Gender Based Violence (GBV)

Two sides of the same coin; men and women. Are both genders treated equally with the same
approbation and same sort of hassles in the world? As UNICEF says, Gender-based violence is a
phenomenon deeply rooted in gender inequality which is the most pervasive yet least visible
human rights violation in the world. GBV is violence targeted at individuals, groups based on
their gender, physically, sexually, and mentally. Both women and men experience gender-based
violence but most of the victims are women and girls.

EIGE says that GBV and violence against women are terms that are often used interchangeably
because it has been widely acknowledged that the majority of GBV is inflicted on women, by
men. GBV is manifested by many actions including forced marriage, emotional abuse, physical
assault, denial of resources, opportunities, sexual assault, and rape.

According to the WHO, globally about 1 in 3 (30%) of women worldwide have been subjected
to either physical and sexual violence and globally as many as 38% of all murders of women are
committed by intimate partners. WHO's 2013 study found that women who had been physically
or sexually abused were 1.5 times more likely to have gynecological problems and sexually
transmitted infection, including HIV.

South Africa has one of the world’s highest rates of gender-based violence where fifty-five
thousand rapes of females per year are estimated to represent only one ninth of the actual
number. As far, most of the surveys and reports shows that increased levels of violence directed
at women and girls.

Even though, we see females as victims and men as perpetrators of GBV, can’t say that there’s
no GBV on men. Nevertheless, statistics strongly support the fact that women make up the
majority victims of gender-based violence and discrimination, that never acceptable one.