to violent physical and psychological torture against women and girls. According to the General Assembly of United Nations, violence against women is a gender based violence act that results mental, sexual and physical harm or suffering to women in their public and private life. This gender specific crime is often compared with hate and sex crimes.
Violence against women does not depend on the background, race, age or culture of the victim. It also does not depend on geographical location and can be happened in the street or in the workplace or even in her own home. Domestic violence includes intimate partner violence which refers to sexual, physical or psychological abuse and torture by the inmate to gain control over women. The intimate partner violence often turns into sexual violence that comes in the form of sexual aggression, sexual act and forcing for sexual activities. Domestic violence can also be performed by other family members including parents and siblings. Verbal abuses as well as physical and mental torments are very common to find in different parts of the world.
Violence against women can also be committed by total strangers who tend to show sexual aggressions if they get a chance. It includes verbal abuse on the street, rape, human trafficking and forcing women to perform any humiliating act. However, domestic violence by intimate partner is much more severe than violence by a stranger. About 40 - 70% of women who are murdered each year are face death by their partner (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006); mostly by their husband or boyfriend.
Six women out of ten have faced any form of sexual abuse in their past. The number is more alarming in under-developed countries. Women of age between 16 and 44 are the major victims. Although social organizations and governments of many countries are working on reducing the rate, it is not working very well and the number seems to be growing very fast.
The major concern regarding to the growing rate of violence against women does not focus just on physical and psychological effect on the abused women as well as the social and economic development in the country. In long run, the violent attitude of male dominating society cause economical undermines for the whole community. It also has a wide spreading negative effect on the family; mostly on the children who witness brutal activities and nature of their parents and grow up with a mentality to accept violence as a normal human behavior.
History of violence against women
Violence against women is almost as old as the history of civilization. The idea of torturing women started since then as they were viewed as property of men. Their dependency on men for social protection and financial stability is the main reasons for such dominating attitude from men. Even marriage does not ensure equal rights for women as both social and religious perspectives are often partial; making the husband superior to the wife.
Types of violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence is the most common form of violence against women. Most of the women have a history of being abused by a family member whether it is her parents or her siblings or close relatives. Also the rate of being tortured by intimate partner is very high. The form of domestic violence is not always perpetrated by physical aggression; physiological torture as well as verbal abuse is extensively used to create mental pressure (Pourreza, Batebi, & Moussavi, 2004).
Domestic violence against women is often categorized in several different ways including dating violence, domestic and intimate partner violence, same-sex relationship violence, roommate relationship violence, mother-daughter relationship and other in-home violence. Violence is more common in a lesbian relationship than in a heterosexual relationship (Girshick, 2002).
As the domestic violence is committed by a close person of the victim, it is often ignored by women because of her compassion as well as fear for the perpetrator. Sometimes even if they are badly harmed, they do not take any action against the person. So it is difficult for the researchers to determine the actual magnitude of domestic violence.
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is one of the major concerns around the globe now days. The increasing rate of trafficking is alarming and has been recognized as the second most profitable organized crime right after the drug industry (Haken, n.d). Women from poor families are the main victims of this trend. They are promised for a better living and smuggled out of the country only to find themselves in doing degrading jobs in a foreign country. Most of the victims find themselves at forced prostitution or sexual slavery at the end. People who run human trafficking business are well organized and have international connections. So it is difficult even for the government in many countries to take necessary actions against them. They make sure that the victim cannot escape from them and for that, they often use drugs and torture as well as starvation and fear.
Sexual assault and rape
Sexual assault is a form of physical aggression when the victim is reluctant to make any physical contact. It includes rape, attempt to rape, molestation, and sexual activities towards children, forcefully touching someone`s body and watching someone else`s sexual activities without permission. Sexual assault is a very common problem in almost every country in the world. Rape is considered as one of the major sex crimes and it is known as the least reported violent crime (Shipway, 2004). The victims are mostly alone while the assault happens.
Women at work
It is a common scenario to find that a working woman is sexually abused by her co-workers, clients and customers. The typical male psychology tends to think that a working woman is more vulnerable than a house wife and so easy to get intimated. In case of a failed attempt to make any sexual activity, men may get violent and try to do physical harm to the woman who can end up in serious injury or in some cases, murder.
Women with disabilities
According to many findings, women with physical disabilities suffer more from domestic violence and sexual assaults than normal healthy women. Family members and caregivers often take advantage of the disability to abuse them physically or sexually.
Impact of violation
Any kind of violenc...