ANTHRO 136K Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Zainab Bangura, Foot Binding, Innocent Victims
28 Jun 2018
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ANTHRO 139K - Lecture 12 - A History of Gendered Violence: From FGC to the Black Dahlia
Murder
Domestic Abuse
●Gender-based violence is a global public health, economic development, and human
rights problem of epidemic proportions.
●Women suffer harm which is either unique to their gender, and/or which is more
commonly inflicted upon women than men.
●60% -- Approximately one in three of the world’s women will experience gender-related
violence in her lifetime, with rates reaching 70% in some countries.
●VAW jeopardizes women’s lives, bodies, psychological integrity and freedom and there
are three socio cultural domains in which it occurs:
○The family
○The community
○The state
●Physical, sexual, and psychological violence that occurs in the family include:
○Battering
○Sexual abuse of female children
○Son preference resulting in neglect of female children
○Female infanticide
○Dowry-related violence
○Marital rape
○Female genital cutting and other, so called, traditional practices harmful to
women
○Violence from family and in-laws
○Violence related to exploitation
●The majority of VAW occurs in the domestic setting.
●For women aged 15 to 44 years, domestic violence is a major cause of death and
disability.
●UP TO 50% -- Between one quarter and one half of all women in the world have been
abused by intimate partners.
●Worldwide, 40-70% of all female murder victims are killed by an intimate partner
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The Community
●Physical, sexual, and psychological violence that occurs within the general community
include:
○Rape
○Sexual abuse
○Sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions, and
elsewhere
○Trafficking in girls and women
○Forced prostitution
●Women fall victim to traditional practices, supported by local communities, that violate
their human rights:
○FGC
○Female neglect
○Female infanticide
○Child marriage
○Honor killings
○Dowry murder
The State
●Physical, sexual, and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State; or in
situations where the State does not put honest, systematic effort into enforcing laws
that protect girls and women from violence, abuse, and exploitation. This includes:
○Non-intervention into domestic and community based violence against girls and
women
○Custodial violence against women by law enforcement personnel
○Violence against women in situations of armed conflict
○Violence against disadvantaged, refugee, and displaced women
Contributing Factors
●Factors associated with increased risk of VAW include:
●Gender inequality
●Low education
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●A historical cycle of family abuse
●Abusive childhoods
●Alcohol and drug abuse
●Sociocultural attitudes accepting VAW and/or violence in general
Intervention Programs
●In higher-income settings evidence indicates that school-based, educational programs
can be effective in preventing dating and relationship violence among young people,
and in setting a positive model
●In lower-income settings, prevention strategies and programs, such as microfinance
combined with gender equality training and community-based initiatives and education
that address gender inequality and relationship skills have shown a degree of
improvement
A Historical Overview of Socially Systematic Forms of VAW
●Throughout history and among the World’s cultures there have been and are socially
systematic forms of violence perpetrated specifically against girls and women:
○Rape
○Torture and cruel and unusual forms of execution
○Sati
○Foot binding
○Female genital cutting
Systematic Rape
●"Sexual violence in conflict needs to be treated as the war crime that it is; it can no
longer be treated as an unfortunate collateral damage of war.” -- UN Special
Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Hawa Bangura
●When there is conflict and warfare among groups throughout the world – small and
large, from ancient times to now – girls and women are systematically raped:
○Because they are considered to be property, and thus the “spoils of war.”
○As an opportunistic part of the violence and chaos
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Document Summary
Anthro 139k - lecture 12 - a history of gendered violence: from fgc to the black dahlia. Gender-based violence is a global public health, economic development, and human rights problem of epidemic proportions. Women suffer harm which is either unique to their gender, and/or which is more commonly inflicted upon women than men. 60% -- approximately one in three of the world"s women will experience gender-related violence in her lifetime, with rates reaching 70% in some countries. Vaw jeopardizes women"s lives, bodies, psychological integrity and freedom and there are three socio cultural domains in which it occurs: Physical, sexual, and psychological violence that occurs in the family include: Son preference resulting in neglect of female children. Female genital cutting and other, so called, traditional practices harmful to women. The majority of vaw occurs in the domestic setting. For women aged 15 to 44 years, domestic violence is a major cause of death and disability.
