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Unit 9: Status of Women
2. Because of her relationship to a man, a woman is vulnerable to domestic violence, dowry murder, Notes
sati. This reason relates to society’s concept of a woman as a property and dependent of the male
protector, father, husband, son, etc.
3. Because of the social group to which she belongs, in times of war, riots. Or ethnic, caste, or class
violence, a woman may be raped and brutalised as a means of humiliating the community to
which she belongs. This also relates to male perception of female sexuality and women as the
property of men.
Combining these types of abuse with the concept of hierarchical gender relations, a useful way to
view gender violence is by identifying where the violence towards women occurs. Essentially, violence
happens in three contexts - the family, the community and the state and at each point key social
institutions fulfil critical and interactive functions in defining legitimating and maintaining the
violence.
1. The family socialises its members to accept hierarchical relations expressed in unequal division of
labour between the sexes and power over the allocation of resources.
2. The community (i.e., social , economic, religious, and cultural institutions) provides the mechanisms
for perpetuating male control over women’s sexuality, mobility and labour.
3. The state legitimises the proprietary rights of men over women, providing a legal basis to the
family and the community to perpetuate these relations. The state does this through the enactment
of discriminatory application of the law.
Margaret Schuler has divided gender violence into four major categories;
1. Overt physical abuse (battering sexual assault, at home and in the work place)
2. Psychological abuse (confinement, forced marriage)
3. Deprivation of resources for physical and psychological well being (health/nutrition, education,
means of livelihood)
4. Commodification of women (trafficking, prostitution)
Adriana Gomez has also talked about two basic forms of violence, that is; structural and direct.
Structural violence arises from the dominant political, economic and social systems, in so far as they
block access to the means of survival for large number of people; for example, economic models
based on the super-exploitation of thousands for the benefit of a few, extreme poverty in opposition
to ostentatious wealth, and repression and discrimination against those who diverge from given
norms.
Structural violence according to her is the basis of direct violence, because it influences the socialisation
which causes individuals to accept or inflict suffering, according to the social function they fulfil.
Open or direct violence is exercised through aggression, arms or physical force. (Larrain and Rodrigue,
1993)
The Fourth Conference of Women, 1995 has defined violence against women as a physical act of
aggression of one individual or group against another or others. Violence against women is any act of
gender-based violence which result in, physical, sexual or arbitrary deprivation of liberty in public or
private life and violation of human rights of women in violation of human rights of women in situations
of armed conflicts. (Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995 Country Report).
Violence is an act carried out with the intention or perceived intention of physically hurting another
person (Gelles and Straus, 1979). Gender Violence is defined as “any act involving use of force or
coercion with an intent of perpetuating promoting hierarchical gender relations”. (APWLD, 1990,
Schuler, 1992)
Adding gender dimension to that definition amplifies it to include violent acts perpetrated on women
because they are women. With this addition, the definition is no longer simple or obvious.
Understanding the phenomenon of gender violence requires an analysis of the patterns of violence
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