Abstract
(Executive Summary)
Most men do not use violence against
women, and most believe such violence to be unacceptable. A silent majority of
men disapproves of violence, but does little to prevent it. Of most concern,
significant numbers of men excuse or justify violence against women. The
silence, and encouragement, of male bystanders allows men’s violence against
women to continue.
Violence against women and girls is a grave
violation of human rights. Its impact ranges from immediate to long-term
multiple physical, sexual and mental consequences for women and girls,
including death. It negatively affects women’s general well-being and prevents
women from fully participating in society. Violence not only has negative
consequences for women but also their families, the community and the country
at large. When a young woman is thrown against a wall by her boyfriend or
husband, when a woman is forced into sex, what is happening is something
unfair, something unjust, something that nobody should have to live with?
Violence against women runs counter to the basic freedoms, the basic rights
that every person should have. Violence against women is a symptom of gender
inequalities. But violence against women also makes these inequalities worse.
It limits women’s autonomy, their freedom and everyday safety, and their access
to the resources required for social and economic well-being.
Decades of mobilizing by civil society
and women’s movements have put ending gender-based violence high on
international agendas. An unprecedented number of countries have laws against
domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of violence. Challenges
remain however in implementing these laws, limiting women and girls’ access to
safety and justice. Not enough is done to prevent violence, and when it does
occur, it often goes unpunished.
We must raise the bar for what it
means to be a ‘decent bloke’, a ‘nice guy’. To stop violence against women, well-meaning
men must do more than merely avoid perpetrating the grossest forms of physical
or sexual violence themselves. Men must strive for equitable and respectful
relationships. They must challenge the violence of other men. And they must
work to undermine the social and cultural supports for violence against women
evident in communities throughout the world – the sexist and
violence-supportive norms, the callous behaviors, and the gender inequalities
which feed violence against women. To the extent that men stay silent in the
face of other men’s violence against women, they are not perpetrators but
perpetuators, allowing this violence to continue. Violence against women is a
widespread social problem, and a blunt expression of injustice and inequality.
Men’s violence against women has identifiable causes, and it can be prevented.
Violence
against women and young girls is a widespread social problem.
The term “violence against women” is a
useful, catchall term for a range of forms of violence which women experience,
including physical and sexual assaults and other behaviors which result in
physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women. The term
includes domestic or family violence, rape and sexual assault, sexual
harassment, and other forms of violence experienced by women.
The term “men’s violence against
women” refers to a subset of this violence, that perpetrated by men. Most
‘violence against women’ is violence by men, although women also experience
violence from other women and from children. For example, among all women who
experienced physical assaults in the last 12 months, 81 percent were assaulted
by males, 8 percent by both males and females, and 27 percent by other females.
This report focuses on men’s violence against women, while recognize that
violence against women also is committed by women and children.
Involving
Men
There are growing efforts to involve
boys and men in the prevention of violence against women. The report outlines
the rationale for this, It begins with three facts: (1) while most men do not
use violence against women, when such violence occurs, it is perpetrated
largely by men; (2) ideas and behaviors linked to masculinity or manhood are
highly influential in some men’s use of violence against women; and (3) men
have a positive and vital role to play in helping to stop violence against
women.
Violence against women is a men’s
issue. This violence harms the women and girls men love, gives all men a bad
name, is perpetrated by men we know, and will only stop when the majority of
men step up to help create a culture in which it is unthinkable.
Where then do men stand in relation to
violence against women? The report then maps the state of play among men. It
focuses on four key dimensions of men’s relations to violence against women:
the use of violence, attitudes towards violence, immediate responses when
violence occurs, and efforts to prevent violence. Yes, it can often seem
agonizingly slow and painful, and there is certainly plenty of overt and covert
resistance; however, there is a tremendous wave of liberation moving through
our world.
The root cause of woman abuse is the
social, economic, and political inequality of women worldwide. For example,
women earn less money than men, their work at home is undervalued, and few
politicians are women. If society now takes violence against women seriously,
it is because women are working hard for this.
I quite remember how some of my
friends use to tell me how they were asked to promise their fathers to have a
sense of power, pride, confidence, mastery, control, and feel invulnerable.
I now ask myself this question, thus
prestige and privilege, power and control, really makes you a man?
Many victims interviewed always has
this to say, that they are been carefully scrutinized by their peers and that
they do not want to betray any deviance from the prescribed rules for being a
man.
They say they do not want to be
standing alone feeling shame about their difference. So they prefer denying
themselves in order to feel safe and accepted within a dominant culture that
demanded them: "Be a man!"
What would it mean now if we were to
create a culture in which men join together to reclaim these parts of ourselves
that we once hid and denied? If we discovered that, as we peek out from behind
our fear, we find the shy and smiling face of another, reflecting our own
remembered wholeness.
What would it mean if together we
found the courage to stand and face the dominant culture, saying with
determination and pride, we do not want to "be a man"? We refuse the
rigid box of gender conformity.
What if we created a community where
we could feel safe and accepted in the infinite variety of our gender
non-conformities? It would mean the end of the system of patriarchy, wherein
the promise of power is leveraged by the threat of violence. Homophobia,
violence against women, and war-the ultimate weapons of gender conformity-would
disappear, no longer needed to prove and protect our "manhood”.
Men would show up in the full rainbow
of our expressions. We would inhabit our homes and families, remembering the
delights of nurturing relationships. And we would seek out the close, loving
companionship of other men and other women. It would mean hope for the world in
places where we have long felt only hopelessness.
To what extent are men actively taking
part, or being engaged, in efforts to reduce and prevent violence against
women? The report documents that:
·
Men find it hard to speak about violence
against women. On the other hand, at least from US data, most men believe that
they can help to end this violence.
·
A growing number of men are joining the effort
to end violence against women worldwide. We must Campaign represents the most
substantial and significant manifestation of men’s involvement in preventing
violence against women.
·
Men are increasingly the targets of education
and other forms of intervention. A range of initiatives engaging men, at
various levels of the ‘spectrum of prevention’, are under way around the world.
·
Men’s involvement in violence prevention is on
the public agenda, receiving endorsement in both state and Federal plans of
action regarding violence against women.
·
Violence prevention efforts among men do work
– if they’re done well. There is a growing evidence base, suggesting that
well-designed interventions can shift violence-related attitudes and behaviors.
The report then examines the
inspirations for, and barriers to, men’s involvements in violence prevention.
First, what prompts men to become involved in this work? Men are ‘sensitized’
to the issue of violence against women through hearing women’s disclosures of
violence, their love for and loyalties to particular women, their political and
ethical commitments to justice and equality, and related experiences. They
receive or find opportunities for involvement in violence prevention work, and
give meanings to this involvement that foster greater awareness and commitment.
Second, what prevents individual men from taking steps to reduce or prevent
men’s violence against women? One obvious barrier is some men’s support for
sexist and violence-supportive attitudes and norms, but another, more subtle,
barrier is men’s overestimation of other men’s comfort with violence. Men may
fear others’ reactions to attempts at intervention; have negative views of
violence prevention itself, lack knowledge of or skills in intervention, or
lack opportunities or invitations to play a role.
Key
Facts:
·
According to a 2013 global review of available
data, 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or
sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. However, some
national violence studies show that up to 70 percent of women have experienced
physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime from an intimate partner.
·
In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and
the United States, intimate partner violence accounts for between 40 and 70
percent of female murder victims.
·
More than 64 million girls worldwide are child
brides, with 46 percent of women aged 20–24 in South Asia and 41 percent in
West and Central Africa reporting that they married before the age of 18. Child
marriage resulting in early and unwanted pregnancies poses life-threatening
risks for adolescent girls; worldwide, pregnancy-related complications are the
leading cause of death for 15-to-19-year-old girls.
·
Approximately 140 million girls and women in
the world have suffered female genital mutilation/cutting.
·
Trafficking ensnares millions of women and
girls in modern-day slavery. Women and girls represent 55 percent of the
estimated 20.9 million victims of forced labor worldwide, and 98 percent of the
estimated 4.5 million forced into sexual exploitation.
·
Rape has been a rampant tactic in modern wars.
Conservative estimates suggest that 20,000 to 50,000 women were raped during
the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while approximately 250,000 to
500,000 women and girls were targeted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
·
Between 40 and 50 percent of women in European
Union countries experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other
forms of sexual harassment at work.
·
In the United States, 83 percent of girls aged
12 to 16 have experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools
·
Violence against women - particularly intimate
partner violence and sexual violence against women - are major public health
problems and violations of women's human rights.
·
Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women
are committed by an intimate partner.
·
Violence can result in physical, mental, sexual,
reproductive health and other health problems, and may increase vulnerability
to HIV.
·
Risk factors for being a perpetrator include
low education, exposure to child maltreatment or witnessing violence in the
family, harmful use of alcohol, attitudes accepting of violence and gender
inequality.
·
Risk factors for being a victim of intimate
partner and sexual violence include low education, witnessing violence between
parents, exposure to abuse during childhood and attitudes accepting violence
and gender inequality.
·
In high-income settings, school-based programs
to prevent relationship violence among young people (or dating violence) are
supported by some evidence of effectiveness.
·
In low-income settings, other primary
prevention strategies, such as microfinance combined with gender equality
training and community-based initiatives that address gender inequality and
communication and relationship skills, hold promise.
·
Situations of conflict, post conflict and
displacement may exacerbate existing violence and present new forms of violence
against women.
U.S. STATISTICS
Fact #1: Over 22 million women in the United States have been raped in
their lifetime.(National Intimate
Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010)
Fact #2: 18.3% of women in the United States have survived a completed or
attempted rape. (National Intimate Partner and
Sexual Violence Survey 2010)
Fact #3: Of the 18.3% of women who have survived rape or attempted rape, 12.3%
were younger than age 12 when they were first raped, and 29.9% were between the
ages of 11 and 17. (National
Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010)
Fact #4: Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually
assaulted.(Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) calculation based on
2000 National Crime Victimization Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S.
Department of Justice)
Fact #5: One out of every five American women has been the victims of an
attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. (The
National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey 2010)Fact #6:
Approximately 1,270,000 women are raped each year. Another 6,646,000 are
victims of other sexual crime, including sexual coercion, unwanted sexual
contact, or unwanted sexual experiences. (Department of Justice 2010).
Fact #7: 15% of sexual assault and rape victims are under age 12; 29% are age
12-17; 44% are under age 18; 80% are under age 30; ages 12-34 are the highest
risk years. (Department
of Justice 2010)
Fact #8: Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to
be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault. (Department
of Justice 2010)
Fact #9: Most female victims are raped before the age of 25, and almost half of
female victims are under the age of 18. (National Intimate Partner and Sexual
Violence Survey 2010). Fact #10: Females ages 12 to 24 are at the greatest risk
for experiencing a rape or sexual assault. (Department of Justice 2001).
Fact #11: In 2006, 78,000 children were sexually abused. (Child Maltreatment
2006.) Because majority of cases are not reported, it is estimated that the
real number could be anywhere from 260,000-650,000 a year. (Finklehor 2008).
Fact #12: Almost two-thirds of all rapes are committed by someone who is known
to the victim. 73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger (— 48%
of perpetrators were a friend or acquaintance of the victim, 17% were an
intimate and 8% were another relative.) (National Crime Victimization Survey
2010)
Fact #13: 63.84% of women who reported being raped, physically assaulted, and/or
stalked since age 18 were victimized by a current or former husband, cohabiting
partner, boyfriend, or date. (National Intimate Partner and Sexual
Violence Survey 2010)
Fact #14: Of female rape or sexual assault victims in 2010, 25 percent were
assaulted by a stranger, 48 percent by friends or acquaintances, and 17 percent
were intimate partners. (National Crime Victimization Survey 2010) Fact #15:
Almost 10% of high school students are victims of dating violence each year. (Youth
Risk Behavior Surveillance 2009).
Fact #16: According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS), a
national survey of high school students, 7.4% of students had been forced to
have sexual intercourse when they did not want to. Female students (10.5%) were
significantly more likely than male students (4.5%) to have been forced to have
sexual intercourse. Overall, black students (12%) were significantly more
likely than white students (10%) to have been forced to have sexual intercourse (CDC
2010).
Fact #17: A study reported in the New York Times suggests that one in five
adolescent girls become the victims of physical or sexual violence, or both, in
a dating relationship. (New York Times 8/01/01)
Fact #18: 93% of juvenile sexual assault victims know their attacker. 34.2% of
attackers were family members and 58.7 were acquaintances. (U.S.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to
Law Enforcement 2000.)
Fact #19: The National College Women Sexual Victimization Study estimated that
between 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 college women experience completed or attempted rape
during their college years (Fisher 2000).
Fact #20: Somewhere in America a woman is battered, usually by her intimate
partner, every 15 seconds. (UN Study On
The Status of Women, Year 2000)
Fact #21: About one-third of female murder victims ages 12 or older are killed by
an intimate partner. (Department of Justice 2007)
Fact #22: A University of Pennsylvania research study found that domestic violence
is the leading cause of injury to low-income, inner-city Philadelphia women
between the ages of 15 to 44 - more common than automobile accidents, mugging
and rapes combined. In this study domestic violence included injuries caused by
street crime.
Fact #23: The FBI estimates that only 46% of rapes and sexual assaults are
reported to the police. U.S. Justice Department statistics are even lower, with
only 26% of all rapes or attempted rapes being reported to law enforcement
officials.
Fact #24: Less than half of domestic violence incidents are reported to police.
African-American women are more likely than others to report their
victimization to police Lawrence A. Greenfeld et al. (1998). (Violence
by Intimates: Analysis of Data on Crimes by Current or Former Spouses,
Boyfriends, and Girlfriends. Bureau of Justice Statistics Factbook. Washington
DC: U.S. Department of Justice. NCJ #167237. Available from National Criminal
Justice Reference Service.)
Fact #25: Sexual violence and gender based violence is associated with a host of
short- and long-term problems, including physical injury and illness,
psychological symptoms, economic costs, and death (Lifetime
Prevalence of Gender-Based Violence in Women and the Relationship with Mental
Disorders and Psychosocial Function, Journal of American Medical Association
2011).
Fact #26: Rape victims often experience anxiety, guilt, nervousness, phobias,
substance abuse, sleep disturbances, depression, alienation, sexual
dysfunction, and aggression. They often distrust others and replay the assault
in their minds, and they are at increased risk of future victimization (DeLahunta
1997).
Fact #27: Victims of sexual assault are 3 times more likely to suffer from
depression, 6 times more likley to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder,
14 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse drugs, and
4 times more likely to contemplate suicide. (World Health Organization 2003)
Fact #28: Sexual violence victims exhibit a variety of psychological symptoms that
are similar to those of victims of other types of trauma, such as war and
natural disaster (National Research Council 1996). A number of long-lasting
symptoms and illnesses have been associated with sexual victimization including
chronic pelvic pain; premenstrual syndrome; gastrointestinal disorders; and a
variety of chronic pain disorders, including headache, back pain, and facial
pain (Koss 1992).Between 4% and 30% of rape victims contract sexually
transmitted diseases as a result of the victimization (Resnick
1997).
Fact #29: The costs of intimate partner violence against women exceed an estimated
$5.8 billion. These costs include nearly $4.1 billion in the direct costs of
medical care and mental health care and nearly $1.8 billion in the indirect
costs of lost productivity and present value of lifetime earnings. (Costs
of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States, Department of
Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National
Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2003).
Fact #30: It is estimated that domestic violence occurs in approximately 25-33% of
same-sex relationships. (NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence
Project, October 1996.)However, other studies have indicated that anywhere
between 17% and 52% of same-sex relationships are abusive. (Relationship
Violence in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Communities 2005).
Fact #31: About 67.9% of rape victims are white; 11.9% are black; 14% are hispanic
and 6% are of other races. (National Crime Victimization Survey,
Department of Justice 2010).
Fact #32: About half of all rape victims are in the lowest third of income
distribution; half are in the upper two-thirds. (Violence
against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994.)
Fact #33: An estimated 17,500 women and children are trafficked into the United
States annually for sexual exploitation or forced labor. (U.S.
Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2012).
Fact #34: Offenders have been reported to be armed with a gun, knife or other
weapon in 11 percent of rape or sexual assault victimizations. (Criminal
Victimization, Bureau of Justice, 2010)
Fact #35: Factoring in unreported rapes, about 6% of rapists will ever spend a day
in jail. 15 out of 16 will walk free. (Rape, Abuse and Incest National
Network (RAINN) calculation based on US Department of Justice 2010 Statistics)
Fact #36: Boys who witness their fathers' violence are 10 times more likely to
engage in spouse abuse in later adulthood than boys from non-violent homes. (Family
Violence Interventions for the Justice System, 1993)
Men’s
use of violence against women
How many men use violence against
women? Data is very limited, and is focused on individuals’ use of various
aggressive behaviors against partners or ex-partners. Still, it does indicate
that most men do not practice violence against women at least in its bluntest
forms.
What do men know and think about
violence against women? This report documents that:
·
Most men do not tolerate violence against
women, although:
-
A significant minority do hold
violence-supportive attitudes;
-
Men’s attitudes are worse than women’s;
-
Men with more conservative attitudes towards
gender have worse attitudes towards violence against women – they are more
likely to condone, excuse, or justify this violence than other men.
·
Overall, men’s attitudes towards violence
against women are becoming less violence supportive.
What do men do when violence against
women occurs? Most men say that they are willing to intervene in situations of
domestic violence. Similarly, most boys say that, faced with a situation in
which a boy was sexually coercing a girl, they would support the girl. At the
same time, men’s interventions may not be helpful, while some boys will support
the coercive boy instead.
Conclusion
Men can play vital roles in helping to
reduce and prevent men’s violence against women. Indeed, some men, both
individually and in groups and often in partnership with women, are already making
a difference. Preventing men’s violence against women will require sustained
and systematic efforts in families and relationships, communities, and in
society at large.
We should engage men in the
conversation and use of technology. We can be helpful in challenging cultural
norms and can be powerful allies in preventing girls from being abducted and
sold into prostitution. Technology has the power to change lives and the best
thing about it is it doesn’t cost anything. Free journalism “i.e. World Pulse”,
any social media, online blog, cell phone, or a simple text message could mean
the difference between oppression and empowerment for women and young girls
around the world. We must bring awareness and we must come forward, we must
Intestine for men to join with women in building a world of non-violence and
gender justice.
We have to begin our civil rights
quest in ERNEST—not by a quiet discussion in the corner, not by being the last
topic of an agenda. “Justice and Equality DELAYED is Justice and Equality
DENIED”.
The mission is critical; the task is
challenging and lonely. There is NO ONE ELSE to turn to or give the task to. We
are it. Our quest is noble, our challenge is enormous, our mission is sacred
and we must not fail.
We’ve got our work cut out for us
(Men), but if we bond together and work hard every single day to get women and
young girls the care and justice they need, I know that we will have a brighter
future not just for women and young girls but also for entire family,
communities, countries and the world will be better place for all of us.
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