Gender-Based Violence:

Survivor, Victim, Perpetrator,

and Human Rights
 Sex vs Gender
Sex Gender
Refers to physiological Refers to widely shared ideas
attribute that identify a person and expectations (norms)
as male or female: concerning me and women:
• Genital organs
• Type of predominant Includes ideas about
hormones “typically” feminine/female
• Ability to produce sperm or
and masculine/male
ovaries characteristics, abilities, and
• Ability to give birth and
behaviors
breastfeed
 Which is it?
• Women give birth to babies, men don’t.
• Little girls are gentle and boys are tough.
• Women can breastfeed babies, men can bottle feed babies.
• Most building workers in Britain are men.
• Men’s voices break at puberty, women’s do not.
• In one study of 224 different cultures, there were 5 in which
men did all the cooking, and 36 in which women did all the
house building.
• According to U.N. statistics, women do 67% of the world’s
work, yet their earnings amount to only 10% of the world’s
income.
• Among Indian agricultural workers, women are paid 40-60% of
the male wage.
 Defining Gender Based Violence
• Survivor
• Victim
• Perpetrator
• Human Rights
 Definition of GBV IASC guidelines
An umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated
against a person’s will (without consent), and that is based on
socially ascribed (gender) differences between male and females

Acts of GBV violate a number of universal human rights

protected by international and conventions. Many but not all
forms of GBV are illegal and criminal acts in national laws and
policies.
Why do we use the term “Gender-Based
Violence”?

Because the term attempts to define the NATURE of the

violence, and suggests that in order VIOLENCE, it is
necessary to address issues of GENDER that cause and
contribute to the violence
Around the world GBV has a greater impact on
women and girls
Some statistics on gender unbalances:
• Women are the majority of the world’s poor: 70% of people living
in poverty are women
• Women represent more than two-thirds of the world’s illiterate
• Women are almost entirely excluded from political power: they
hold 15.6% of elected parliamentary seats globally

But important to note that men and boys may also be

victim of Gender Based Violence
 Myth or Fact?

1. Drug and alcohol abuse cause violence.

2. Rape is a crime usually committed by strangers.
3. Sexual assault is a crime of passion.
4. In most countries, it is a crime for a man to rape his wife.
5. Threatening to harm a woman is not an act of violence.
 Consequences of Gender-Based Violence
(Health, Social and Economic)

Health consequences include unwanted pregnancies,

complications form unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted
infection of HIV, injuries, mental health, and psychological
affects (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, suicide
and death).
 Consequences of Gender-Based Violence
(Health, Social and Economic)

Social consequences extend to families and communities.

Families can also be stigmatized as a consequences of gender-
based violence.
 Consequences of Gender-Based Violence
(Health, Social and Economic)

Economic consequences include the cost of public health and

social welfare systems and the reduced ability of many
survivors to participate in social and economic life.
 Survivor, Victim, and Perpetrator

Survivor: A term that is sometime used (by choice) as a personal

descript by woman or girls who has been subjected to gender-based
violence, who is still alive.

Victim: A person who has suffered harm (including physical,

mental, emotional harm or economic loss) directly caused by a
criminal – regardless of whether an offender is identified,
apprehended, prosecuted or convicted. Some victims choose to
refer themselves as survivors.
 Survivor, Victim, and Perpetrator

Perpetrator is a person, group, or institution that inflicts,

supports, or condones violence or other abuse against a person
or group of persons.

Characteristics of perpetrators include:

a. Persons with real or perceived power
b. Persons in decision-making positions
c. Person in authority
 Human Rights

Human rights are universal, inalienable, indivisible,

interconnected, and interdependent. Everyone is entitled to all
the rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind of,
such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other
status.
Thank You For
Listening