CONCEPTS IN GENDER

Gender refers to socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women/girls and men/boys in a given
culture or location, the positions women and men occupy, the roles they play and the social status they
have are socially constructed, it’s affected by a number of factors and therefore varies in time, place,
context and development. (Gender Awareness Training in LG).
Gender violence is any undesirable act involving men and women, in which one sex (usually the women)
are victims of physical, sexual and psychological harm, and the other usually the men are the perpetrators
of the violent acts. These include intimidation, suffering, coercion and deprivation of liberty within the
family, or within the general community. (Gender Awareness Training in LG).
Gender based violence is any act or threat of harm inflicted on a person because of their gender. It is
rooted in gender inequality, therefore women and children are primarily affected.(Joint consortium on
GBV).
Gender based violence refers to an act of that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual and
psychological harm or suffering including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty,
whether occurring in public or private life. It encompasses sexual violence, domestic violence, sex traffic,
harmful practices (such as female genital mutilation), forced/early marriages, forced prostitution, sexual
harassment and sexual exploitation and so forth.

Gender based violence is exacerbated by war and is increasingly a feature of conflicts. Widespread rape
has been documented in the DRC, Bosnia, southsudan and Rwanda, leaving a legacy of violence long
after peace treaties have been signed. It is a phenomenon of epidemic proportions prevalent in many
families, communities, societies and cultures across the globe. Many women and girls, and to a lesser
degree men and boys, either directly experience or face the consequences of some form of gender based
violence in their lifetime. Gender based violence manifests itself in multiple forms and involves a wide
variety of perpetrators from intimate partners and family members, to strangers to institutional actors such
as police, teachers and soldiers

Domestic violence is explained by the theory of violence against women

According to Hampton et al (1996) the root cause of woman abuse is the pervasive social belief system
that posits male superiority over women as natural and preferred. Furthermore, there exists a broad-based
social belief that women are inferior and that it is their role to be subservient to men. We also
acknowledge that this belief system of “domination over” can be adopted by women as a framework for
relationships to men as well as their relationships with one another. Because these beliefs pervade so
much of our society and its institutions, eradicating violence against females will require changes at the
most fundamental levels of society. These changes must eliminate policies and practices perpetuated by
the male-dominated culture that sexualize women as objects, demean their value, restrict their
participation in decision making, dehumanize them with labels, control their rights over their own bodies,
and marginalize and demean their presence. Changing these underlying patriarchal beliefs and practices
will lead to changes in social norms and behaviours, bringing positive benefits to both women and men,
and all forms of relationships.

Gender-Based Theories of Violence against Women

The violence against women approach focuses on the belief system prevalent in relationships between
women and men, wherein the male believes he is entitled to be superior to women. Thus, he is willing to
control and coerce the female by a variety of means, including violence, in order to maintain that
authority. The gender-based analysis holds men accountable for stopping their own violent behaviours.
Moreover, it recognizes the ways in which women are undervalued and have been conditioned via the
female role belief system to believe in their own inferiority in relationship to men. The gender-based
violence against women theory emphasizes the importance of educating women and men as to the
dangers and limitations of gender role conditioning and the supporting belief systems specific to those
roles. The violence against women perspective connects all forms of male violence against women such
as child sexual abuse, rape, sexual harassment, workplace violence, beatings, and homicide across the age
spectrum of women’s lives. It also acknowledges a connection between male violence against women and
other forms of domination based on race, sexual orientation, class, and other social constructs. This
perspective implies an intimate interrelationship between women’s freedom from violence and their
freedom from political, economic, and social exploitation.

FORMS OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE

Gender based violence takes place throughout the life cycle and can be grouped into five main categories

Physical violence

It is the most common form of violence an Africa. It includes wife battering, assault honor killings,
female infanticide, and child assault by teachers. This form of violence may lead to bodily injuries and
deformity. Some women also die as a result of beating from their husband. This form of violence applies
to both men and women because there are many cases of men being reported to police of being tortured
and assault by their wives.
Emotional and psychological violence

It includes verbal abuse , threats of violence, insults and name calling, humiliation in front of others ,
black mail, threat of abandonments. Many women are physical tortured with words for instance you are
always dirty, you are not meant for me, you are not like other women, no wonder you did not go to
school, I did not know that you were that ugly, You look sick, etc.

Cultural violence

It varies from society to society but it is mainly manifested in the following forms i.e. female genital
mutilation e.g sabinys, young girls are forced into early marriage by their parents for the purpose of
receiving a bride price, payment of bride lead men to regard wives as their property and sex object for
satisfying their sexual needs even without the consent of their wives, polygamous family who does not
work hard is tortured, denial of certain foods for example in Africa, women may not eat eggs, pork ,
chicken or goat meat. These products are preserved for men. Women may not eat before men and men
should be served the best of the dishes cooked. Some culture like that of Baganda of Uganda demand that
women kneel before men.

Note; some married men and even their wives consider it normal for husband to have extra marital affairs.
They feel it normal for man to have “girl friends” hence the African saying “No man eats one dish every
day.

Socio- economic violence

It is form of violence which includes discriminatory access to basic health care, low level of literacy and
educational attainment, inadequate shelter and food, economic deprivation, armed conflict and acts of
terrorism.

Women do not play a role in decision making in the home, leading to institutionalization of their inferior
status. Parent sends their sons to school at the expense of their daughters. Some schools encourage girls to
take courses that traditionally seen as suitable for girls such as home economics, needle work, religious
education and health science while boys are encouraged to study mathematics, physic, chemistry and
biology. Men may attempt to undermine women who have managed to reach position of authority. Men
and women do not enforce laws that support women rights, the police or local councils tend to ignore
women’s complaints often relegating it to the sphere of domestic affairs
Sexual violence

Sexual violence against women in patriarchal society include rape, even in the context of marriage
women cannot demand sex in marriage, but have to submit, they are regarded as little better than
prostitutes. The sexual acts only consider a man’s satisfaction. A woman may not complain that her
husband fails to satisfy her sexually, women may be promised jobs or promotion in return for sex. If they
refused, they are denied job or promotion or are harassed. Sexual violence continues to militate against
women’s equality. If women refuse to have sex with their husbands it may be for valid reasons, like
recent child birth, poor health, recent surgery or because they fear to be infected by HIV/AIDs. However,
women can be forced by their husbands to have sex. This can be seen as emotional and physical torture
and undermines the dignity of the victim. Many streets girls have turned to prostitution to survive. Sexual
slavery is another form of sexual violence for instance according to Ninsima (2001) Africa women are
sold in European countries as sex slaves or prostitutes. Women are trafficked from Nigeria, Ghana,
Senegal, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast. Nasubuga, (2001) reports that hundreds of Ugandan girls are
trafficked as sex workers, practices also common in Sudan, democratic republic of Congo etc., these girls
are promised jobs as domestic workers, waitress or beauticians but they end up as sex workers.

SITES/AVENUES OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE(institutions forms of gender based violence)

Family

It is one of the primary sites of gender violence; it prepares its members for social life, forms of gender
stereotypes and perceptions of division of labour between sexes. It is also area where physical abuses
(spousal battering, sexual assault, sexual abuse and psychological abuses occur). Domestic violence can
also take such forms as confinement, forced marriage of victims arranged by her family without her
consent, threat, insult and neglect, overt control of a woman’s sexuality through either forced pregnancy
or forced abortion. Because violence within the family and household take place in the home, it is often
seen as private issue and information about it is lacking.

Community
As a group sharing common social, culture, religion, or ethnic belonging, it perpetuates existing family
structure and power inequalities in family and society. It justifies the behaviours of male abusers aimed at
establishing control over women in the family and supports harmful traditional practices such as battering
and corporal punishment

Workplace can also be site of violence.

Either in governmental service or in a business company, women vulnerable to sexual aggression,

harassment, intimidation and commercialized violence (trafficking for sexual exploitation).

State

It legitimizes power inequalities in the family and society and perpetuates gender based violence through
enactment of discriminatory application of the law. It is responsible for tolerance of gender violence on an
unofficial level i.e. in the family and in the community

Schools

Girls are discouraged from offer certain subjects that are seen to belong to their male counterparts, those
that offer them are insulted

Factors that escalate gender based violence in Africa today

Socialization processes

It is one of the key factors that escalate gender based violence. Boys and girls who watch their father
abuse their mothers learn and are at risk of internalizing and perpetuating like behavior.

Arrogance

When a man or woman has more money than the partner or have better job, that spouse may behave
arrogantly towards the other, thus leading to domestic violence, some partners want to control each
others’ incomes or monitor movement which may erupt into conflict.

Irresponsibility of one of the couple

Some people resort to gender violence to solve family problem s such as alcohol abuse, jealousy, lack of
money, denial of sex, insults or failure of the wife or husband to carry his or her duties.
The unequal position between men and women

The husband considers himself the head of the family because he paid dowry, married the woman and
built her a house, so the wife must be submissive, dependent on the man for his land, money and other
property besides what he has given her. The woman is not allowed to make physical contribution towards
the well being of the family. The children do not belong to her. If a woman behaves contrary to these
societal expectations, she may be beaten up or divorced or live in miserable marriage.

Stress

Men and women transfer tension caused by work, lack of money, retrenchment, demotion, poverty and
others reasons to their spouses. In the past there was less need for direct communication and sharing of
ideas and feelings between a husband and wife because of restrict segregation of men and women.
Because of polygamous marriage, husbands and wives often lived a part. Owing to cultural traditions,
men seldom associated with men. Many customs endorsed the maintenance of distance and respect
between and a wife

Culture and aggression

In some African cultures wife –beating and abuse are accepted as away of settling problems. Some people
believe that, if a man beats his wife, it is indication that he loves her. Wife beating is considered
acceptable because men have paid the bride price, are bread winners and heads of families.

Nagging wives or husbands

Sometimes wife-beating is followed by gift like a gomesi, money or an outing, to silence and appease the
woman, because women are spoilt like children after the appeasement, they forget about the beating.
Some are a proud of being beaten because this provides them with an opportunity to have a good meal or
to acquire money or new dress. Women do not report their husband to the police because they fear being
divorced rebuked by society or, if the man is jailed, managing without his support would not be easy.

Social attitude and norms towards non-enforcement of the law

Women who are victims of domestic violence do not seek legal redress because abuse is taken as a
normal, culturally and socially acceptable way of disciplining women. A wife who reports her husband to
local authorities for beating her may face social stigmatization for exposing matters relating to her family
to the public.
HOW GENDER BASED VIOLENCE HINDERS DEVELOPMENT.

Gender based violence has very close links to poverty and overall development, it downturns in the
economy, such as the current economic recession, and increasing poverty can actually trigger an increase
in violence. Equally important to note is that the consequences of gender based violence its impact on
productivity, health and well-being, and intergenerational transmission can result in increased poverty and
undermine development.

Gender based violence obstructs participation in development, undermining the goals of development and
hindering progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Violence impacts on the economic stability of the family through lost work which in turn affects food
security and results in increased hunger and child malnutrition thus hindering the achievement of MDG
one .

Gender based violence also has serious long term consequences such as the reduced physical and mental
health of women, increased child malnutrition, restricted education of girls and boys, weakened social
capital of communities and overall reduction in well-being of women, families and communities. Equally,
gender based violence results in lowered participation of women as agents of development which has
disastrous implications for realizing safer communities and sustainable livelihoods.

GBV costs countries a lot of money for example in Colombia the national government spent
approximately 184 billion pesos to prevent, detect and offer services to survivors of intimate partner
violence-an amount equal to approximately 0.6% of the total national budget. In Uganda the annual cost
of responding to intimate partner violence was $ 2.5 million, including costs of health sector and local
councils. It is estimated that the national cost of scaling up post rape services in South Africa, including
the provision of post-exposure HIV prophylaxis, will cost approximately $15.5million. In the UK, Walby
estimated that domestic violence costs the state around 3.1 British pound and employers around 1.3
billion

Gender based violence results in immediate costs for households and communities. At the household
level, violence often results in out of pocket expenditure to access health services, the police, courts or
informal resolution bodies. In Uganda, the average out of pocket expenditure for services related to an
incident of intimate partner violence was $5 – three quarters of the average weekly household income.
Incidents of violence also drain household incomes as women and men often miss paid work and
household work is neglected. This drain on the resources of poor households has a direct impact on
hunger. The inability to work and potential desertion by the male partner can often mean that household
members literally starve daily food purchases are not made, and children are left in the care of extended
family or neighbours.

Gender based violence has negative mental health consequences on women, they often exhibiting post
traumatic stress disorder, further undermining their ability to work thus hindering their participation in
developmental activities, lower productivity, absenteeism and often lower earnings by survivors of
violence.

The long term consequences of gender based violence, if not addressed specifically in national plans or
poverty reduction strategies, can undermine the achievement of the MDGs, which the international
community has agreed are essential to accelerate the realization of sustainable and just development.
Undoubtedly, addressing gender based violence, a fundamental manifestation of gender inequalities, is
central to realizing MDG3 to promote gender equality and empower women. Equally, gender based
violence has direct implications for progress on all the other MDGs

Progress in education, particularly girls’ enrolment and retention in schools, is clearly constricted by the
high prevalence of gender based violence within schools and the sense of insecurity that girls face on the
way to and from school. Gender based violence also limits the participation of girls in specific
educational/ vocational programmes if these ignore violence as a daily reality in many communities. For
example, an ambitious intervention funded by USAID in Malawi to give girls non-traditional skills as car
mechanics, bricklayers and welders fell apart because of sexual harassment faced by girls, hindering
achievement of MDG two; Achieve universal access to education.
Gender based violence has direct impacts on child mortality and maternal health. Intimate partner
violence, particularly in pregnancy, results in increased infant and foetal death, low birth weight and
under-five mortality.12,13,14 The impact of gender based violence on maternal mortality is significant,
leading to maternal deaths. Additionally, gender based violence leads to increased morbidity as abuse is
linked to a range of gynecological problems, chronic pain and psychological distress.
Gender based violence is widely acknowledged as a key risk factor for HIV and AIDS. Violence
undermines the ability of women and girls to negotiate safe sex practices or to leave partners who engage
in high risk behaviour.
Box 3: Macro Costs of Responding to Gender Based Violence7
Responses to Gender Based Violence
 At an international level, United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 (and more
recently, Resolutions 1888 and 1889) are significant advancements towards dismantling the
culture of tolerance and impunity associated with perpetrators of gender based violence. The
Security Council has called for international leadership to take special measures to protect women
and girls from gender based violence in situations of armed conflict; for an end to impunity,
 Increased prosecution of those who commit and condone acts of gender based violence as well as
for the increased participation of women in conflict resolution and peace building.
 At the national level, an increasing number of governments have enacted legislation criminalizing
gender based violence and many countries have incorporated considerations of gender based
violence into their national development plans. For instance UNFPA is supporting GBV activities
at community level through community dialogue, Bought double cabin pickups for district to
facilitate GBV work.
 Local interventions are also key for delivering real change. Efforts across communities include
the provision of services for survivors of violence to rebuild their lives, legal reform to address
the culture of impunity, training for police, the judiciary and medical staff to strengthen
implementation of laws and policies, and awareness rising to shift gender norms in communities
and institutions.

The Domestic Relations Bill

According to Nalugo (2004), the Domestic Relations Bill seeks to consolidate all laws relating to
marriage, separation and divorce, and provides for types of recognized marriages, marital rights and
duties, grounds for the broken marriage and the rights of parties on the dissolution of marriages.

The main purpose of the Bill is to harmonize all laws related to marriage; it proposes ownership of
property between spouses and specifies that men who wish to practice polygamy must obtain permission
from their first wives to do so.
In African tradition, women used to suggest to their husbands marrying a second wife if the first wife was
ill, overworked or elderly.
These days the practice is unacceptable because of sexually translated diseases and the social and
economic costs involved.
Domestic relation bill argues that polygamy violates women’s right of equality with men in marriage,
infringes on women’s right and exercise of equal responsibilities as parents and impairs the domestic
relations bill also reason that polygamy accelerates domestic violence and increases the risk of
contracting HIV/AIDS and others STDS, hence violating the right to health. Some people in society feel
that they cannot do way with polygamy. Their are women who do not resent polygamous marriages.
Some men argue that there are more women than men, and polygamous marriages. Some men argue that
there are more women than men, and argues that polygamy offers a solution.
The domestic bill relation bill recognizes the non – monetary contribution of spouses to marital property.
However women and men should be educated on the need to have all their property registered by the
relatives upon the death of either spouse. Dialogue and communication should be encouraged in
marriages so that spouses can declare their property without fear of each other, or even make wills.
The bill decrees that the legal age for marriage be set at 18, that women have an equal right to determine
what happens to property acquired jointly by the couple, that grounds for divorce to be equal and that
either partner can refuse to have sex on reasonable grounds, especially because of fear of disease. It calls
for radical overhaul of domestic law, which would enable women to sue their husbands for the rape. The
domestic relation bill proposed a two million shillings fine for men who have sex without the consent of
their spouse (marital rape), according to the Bill part III. A person shall not have the capacity to marry
unless he has attained eighteen years of age. A marriage shall not be celebrated solemnized or contracted
in Uganda without the consent of either party to the intended marriage. A man shall not marry a widow
through the custom or practice of widow inheritance. Widow inheritance is prohibited.
The bill is opposed to widow inheritance, a practice that makes women vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection
and degrades them to the status of material property that can be handed from one person to other
(Byamukaka - Asiimwe, and Kiyimba, 1999)
Criticism of the domestic relation bill
The bill does not address the issue of men being violated by women, for instance some men argued that,
there are women who demand too much sex from their husbands and are constantly abused by their
wives.
Bill fails to address many issues of concern to rural women, who have not been consulted for inputs.
The bill does not address gender violence, especially domestic violence, but looks only at marital rape.
The bill does not address other issues like the spacing of children, mobility, family names and rights of
spouses to employment outside the home.
Women believe that men are responsible for the domestic violence in the home, there are also women
who batter their spouses, yet the domestic relation bills does not address this issue.