Nosheen Murtaza

Psy-16017
 Structural Violence
 Johan Galtung was the first to propose the structural
violence theory ( Barash & Webel, 2009).
 It refers to a form of violence wherein some social
structure or social institution may harm people by
preventing them from meeting their basic needs. some
examples of structural violence
 Adultism, ageism,
 Classism, elitism,
 Nationalism, specialism,
 Racism, and sexism.
Structural Violence against Women
and Girls
“When one
husband beats his
wife, there is a
clear case of
personal violence,
Case of Structural Violence's
 Butwhen one million husbands keep one million
wives in ignorance, there is structural violence.”
(Johan Galtung, Violence, Peace and Peace
Research).
 In Pakistan Context
 This pattern exposes two
obvious issues;
1. Firstly, that violence against
women and girls is accepted
and acceptable. This is  Women
because in the real world,
beyond the Internet, no real
change is, or has, taken
place to tackle the issue.
 Girl
 Attempt at change
 Changes,such as  ifenough attention is given to
removal of a police a case or a tweet by a senior
officer, government official does not
amount to meaningful and
lasting change.
 2016 Amendments to the rape law
 The death penalty in
child abuse cases will
never deter child abuse,
as the sentence does not
deal with underlying
issues around the abuse.
 In any case, the 2016
Amendments to the rape
law already carry the
death penalty in cases of
rape against a child.
 Secondly, there is a consistent
and long running pattern of
violence in our society.
 Whether such violence is in
the name of so called ‘honors’
 Due to the rejection of a
man’s unwanted advances or
because of an animal like “Honour” related violence
instinct that makes men
justify rape on a 10-year-old
child, all of these examples
reveal that the problem of
violence and its justification
is systemic.
Zainab Ansari case
Unfortunately
o Not addressing structural violence
and its underlying causes has led to
violence such as
 Son preference,
 Child marriage,
 Dowry-related violence,
 Domestic violence,
 Physical, emotional, and sexual
violence,
 Child labor, children with disabilities
Impact of Structural Violence on
Psycho-Social and Mental Health
 The literature also indicates that
direct violence against children and
adolescents is linked with a variety
of psycho-social challenges.
 For instance, domestic violence is
associated with a range of adverse
physical, mental and sexual and
reproductive problems for its
victims (Abramsky et al., 2011;
WHO, 2013).
found that child weavers in Afghanistan, especially girls, reported symptoms in line with mental health issues, such as difficulty sleeping, problems concentrating, restlessness, being sad, lonely, angry, fearful or anxious, lacking an appetite a nd being forgetful.

Hall et al. (2016)

with over 2,000 10–19-year-old adolescents in India, Pillai et al. (2008) found gender discrimination as measured by occurrence of either being treated differently (e.g. compared with a
sibling of the opposite gender) or being restricted from certain activities by parents because of one’s gender was associated with anxiety, depression, behavioral problems and attention-
deficit hyperactivity disorder – with urban adolescents and girls more likely to report this link.

In a study
 Ecological model
 The structural level, that is, the
outermost level – can be understood
as the contexts that make violence
more likely to occur (Maternowska
et al., forthcoming). These can
include casteism, classism, sexism,
ageism, etc. Inherent in these
contexts are themes of inequality,
discrimination and exploitation.
 Next, the macro level includes
societal factors such as media
influences, technological
consequences, policy/laws, inflation
and other socio-cultural factors.
 This is followed by the community
level, which consists of service
providers, religious/community
leaders and infrastructure access,
availability and quality.
 Following this is the household level,
including parents, siblings, marital
family members and romantic
partners/spouses), who shape an
individual’s behavior’s, attitudes and
trajectories.
 Finally, the individual level
conceptualizes factors such as biology
(e.g. sex of the child) and childhood
legacies for children and adolescents
that shape their well-being.
Structural violence and the lives of Pakistani
Christians: a collaborative analysis
 According to Lubna Nazir, article uses the lens of structural
violence to examine the lives of Pakistani Christians.
 Thirty-five Christians living in the twin cities of Islamabad
and Rawalpindi participated in a study
 The results of the study, that is the accounts of structural
violence generated by the participants, need to be made
available to policy-makers, educators and other justice
oriented members of the dominant group so they can work
towards attaining equity for Christians.
 These findings have important implications for practice and
future research.
Misconception between Islamic teaching and
old traditional, cultural and societal norms
 In Pakistan, though some cultures and social
systems consider women as their sign of
honour and respect at- the same time· they
restrict women from any type of external
activities. Purdah system (veil for women)
and Izzat (protection of honor) of women by
their partners, parents, brothers and in-laws
implies more restrictions for the females.
 The rationale behind is to provide security
to the women, which has been advised by
Islam. However, Islam never restricted
women's education or empowerment or their
freedom.
 For instance the prevailing system encourages the isolation
of women and thus, women are more confined to their
homes and they are not allowed to go out-side, meet any
relatives, or even seek any medical help. Likewise, it is
reported in a study that reproductive health problems like
family planning issues, having concerns for avoiding
pregnancies and risk of transmissions of sexually transmitted
diseases also put women at risk for domestic violence.
 In the Holy Quran Allah says, "Men are the protectors and
maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one
more (strength) than the other, and because they support
them from their means" (4:34) and in another place Allah
ordered, "And live with them with kindness and
equity"(4:19).
 Conclusion
 Structural violence is a central concept in the peace
theory. This concept has been a very critical issue to be
analyzed by all scholars of peace theories.
 The comparative analysis has shown that the progress on
understanding structural violence theoretically has been
very slow whereas the level of violence has shown
upward trend.
 There has been very less efforts to highlight the
relationship between oppressive structures, the people
victimized or marginalized groups to balance global
power relationship.
References for detail information
 Structural violence against women and girls. Retrieved
from; https://tribune.com.pk/story/1995995/structural-
violence-women-girls
 A Sociological Study on Violence against Women in
Pakistan; Challenges and Solutions. This article is
available from: globalmediajournal.com
 Structural Violence and Pakistan’s Health Situation.
Retrieved from;
https://jimdc.org.pk/index.php/JIMDC/article/view/300
 Structural violence against children in south Asia: Unicef
report. Retrieved from;
https://www.unicef.org/rosa/sites/unicef.org.rosa/files/201
8-07/SVACS%20report%28web%29.pdf