The Effects of Violence on Women

The Effects of Violence on Women Violence affects the lives of millions of women worldwide, in

developing, as well as in developed countries. It cuts across cultural

and religious barriers, restricting women from fully participating in

society. Violence against women has many forms in which it comes in,

from domestic abuse and rape to child marriages and female

circumcision. All are violations of the most fundamental human

rights.

Violence can be physical, sexual, verbal/psychological, stalking, as

well as other forms of control and abuse of power. Physical violence

can include both physical assaults, which refers to the physical

intention to harm or frighten a women, and physical attempts or

threats, which refer to the verbal/physical intention to bring on harm

which the victim believes was to happen to them.

(http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/56/05_ch1.html)

Some examples of physical violence can be; having something thrown at

the victim or being hit with something, being pushed or grabbed,

having arm twisted or hair pulled, being slapped, kicked, bit or hit

with a fist, attempt to strangle or suffocate, burn, or scald on

purpose, being threatened with a gun or a knife and so on. According

to a recent survey done in the United States, “every day four women

die in the US as a result of domestic violence, whether it be a murder

or an assault by a husband or a boyfriend.”

(http://www.now.org/issues/violence/stats.html)

Verbal/psychological violence includes assaults against a person’s

well-being by putting down the victim’s self-worth through

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...against women happens all the time. Someone we know at this

moment could be facing such a problem and we need to know how to

help. Fighting violence against women requires challenging the way

that gender roles and power relations are expressed in societies. In

many countries women have a low status. They are considered as

inferior and many men believe that they are superior to them and even

have a right to own them. Changing people’s attitudes and approach

towards women will take a long time, at least a generation and perhaps

longer. Nevertheless, raising awareness of the issue of violence

against women and educating boys and men to view women as valuable

partners in life, in the development of a society and in the

achievement of peace are just as important as taking legal steps to

protect women’s human rights.