Lecture 5

Gender and Governance

Gender Based violence

Amna Baig
Defining Governance
“Decision making by a range of stakeholders
including those in the position of power. These
decisions have a huge impact on the lives of
ordinary citizens as laws are enacted and
resources are allocated on its basis”

Not only Governments but also International

Organizations and Civil Society Organizations
Defining Governance
 Governance – Two edged Sword, Problem as
well as Solution to gender problem.
 Effective governance – accountable, transparent,
inclusive and responsive.
 All rights of citizens must be realized and
protected.
 Fewer women in decision making than men –
inflexible working arrangements for women as
they have to balance caring responsibilities with
work.
Gender and Governance
 Women are often excluded from decision
making – women’s equal participation in
government is necessary as governance
institutes shape social perception, role men
and women play in a society, their access to
resources – Gender Mainstreaming
 Inclusive governance process – meeting the
needs of both genders thus more effective
Suffragist Movement
 Word suffragette – first used in British
newspaper 1906
 ‘Women campaigning for the right to Vote
and run for office’ – most notably in US and
UK
 International Women Sufferage Alliance was
formed in 1904 by Millicent Fawcett, UK and
Carrie Chapman Catt, USA
Suffragist Movement
 New Zealand was the first country to grant
women the right to vote in 1894
 Eligibility of women act 1918, UK – allowed
women to get elected to parliament. Ten years
later, representation of peoples act granted
women the right to vote.
 India granted suffrage in 1949 --- Saudi did in
2015
Suffragist Movement
 Seneca Falls Convention – 1848 – Elizabeth Caddy and
Lucretia Mott
 National Women Suffrage Association – Susan B
Anthony – Universal Suffrage
 Lucy Stone – Less Radical – American Women Suffrage
Association
 National American Women Suffrage Association – 1890
– Strong activism
 National Women's part – 1916 – Radical
 Women Right to Vote – 1920 – Nineteen Amendment
and WW-1
Gender Issues in Women as Voters
 Women were reluctant to exercise their right to
vote due to established gender roles.
 1970s – second wave of feminism and voting
based on political ideology and social contexts.
 Women Voted for conservative candidates –
Nixon and Eisenhower.
 Security ‘moms’ after 9/11
 Pakistan - security risk and social norms (IDs)
 May 2013 election – Gender Election Monitoring
Gender issues in Women
Candidates
 Low throughout the world – women’s proper
sphere is private sphere
 Many obstacles in Women participation –
Gender inequality at home, patriarchal
Culture, Lack of preparation and Knowledge
 Once elected, given lesser valued cabinets
‘soft industries’
 Challenges in private life
 Pakistan – Reserved seats for women in NA
Gender issues in Women as
Representatives
 Inequality between men and women in position of
power and decision making was identified in Beijing
Platform
 Minimum Benchmark - 30% to ensure critical mass
on Women Parliamentarians – 22%
 As women are primary caretakers – Double dividend
– advocating for children and family
 Pakistan – 60 seats for Women – 21% in NA
 Need to overcome structural and social barriers
 Main issue of effectiveness of representation
Impact of Political Quota In Pak
 Quota – Mechanism by which gov seeks to
increase women participation – Reservations
 Constitutional History – 5-10% in start now
17%, 60 out of 342.
 Constitutional Act 51 – Indirect Proportional
Representation:
‘Political Parties submit their lists of women candidates for
reserved seats to Election Commission prior to election. After
Election results, reserved seats are allocated to political parties in
proportion to the number of general seats obtained by these
parties.’
Impact of Political Quota in Pak
 Quota alone cannot transform quality of
women’s representation – Direct
Representation is needed – only 8 in 2013
 Women’s parliamentary caucus BISP and
Legislation, Highlighted wide range of
women issues on floor of both houses
 Qualitative indicators of women’s meaningful
participation remained low
Defining Gender Based Violence
 Gender-based violence is a general term used
to capture violence that occurs as a result of
normative role expectations associated with
each gender, along with the unequal power
relationship between the two genders within
the context of a specific society.
 Violence against men also exists –
transgressing predominant concepts of
masculinity.
Defining Gender based violence
 Due to unequal distribution of power between
men and women – majority of GBV is
directed towards women.
 Violence against women – any act of gender
based violence that results in or is likely to
result in physical sexual or psychological
harm to women including threats, coercion
and arbitrary deprivation of liberty, occurring
in public and private life.
Defining GBV
 UN DEVAW – 1993 closed an important gap
under international human rights law which
originally excluded private sphere from the
agenda.
 Forced sterilization, forced abortion, rape,
honor killings etc
Theories of Violence against
Women
 These theories try to underscore the causes
behind VAW so that an effective mechanism
can be developed to cope with the growing
problem.
 Psychopathological Theory : Men who abuse
are mentally ill and could be cured through
treatment – Limit their violence to the spouse
unlike other psychological patients.
Theories of Violence against
Women
 Learned Behavior Theory: Violence is learned
in the social setup – many men who witnessed
VAW in their childhood didn’t practice it later.
 Loss of Control Theory: Violence as a result
of loss of control due to alcohol or building
up of frustration – targeted at certain people,
with control over their abusive behavior
Theories of Violence against
Women
 Learned Helplessness Theory: Women stay in
abusive relationship because constant abuse
strips them of their will to leave – Many social,
cultural and economic reasons for staying, try
to negotiate the relationship based on non
violence.
 Family Relationship/Conflict Model: Both men
and women contribute to the violence as
women provoke men – but men hit when
women sleep
Theories of Violence against
Women
 The Power and Control Wheel Theory:
Different tactics an abuser uses to maintain
power and control over his partner to ensure
submissiveness – attitudes and beliefs rather
than victims behavior determine whether or
not perpetrators are domestically violent
 Patriarchal theory – Culture of violence
theory – Feminist theory – Social Learning
theory – Traumatic Bonding theory
Structural & Direct Forms of
Violence
 Direct Violence: Directly harming another
person e.g torture, rape, beatings etc
 Structural Violence: Avoidable impairment of
fundamental human needs of life which
makes it impossible or difficult for people to
meet their needs or achieve full potential.
Built into structures of the society – inequality
or power distribution
Strategies to Eliminate Violence
 Prevention and Response programs
 Education and Awareness
 Health and Freedom