The link is a press release by the United Nations. The student's portfolio of the subject is noted below.
Violence against women is a global problem. Moreover, it is only a symptom of a much broader issue; that being gender inequality. Unfortunately, despite the known prevalence and serious detrimental effects of violence against women, “experience has shown that social institutions have often blamed battered women or, at the very least ignored them.” (Seear, 2007, p. 246). Consequently, is violence against women a matter of choice, or chance? With the exception of poverty; which often puts women at a greater risk of experiencing violence or abuse, most demographic and social characteristics of both men and women are not associated with increased risk of violence (Jewkes, 2002). A woman’s experience of violence or abuse is far more closely linked to access to supportive resources (Jewkes, 2002). Therefore, it would certainly appear that violence against women is not a matter of poor choices, but rather a result of gender inequality and poor access to much needed resources.
Apart from the obvious issue of human rights, violence against women poses a serious burden to the health care system, apart from physical injury, abused women are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, psychosomatic illness, eating disorders, and sexual dysfunction (Seear, 2007). Thus, violence against women is unquestionably a global health issue with wide reaching consequences that takes a significant toll on national and global resources.
Seear (2007) explains that in Brazil, specific police stations staffed entirely by women have been established to deal exclusively with women’s issues and domestic violence. This would seem a highly effective and innovative strategy with which to fight violence against women, while simultaneously empowering the female community. Nevertheless, one wonders if this approach adds to the existence of gender inequality by furthering the segregation between genders.
Rather than treating women after they have experienced violence which is merely a band-aid approach, health communities need to focus more on supporting and empowering women before violence becomes endemic. This preventative approach would foster the values and principles of primary health care. More specifically it would create equal access to supportive resources for women world-wide, and involve women in the planning, implementation and maintenance of such resources and health services. Attacking the issue of violence against women from more than just a health care perspective, and including aspects such as education reinforces intersectoral coordination and ensures that resources are put to their best use and will ideally lead to the elimination of violence against women globally.
References
Jewkes, R. (2002). Violence against women III: intimate partner violence: causes and prevention. Lancet, 359(9315), 1423-1429.
Seear, M. (2007). Human rights interventions. An Introduction to International Health. (pp. 237-256). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc
