Political Scince Project
Political Scince Project
Submitted by:
Priyanshu kumar Submitted to:
UL21BA035 Dr .Suman Das
Faculty Xavier
Law school
INTRODUCTION
The relationship between gender and violence is complex. The different roles and
behaviours of females and males, children as well as adults, are shaped and
reinforced by gender norms within society. These are social expectations that
define appropriate behaviour for women and men (e.g. in some societies, being
male is associated with taking risks, being tough and aggressive and having
multiple sexual partners). Differences in gender roles and behaviours often create
inequalities, whereby one gender becomes empowered to the disadvantage of the
other. Thus, in many societies, women are viewed as subordinate to men and
have a lower social status, allowing men control over, and greater decision-
making power than, women.
Gender inequalities have a large and wide-ranging impact on society. For
example, they can contribute to gender inequities in health and access to health
care, opportunities for employment and promotion, levels of income, political
participation and representation and education. Often inequalities in gender
increase the risk of acts of violence by men against women (see definitions, Box
1). For instance, traditional beliefs that men have a right to control women make
women and girls vulnerable to physical, emotional and sexual violence by men
(1,2). They also hinder the ability of those affected to remove themselves from
abusive situations or seek support (3). Violence against women is most often
perpetrated by an initiating-methods of promoting gender equality and their
effectiveness in reducing violence towards women there are many types of
violence against women but this briefing focuses specially on intervention to
prevent violence by intimate partners and during dating as these have been
evaluated more than other interventions in this area. These include:
Scholl-based interventions:
These work with school children before gender attitudes and behaviours are
deeply ingrained. The most widely evaluated are dating interventions that attempt
to create equal relationship and change attitudes and norms toward dating.
Community interventions:
These try to effect change in individuals and whole communities, by addressing
gender norms and attitudes. They can include methods to empower women
economically and to enlist men as partners against gender- based violence.
Media interventions:
Public awareness campaigns use mass media to challenge gender norms and
attitudes and try to raise awareness throughout society of violent behaviour
towards women and how to prevent it. Government interventions to promote
gender equality, such as laws and policies, can also play an important role in the
primary prevention of violence. These are not discussed at length in this briefing,
however, as there have been few evaluations of such measures.
School-based interventions
There is some evidence that for men, programmes presented to mixed male and
female groups are less effective in changing attitudes than those presented to all-
male groups
Although the majority of evaluated school programs for dating violence have
been conducted in the United States and other high-income countries, some
initiatives are being implemented in developing countries. For instance, in South
Africa, an adaptation of the Safe Dates programme for students in eighth grade
(13–14-years-old) is now being evaluated.
Community interventions
To reduce gender equality usually attempt to empower women, strengthen their
economic position (through, for instance, microfinance schemes) and change
gender stereotypes and norms (17,30,33,34). These programmes have mainly
been implemented in developing countries. Although most programmes involve
women (alone or with men), some community programmes work solely with
male peer groups focusing on masculinity, gender norms and violence. This
reflects a growing awareness of the importance of engaging men and boys in
interventions, not only to redefine concepts of masculinity based on dominance
and control, but also to engage them in stopping violence against women.
Community interventions aim to change not just the way individuals think and
behave, but also to mobilize entire villages or districts in efforts to eradicate
violence against women.
Media interventions
Media interventions use television, radio, the Internet, newspapers, magazines
and other printed publications to reach a wide range of people and effect change
within society. They aim to increase knowledge, challenge attitudes and modify
behaviour. Media interventions can also alter social norms and values (e.g. the
belief that masculinity is associated with aggression) through public discussion.
CONCLUSION
The promotion of gender equality is an essential part of violence prevention. A
range of school, community and media interventions aim to promote gender
equality and non-violent relationships by addressing gender stereotypes that
allow men more power and control over women. These include some well-
evaluated interventions, but more evaluations are needed that use measures of
actual violent behaviour as an outcome rather than improvements in attitude or
knowledge, whose relation to violent behaviour may be unknown. Some school-
based programmes have demonstrated their effectiveness. With the exception of
the Safe Dates programme and the Youth Relationship Project, however,
evaluations of these have looked at short-term outcomes and more research is
needed on their long-term effects. School programmes are well placed to prevent
violence against women, since they have the potential to address gender norms
and attitudes before they become deeply ingrained. They are also ideal
environments to work with male peer groups, where rigid ideas about
masculinity can be questioned and redefined. Among community interventions,
the IMAGE and Stepping Stones programmes are supported by the strongest
evidence. Community programmes with male peer groups show promise in
changing attitudes towards traditional gender norms, as well as violent
behaviour, but they require more rigorous outcome evaluations. Finally, media
interventions, such as Soul City in South Africa, appear to be effective at
addressing attitudes towards gender norms and women’s rights that may
influence violent behaviour. However, we do not yet know whether they actually
reduce violent behaviour. There is evidence that the success of some
microfinance programmes in empowering women (without engaging with men)
may actually cause friction and conflict between partners, especially in societies
with rigid gender roles. Further research is needed to explore how such possible
negative effects might be overcome. When gender roles become more flexible,
most women enjoy greater power, status and economic independence and the
threat of violence against them decreases. Its important, therefore, to engage both
men and women and boys and girls in interventions that promote gender equality
and prevent violence against women.
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