Gender Based Violence GBV (Violence Against Women) Part one (1)

By KAB

Defining Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women (VAW)

“Gender-based violence (GBV) is the general term used to capture violence that occurs as a result of the normative role expectations associated with each gender, along with the unequal power relationships between the two genders, within the context of a specific society.” (Bloom 2008, p14).

While women, girls, men and boys can be victims of GBV, the main focus of this resource package is on violence against women and girls.

This is not to say that gender-based violence against men does not exist. For instance, men can become targets of physical or verbal attacks for transgressing predominant concepts of masculinity, for example because they have sex with men. Men can also become victims of violence in the family – by partners or children. (Bloom 2008, p14)

However, it has been widely acknowledged that the majority of persons affected by gender-based violence are women and girls, as a result of unequal distribution of power in society between women and men. Further, women and girls victims of violence suffer specific consequences as a result of gender discrimination. As summed up by UNFPA:

“The primary targets of GBV are women and adolescent girls, but not only are they at high risk of GBV, they also suffer exacerbated consequences as compared with what men endure. As a result of gender discrimination and their lower socio-economic status, women have fewer options and less resources at their disposal to avoid or escape abusive situations and to seek justice. They also suffer consequences [on their sexual and reproductive health], including forced and unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions and resulting deaths, traumatic fistula, and higher risks of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV.” (UNFPA Strategy and Framework for Action to Addressing GBV, 2008-2011, p. 7)



Definitions of GBV/VAW under international human rights law

For a long time, international human rights law has been silent on the issue of GBV/VAW. This is because until the late 1980s/early 1980s, VAW, in particular domestic violence, was not considered a matter to be dealt with by human rights law. For instance, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted in 1979 – the major UN women’s rights treaty – does not contain a provision on violence against women. This gap was closed in 1992, when the CEDAW Committee, the body responsible for monitoring the implementation of CEDAW, adoptied General Recommendation No. 19 on VAW (GR 19). In this document the Committee clarifies that GBV against women is a form of discrimination and therefore covered by the scope of CEDAW. GBV is defined as “violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately”, thereby underlining that violence against women is not something occurring to women randomly, but rather an issue affecting them because of their gender. Further, GBV is defined as including “acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.” GR 19 also specifies that GBV may constitute a violation or women’s human rights, such as the right to life, the right to equal protection under the law; the right to equality in the family; or the right to the highest standard attainable of physical and mental health.

The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993 has been influenced by CEDAW General Recommendation No. 19. It defines VAW as: “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likley to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” (Article 1) The declaration encompasses all forms of gender-based violence against women (physical, sexual and psychological), no matter in which context or setting they occur:

in the family (such as  battery, marital rape; sexual abuse of female children; dowry-related violence; ; female genital mutilation/cutting and other traditional practices harmful to women);
in the general community (such as rape, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in school and elsewhere; trafficking in women; and forced prostitution), and
violence perpetrated or condoned by the state, wherever it occurs.
Further, DEVAW specifies that violence against women is a manifestation of unequal power relationships between men and women and a violation of women’s human rights (preamble). lists examples of these rights, such as the right to life, the right to equality, the right to the highest standard attainable of physical and mental health, or the right not to be subjected to torture, or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. (Source: 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women).

Both, CEDAW GR 19 and DEVAW explicitly encompass violence perpetrated by either, state officials or private persons such as family members, acquaintance or employers. In doing so, they close an important gap under international human rights law which originally excluded from the human rights agenda the so-called private sphere in which many women’s rights violations occur. The Beijing Platform for Action adopted in 1995furtherexpanded on the definition of DEVAW to include: violations of the rights of women in situations of armed conflict, including systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy; forced sterilization, forced abortion, coerced or forced use of contraceptives; prenatal sex selection; and, female infanticide. It further recognized the particular vulnerabilities of women belonging to minorities; the elderly and the displaced; indigenous, refugee and migrant communities; women living in impoverished rural or remote areas, or in detention. 1995


To be continued............