To some extent, the challenges that both developed and developing nations face in preventing and responding to violence against women vary. In developed countries, there have been major strides towards the fight against women violence. However, some of the challenges that deter the fight against violence against women relate to political good-will towards gun-control and ending male chauvinism (World Health Organization, 2010).The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against women highlights that politics is dominated by men, who are unwilling to deal with gun licensure. Many incidents of murder against women are caused by guns. There have been many debates to deal with the issue of guns, but there is little commitment from the political elite, which is mainly composed of men. Moreover, still there are men in the developed nations who believe that they are superior to women. This category of men does not value women, and they may not mind battering them.
Conversely, the developing countries have an array of issues that affect the fight against women violence. In such nations, economic implications in the fight are higher, and leaders find it difficult to commit to the fight since they are aware that it is a costly endeavor. The World Bank notes that violence against women and girls affect one in three women in their lifetime (Moore & Barner, 2017). It adds that the phenomenon does not only devastate women and girls, but also has significant social and economic costs. For instance, in Latin America, the issue is approximated to cost nations up to 3.7% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than twice what majority of the governments spend on education (Moore & Barner, 2017). Moreover, since violence against women and girls is not addressed due its costs, many detrimental impacts are prone to occur over time. Several researches have revealed that children who grow up in families and societies where domestic violence is the norm are most likely to replicate what they see when they become grown-ups. This implies that the cycle keeps on and on since children perceive it as a norm, and male children would not hesitate to be involved in domestic violence.
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Similarly, social norms in the community related to male authority, female obedience, and tolerance to wife beating are a common aspect in the developing countries. The issues make violence against women a common phenomenon in such societies, making it an uphill for defenders of women’s rights to gain momentum towards ending violence against women (Moore & Barner, 2017). Also, the society has various expectations that it places on men, which influence them towards violent behavior against women. For example, men are believed to be the sole providers of the family. Therefore, whenever a man fails to provide for the family, he becomes socially sanctioned. Consequently, he may try to exert his power over women due to frustration to prove his manhood (Moore & Barner, 2017). In the long run, it becomes difficult for various stakeholders to deal with the problem. Domestic violence becomes part and parcel of the community, and people readily perceive it as a norm.
Additionally, there are many community conflicts in developing countries. Inter-communal fights make women and girls more vulnerable to domestic violence since men become more aggressive to women when they are facing societal challenges. Moreover, such incidents make it difficult for governments and other stakeholders to assist women who have been harassed. Therefore, men who are involved in violence against women are not held culpable (Moore & Barner, 2017). International organizations, such as the United Nations may come in to assist, but lack of political goodwill makes it harder for them to succeed in the fight against violence against women
Question F
Women’s and girls’ rights have some similarities and differences. The rights of girls and women are looked at depending on their age. Since they are young females, girls’ rights are mostly related to education, early marriages, education, female genital mutilation, and early pregnancies. First, as noted in in our week eight reading (the UNICEF brochure), one of the major violation of girls’ rights is genital mutilation. Across the world, millions and millions of girls are forced to undergo this barbaric practice, which is detrimental to their health, more so in their reproductive health. Many girls are circumcised annually, especially in the developing countries. Female genital mutilation is a violation of girls’ rights since it takes place at a tender age when the young girls cannot make their own decisions. In some instances, the practice is carried out with people who are not qualified, increasing the likelihood of the girls contracting diseases. Moreover, the exercise is painful and hurts the young girls (World Bank, 2018). This is certainly a violation of their rights.
Second, girls are discriminated from attending school. In many societies, boys are given an upper hand when it comes to attaining their education goals. According to the UN Women, girls are discriminated in education, which in turn affects their upward mobility in terms of employability. Many parents believe that it is not necessary to educate girls since they would get married after all, and they would not benefit the family (World Bank, 2018). In some cases, some professions are reserved for boys to pursue, such as law, aeronautics, engineering, and the like.
Third, since most of the girls do not pursue meaningful education, they get married early. In some regions, girls are seen as an economic resource. Some parents would rather allow their young girls to get married at a tender age for them to earn some income in the form of dowry. Forced marriages are a common practice in the developing countries. As a result, early marriages deny the girls an opportunity to pursue meaningful education. Most of them end up being house wives. In this regard, their rights to be educated and grow old enough to make a choice of the man to marry are not considered (Peacock & Barker, 2014). This in turn affects their self-esteem since they feel that they do not have the right to make choices in life.
Forth, sexual violence against girls leads to early pregnancies. Often, boys may sexually harass girls and go scot-free. In the process, the girls get early pregnancies, which may affect their health. The responsibilities of raising the new-born may also be left to the girl. Consequently, her education rights would be doomed since she would be labeled an outcast and she cannot juggle between the responsibilities of raising the child and going to school (Peacock & Barker, 2014). In the long-run, boys continue to thrive in all aspects of life, while girls hardly succeed in their education to proceed to pertinent and reputable careers. Certainly, violation of girls’ rights affects them as they grow to adulthood.
On the other hand, women’s rights are related to gender-based violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination. Gender-based violence is a common phenomenon even in the modern Twenty-first Century. As noted by the USAID, millions of women are battered by men, some of them may be related to them or not. Such violence is only as a result of the fact that an individual is a woman. In some cases, they are killed or suffer potentially life-threatening injuries (Peacock & Barker, 2014). USAID says that it is working in more than forty countries to prevent and respond to this vice; reiterating the fact that such a violation of women’s rights is rampant.
Moreover, many women are discriminated from some economic, social, and political endeavors. As we learnt in lesson six, regarding gender and criminal justice professions, it is evident that many women are discriminated from working in the criminal justice. However, this is not the only field where women are discriminated; other professions also record dominance of male employees. In some places, women cannot work as engineers, doctors, or pharmacists. Additionally, in some parts such a Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to interact with their male colleagues without the presence of a male guardian. They are compelled to dress in a specific way, including covering their faces. Furthermore, sexual harassment is commonly geared towards women by men (Peacock & Barker, 2014). Most women complain that they are either raped or forced to have sexual relations with their male counterparts. This often happens without their consent.
The similarity between women’s rights and girls’ rights is that the violations are done to them due to their gender. Whether the victim of a violation of a right is a girl or a woman, the incident takes place simply because she is not a boy or a man (Peacock & Barker, 2014). Therefore, their gender plays a pertinent role in influencing the violations of their rights. Boys are treated well, simply because they are boys, and girls are treated the way they are treated since they are girls. Women are also handled in a given manner since they are women. Moreover, the rights of girls and the rights of women are essentially the same (Peacock & Barker, 2014). When organizations seek to promote the rights of girls, they do so that the rights of women may be upheld in the future.
References
Moore, M.W. & Barner, J.R. (2017). Sexual minorities in conflict zones: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 35 , 33-37.
Peacock, D. & Barker, G. (2014). Working with men and boys to prevent gender-based violence: Principles, lessons learned, and ways forward. Men and Masculinities, 17 (5), 578–599.
World Bank. (2018). Violence against women and girls . Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/socialdevelopment/brief/violence-against-women-and-girls
World Health Organization. (2010). Preventing intimate partner violence against women . Retrieved from http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241564007/en/
