Violence against women and girls is probably the most common human rights violation and the one that affects the greatest number of people. It is present in every society in the world, whatever its political or economic system.
A little history
The Western cultural tradition, which draws on classical and Judeo-Christian antiquity, starts from an androcentric view of reality. Although women were present, they seldom played important roles in public life, leaving these to men. Women occupied the private sphere and were subordinate to men. This is what we have come to call patriarchal culture, and it has lasted to this day.
As we have said, this situation continued throughout the Middle Ages and persisted during the Renaissance, when only elite women could access education, while most remained unknown.
Throughout history there have been milestones in the evolution of women's role that have enabled them to play a significant role in public life today, although some achievements are still to be won. It is important to look back at history so as not to fall into mistaken opinions or questioning, and to put things in their proper place and perspective. That is why we begin this introduction with the definition of feminism given by the Royal Spanish Academy Dictionary.
According to this dictionary, feminism is the "social doctrine favourable to women, granting them abilities and rights previously reserved for men". In a second sense it defines it as: "Movement that demands equal rights for women and men". These two meanings clearly show the importance of the semantic link between the concepts of feminism and equal rights.
It is therefore built around the ideas of autonomy, equality and solidarity, basic principles of the Enlightenment project and banner of the French Revolution, although it draws a distinction between fraternity, understood as a brotherhood of men, and the "pact between women" as a route to equality with the status of the male gender.
Why talk about feminism? It needs to be made clear that when we talk about this concept we are talking about equality between women and men, and not the superiority of one over the other, as people have sometimes tried to suggest.
It is also important to briefly note the need to address equality between women and men, since it is a fundamental Human Rights issue. In this regard, the lack of rights has been a constant in women's history, to the point that it came to be accepted as natural that they lacked the most basic ones, such as the right to their own bodies, to give just one example.
Over recent centuries, a path has been taken with the aim of fully recognising women's Rights. In article 2 of the United Nations Declaration on the elimination of violence against women, of 1993, violence against women is defined as: "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life" (Osborne, 2009, p.24).
Below is a quick overview of the history of women's human rights, starting in 1945, although there were already representative women who achieved milestones before that. We take 1945 as our starting point because it is the year the United Nations was founded.
It is important to know that although the so-called Istanbul Convention was opened in 2011, it has been in force in Europe since 2014 and has been signed by 46 countries and ratified by 34. It is also important to know that in 2021 Turkey announced its withdrawal through its president Erdoğan. It is the first legally binding instrument in Europe on violence against women and domestic violence, and it is considered the most comprehensive and far-reaching international treaty on combating violence against women and domestic violence.
Finally, in this overview it is also worth noting that, under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are set, of which Goal 5 is: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Such a goal had to be included because, despite the achievements of recent years, "discriminatory laws and social norms remain pervasive, women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership, and 1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 report experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period".
Why is it important to raise awareness of 25N, the day against gender-based violence?
Bearing in mind this historical overview, we may better understand that the problem of violence against women is not just a matter of isolated incidents or a few "madmen", but rather a structural problem rooted in our socialisation and our social, cultural and educational traditions. A system we have called Patriarchal , a social organisation governed by hierarchical relationships in which men hold a position of superiority over women in the use of and access to existing resources.
It is also very important to understand that this is a system we can see all over the world, and that it assigns qualities to men and women according to hegemonic models accepted and taken for granted by the whole of society. We should also stress that, even if we consciously reject these stereotypes and behaviours, we often act without realising that we are perpetuating these models. This is quite logical, and we must be aware of it in order to change them.
For all these reasons, we need to dismantle some mistaken ideas about gender-based violence that, quite often, shift the main focus and lead to confusion, and even to statements against a fundamental human right: the elimination of all violence against women and girls because they are women and girls.
Some common myths are:
- Men who are violent towards women are temporarily insane, their religion makes them see women as inferior, they come from other countries... not true: there is no profile of an aggressor, whether by age, build, race, religion or character. It is a structural problem that is perpetuated by refusing to question and change the foundations of the social system we have grown up in.
- Violence is committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol... also untrue: as we have said, violence is committed for other reasons, more to do with hegemonic socialisation that perpetuates beliefs about how a man and a woman should be.
- Abused women like being abused, otherwise they would leave... obviously it is not that simple: being trapped in the cycle of violence means the victim does not know how to get out of it, which is why they need help and resources to end it.
- Violence is a private matter and we shouldn't interfere, because what happens at home stays at home... this myth is probably one of the most harmful in the fight against violence. Believing that these are family matters and that we shouldn't interfere is like not calling the emergency services if we witness a road accident. In other words, we could be guilty of failing to help someone in danger.
- Most rapes and sexual assaults are committed by strangers... unfortunately this is completely false; in fact, most happen within the victims' close circle.
- Women are just as violent as men; in fact, just as many men are abused, but nobody talks about it... this may be the most widespread myth of all, but it is completely false. As we have seen, violence against women and girls is a global, very old problem that continues to be perpetuated thanks to these myths.
- Women provoke the violence their partners use against them, since they know what to do so that it isn't triggered... this myth is violence in itself: assuming that a woman must change the way she is or submit in order not to suffer violence is a form of violence.
- There is a profile of the abused woman: submissive, dependent, without resources... not true: the problem of gender-based violence is that any of us women can suffer it, whatever our social, economic or cultural status. That is why it is an issue that must be tackled.
- There is a very high number of false gender-based violence reports filed to gain financial benefit or custody... completely false: the percentage of false gender-based violence reports in our country is 0.0015%, far lower than for other offences.
We could go on exploring other myths we hear quite often, because the reality is that people often don't want to look the problem in the eye, which means it is taking much longer than it should to eradicate it. It is important that we understand that:
- Gender-based violence is surrounded by myths based on sexist stereotypes and deep-rooted beliefs.
- Violence against women and girls is probably the most common human rights violation and the one that affects the greatest number of people worldwide.
- Myths about gender-based violence are very harmful, giving a distorted image of abusers and victims, making it invisible and playing down its real seriousness.
- Gender-based violence is a global problem, present in every society in the world regardless of its political, economic or religious system, and it has a single root: the universal discrimination women suffer simply because they are women.
For all these reasons it is essential to raise the visibility of 25N, agreed internationally as the day for the elimination of violence against women. Not only to pay tribute to the victims but, above all, to reflect and to hope that things will change.
(See press release for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women)
And you? What are you standing up for this 25N?
Gema de Pablo González
President Fundación Siglo22 and Psychologist at Carminar