Gender & Development, Vol 15, no.1: Gender-based violence
The new issue of Oxfam's gender mainstreaming journal 'Gender & Development' (G&D), is out now.
Gender-based violence against women and girls is now firmly recognised as both a development and a human rights issue (although the same can not be said for violence directed at other groups on the basis of their gender identity). There is less tolerance for arguments that such violence is a ‘private’ or a ‘cultural’ matter and the legislative framework to protect women and girls from specific forms of gender-based violence is now quite extensive, at both the national and international levels. Articles in this issue of the journal describe successful intervention programmes in very different settings, and show that that the attitudes and beliefs that support and justify gender-based violence against women can and are being challenged at every level of society, and that these attitudes can be changed.
Abstracts of articles appearing in this issue are below, or go to:
http://www.informaworld.com/gad
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g771212926~tab=toc
Editorial, Joanna Hoare
Gender-based violence against women is now firmly recognised as both a development and a human rights issue. There is less tolerance for arguments that violence is a ‘private’ or a ‘cultural’ matter and the legislative framework to protect women and girls from specific forms of gender-based violence is now quite extensive, at both the national and international levels. Articles in this issue of the journal describe successful intervention programmes in very different settings, and show that that the attitudes and beliefs that support and justify gender-based violence against women can and are being challenged at every level of society, and that these attitudes can be changed.
Gender-based violence and property grabbing in Africa: a denial of women’s liberty, security, and livelihoods, Kaori Izumi
Property grabbing is a new form of gendered violence against women, threatening the security of women across Southern and East Africa. Forced evictions are often accompanied by further acts of violence, including physical and mental harassment, and abuse. Widows are particularly vulnerable, partly as a result of weakened customary practice and social safety nets that used to provide support to widowed women and their children, a situation made worse by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Defending their property has cost some women their lives, while other women have lost their shelter and source of livelihoods, and have become destitute. The harassment and humiliation that often accompany property grabbing further strip women of their self-esteem, affecting their ability to defend their rights.
No more killings! Women respond to femicides in central America, Marina Prieto-Carrón, Marilyn Thomson, and Mandy Macdonald
This article looks at a specific form of social violence against women in Mexico and Central America, the violent murder of women - femicidio or feminicidio in Spanish, 'femicide' in English. We explore the nature of femicide by analysing the situation from a gender perspective, as an extreme form of gender-based violence (GBV), and linking femicides with discrimination, poverty and a 'backlash' against women. In a climate of total state impunity, it is extremely important to support the responses of feminists and women's organisations in the region who are carrying out research to document femicides and GBV in general, supporting survivors and their families, and carrying out advocacy activities.
‘We Can’: transforming power in relationships in South Asia, Mona Mehta and Chitra Gopalakrishnan
Throughout South Asia, gender-based violence against women continues to act as an impediment to the realisation of gender equality and women's rights. The 'We Can' campaign is a coalition of over 600 organisations from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, working together to challenge and change entrenched attitudes that support and justify violence against women at the individual, community, and society levels. Of the campaign's activities, the most significant is the mobilisation of five million 'Change Makers', ordinary women and men prepared to speak up and take action against violence in their communities.
Gender violence in schools: taking the ‘girls-as-victims’ discourse forward, Fiona Leach and Sara Humphreys
This paper draws attention to the gendered nature of violence in schools. Recent recognition that schools can be violent places has tended to ignore the fact that many such acts originate in unequal and antagonistic gender relations, which are tolerated and 'normalised' by everyday school structures and processes. After examining some key concepts and definitions, we provide a brief overview of the scope and various manifestations of gender violence in schools, noting that most research to date has focused on girls as victims of gender violence within a heterosexual context and ignores other forms such as homophobic and girl-on-girl violence. We then move on to look at a few interventions designed to address gender violence in schools in the developing world and end by highlighting the need for more research and improved understanding of the problem and how it can be addressed.
Domestic violence – a burning issue in Georgia, Rusudan Pkhakadze and Thea Jamaspishvili
This article reviews the role that a high profile case of alleged domestic violence played in providing Georgian civil society and Parliamentary allies with unprecedented opportunities to campaign for the release of a woman wrongly accused of murder, whilst raising public awareness and precipitating a challenge to the law. Drawing on interviews with a range of primary stakeholders involved in bringing about the legal change, the article considers the factors that made this advocacy success possible, and the implications of this for women throughout Georgia.
Gender-based violence against children in emergencies: Save the Children UK’s response, Tina Hyder and Johanna Mac Veigh
Violence against children is a global phenomenon. During humanitarian crises, and armed conflict in particular, the potential for gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual exploitation, increases. Children, particularly adolescent girls, are vulnerable. This article traces the impact of an exposé of sexual abuse by humanitarian workers on the wider protection policies and practices of Save the Children UK. The article concludes that awareness of gender discrimination must underpin the implementation of protection policies for all children and their carers. Furthermore, it proposes that comprehensive responses to GBV must be devised, alongside prevention strategies, if children are to be effectively protected.
Approaching old problems in new ways: community mobilisation as a primary prevention strategy to combat violence against women, Lori Michau
The Uganda-based NGO Raising Voices has been exploring and experimenting with community-based primary prevention methodologies that seek to shift attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate violence against women. This article shares some of the lessons learned from this process in East Africa over the last six years. It begins by setting forth a rationale for engaging in primary prevention efforts at the community level. It argues that comprehensive community mobilisation is essential if we are to see meaningful, sustained change on the issue of violence against women. It also describes the theoretical underpinnings of the approach and illustrates how these come to life in day-to-day programming in communities.
Constructing an alternative masculine identity: the experience of the Centro Bartolomé de las Casas and Oxfam America in El Salvador, Susan Bird, Rutilio Delgrado, Larry Madrigal, John Bayron Ochoa, and Wlaberto Tejeda
The hegemonic model of masculinity under which men in El Salvador grow up and live emphasises control, physical force, and rational intelligence. Aspects of these elements vary in each society and time period, but the elements themselves have remained a constant part of a man's notion of his identity in the Central American, twentieth-century context, and a real risk for gender-based violence. There is a need for alternative male behaviour patterns. While these alternatives exist in diverse environments, they are largely invisible to the general society. This article presents and discusses working with men in the context of a wide civil society and Oxfam America campaign to prevent gender-based violence in El Salvador.
Resources (Julieanne Porter)
Views, events, and debates (Julieanne Porter)
Book reviews (Julieanne Porter)