UNIT 4 GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND CHILD ABUSE
Key Unit Competence:
To be able to protect the individual and stand against GBV and child
abuse.Introductory Activity:
Read the story below about Uwera and her family and discuss the
questions below it.
Muhire came home from a drinking spree one day and found his daughter
Uwera occupied doing her homework quietly. He hit her because the
door to that led outside was still open. He then ordered his six year old
son who was already asleep to get up and take in all the construction
material that was lying outside despite them being too heavy for him. As
if that was not enough, he slapped his wife who was cleaning utensils
and ordered her to serve him food. The following day, when Uwera left
school, she felt too afraid to go back home and so she sought refuge
at her friend’s home, only to be raped by her friend’s brother who was
under the influence of drugs. This affected Uwera so much that she later
committed suicide.
Questions
1. What forms of violence do we find in this family?
2. What are the causes of violence?
3. What are the consequences of this violence?
The activity above describes a number of different types of gender-based violence
and some of their consequences. Gender based violence can happen in various
forms i.e. physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence.
4.1 Concept and forms of gender based violence
Learning Activity 4.1
Read the following story
Umulisa and Gatete twins children born in a harmony family. Their
mother died when they were in primary school. Their father got married
with another wife. The stepmother obliged them to leave the school
while they were in senior one at 14 years old and came to help her in
domestic activities. They always obliged to wake up at 4:00 am and carry
out waste to the land to cultivate up to evening and coming back home
with animal grasses. At 15years old Umurisa leaved home to the town to
look for a job. In the way, a seropositive person raped Umulisa. After one
month, she went to the health centre for test exam and realised that she
was pregnant and contaminated of HIV/AIDS.
1. What forms of violence do we find in this story?2. What are the causes of violence?
Gender based violence
Gender based violence is defined as any act that results in a bodily, psychological,
sexual and economical harm to somebody just because they are female or male.
Such act results in the deprivation of freedom and negative consequences. Thisviolence may be exercised within or outside house holds.
It includes physical, sexual and psychological violence such as domestic violence;
sexual abuse, including rape and sexual abuse of children by family members; forced
pregnancy; sexual slavery; traditional practices harmful to women, such as honour
killings, burning or acid throwing, female genital mutilation, dowry-related violence;
violence in armed conflict such as murder and rape; and emotional abuse, such as
coercion and abusive language.
Trafficking of women and girls for prostitution, forced marriage, sexual harassment
and intimidation at work are additional examples of violence against women.
Gender violence occurs in both the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres. Such violence
not only occurs in the family and in the general community, but is sometimes also
perpetuated by the state through policies or the actions of agents of the State such
as the police, military or immigration authorities.
Gender-based violence happens in all societies, across all social classes, with
women particularly at risk from men they know.
Child abuse
Child abuse occurs when a parent or a caregiver, whether through action or failing to
act causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to the child.
Application activity 4.1
1. Describe gender-based violence as witnessed in your community
2. Suggest possible ways of controlling Gender based violence.
4.2 Forms and consequences of gender-based violence
Learning activity 4.1
Using various resources search, explain and present forms of gender
based violence
Physical violence
Physical assault: Beating, punching, kicking, biting, burning, maiming or killing,
with or without weapons, often used in combination with other forms of genderbased
violence Perpetrated by spouse, intimate partner, family member, friend,acquaintance, stranger or anyone in apposition of power.
Emotional/Psychological violence
Abuse/ humiliation: Insulting, degrading, demanding, and compelling the victim to
engage in humiliating acts, whether in public or private, denying basic expenses forfamily survival.
Confinement: Isolating a person from friends/family, restricting movements,
deprivation of liberty or obstruction, restriction of the right to free movement.
Sexual violence
• Rape: The fact that a person is involved in sexual intercourse without consent
by force, intimidation, paying prices among others.
• Conjugal rape: Coercing a spouse into sexual relation without that spouse’s
consent, by way of force, intimidation, paying prices among others.
• Sexual abuse: Actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature,
including inappropriate touching, by force or under unequal or coercive
conditions.
• Sexual harassment: Any unwelcome or unsolicited sexual attention, demand
for sexual access or favours, sexual innuendo or other verbal or physical
conduct of a sexual nature, or display of pornographic material.
• Sexual exploitation / Sexual slavery aimed at achievement of selfsatisfaction:
Any abuse of a position of vulnerability, difference in power
relation or abuse of trust for sexual purposes.
• Forced sodomy/analrape: Forced/coerced anal intercourse, usually male to
male or male to female.
• Forced prostitution: Forced/coerced sex in exchange for material resources,
services and assistance, usually targeting highly vulnerable women or girls
unable to meet basic human needs for themselves and/or their children.
• Sexual violence as a weapon of war and torture: Crimes against humanity
of a sexual nature, including rape, sexual slavery, forced abortion or
sterilization or another form to prevent birth, forced pregnancy, forceddelivery, and forced child rearing, among others.
Socio-Economic Violence
• Economic violence: Occurs when the abuser has complete control over the
victim’s money and other economic resources.
• Discrimination and /or denial of opportunities, services: Exclusion, denial of
access to education, health assistance or remunerated employment, denial
of property rights.
Social exclusion /ostracism based on sexual orientation
Denial of access to services, social benefits or exercise and enjoyment of civil, social,
economic, cultural and political rights, imposition of criminal penalties, discriminatory
practices or physical and psychological harm and tolerance of discriminatory
practices, public or private hostility to homosexual, transsexuals or transvestites.
4.3. Consequences of gender-based violence
Learning activity 4.3
Search and explain the consequences of gender based violence andchild abuse
From the above discussion, you realize that gender based violence can lead to
various effects on an individual, families and the entire community. These may
include the following:
Consequences on Health
Individual consequences to the victim:
• Injury
• Disability or death
• STDs and AIDS
• Injury to the reproductive system including menstrual disorders
• Child bearing problems
• Infections
• Miscarriages
• Unwanted pregnancies
• Unsafe abortions
• Depression, leading to chronic physical complaints and illnesses
• Loss of sexual desire and painful sexual intercourse
• Difficult pregnancy and labour, chronic pain and infection• Infertility
Impact on wider society:
• Strain on medical system
• High economic expenses for medical care for victims of GBV
Effect on availability of human resources as victims cannot participate in the
development and economic growth of the country.
B. Psychological
Individual consequences to the victim
• Emotional damage including anger, fear, resentment and self-hate
• Shame, insecurity, loss of ability to function and carry out daily activities
• Feelings of depression and isolation
• Problems sleeping and eating
i) Mental illness and thoughts of hopelessness and suicide
ii) Gossip, judgments made about the victim, blaming the victim, treating the
victim as a social outcast
Impact on wider society
• Expensive, drain on community resources; family, neighbors, friends, schools,
community leaders, social service agencies, etc.
• If perpetrators are not apprehended or arrested, this sends a strong
message that the behaviour is somehow acceptable, leading to further
incidents.
C. Legal/justice system
Strain on police/court resources already challenged and over burdened
• Lack of sensitivity to the issues on the part of some judges and legal officers.
• Costs incurred by the victim.
Lack of access to legal system due to lack of knowledge of existing laws or victimsreluctant to report due to heavy stigma attached to sexual abuse
Application activity 4.3
Debate and discussion on how separated or divorced parents,
spinsterhood, and bachelorhood are related to GBV and affectchildren
4.4. Linkage between gender-based violence, HIV and AIDS and
STIs.
Learning activity 4.4
Using various resources search and discuss the types of gender based
violence, which can lead to the spread of HIV and AIDS andSTIs
In your discussion, you may realize that most of the common HIV and AIDS and
STI infections are either a result or a cause of gender-based violence.
The following are some of them:
i) Rape/Sexual Assault
Forced or coerced sex increases women’s vulnerability to HIV infection
by severely limiting, if not destroying, women’s ability to negotiate safe sexual
behaviour. In situations of rape, condom use is rare.
ii) Intimate partner violence
Many abusive partners are less likely to use condoms thus leading to HIV
and AIDS.
iii) Violence against HIV positive women.
Women who are or who are even perceived to be infected with the HIV
virus face considerable risk of violence, discrimination, ostracisation and
abandonment, including by their partners or other family members, all over
the world.
iv) Sexual violence in conflict
Women and girls are at greatly increased risk of violence in times of war and
conflict. Under these conditions, acts of violence include strategic use of rape
and gang rape, forced pregnancy, forced marriages with enemy soldiers,
sexual slavery and mutilations are perpetrated by various community and
state actors, including soldiers, members of militias and police.
v) Violence against sex workers
It is estimated that sex workers, who on a global level are mostly young
and female, may number in the tens of millions. Statistics indicate that
HIV prevalence among sex workers is high in many regions. Sex workers
are more vulnerable to HIV infection and violence because they are often
demonized and discriminated against, as well as invisible in decisionmaking
processes.
vi) Trafficking
Trafficking is a form of violence in which people, primarily women and children,
are forcibly transported from their home communities through the use of threat or
violence or other coercive means and placed in forced labor, servitude or slaverylike
practices, including but not limited to forced marriage and forced prostitution.
In each of these situations, women may experience abuse differently from men,
and may be targeted in ways directly related to their gender.
D. Mechanism to respond to gender based violence
The following are some mechanism to respond to gender based violence
i) Health Care i.e, providing necessary health care to the victims
ii) Psycho-social counseling to the victim
iii) Putting in place strong policies, laws, programs and regulations that prevent
Gender Based violence of any kind in the society
iv) Legal assistance in case of abuse or any related acts of violence
v) Community Awareness and Training about gender based violence
vi) Capacity Building for Local Women’s Organisationsvii) Skills Training, Economic Opportunities and other Rehabilitation Programs
Application activity 4.4
1. Discuss the relationship between gender-based violence and HIV
and AIDS in the society.
2. Suggest any 5 methods applied in your community to preventGBV
4.5. End Unit Assessment
End unit assessment
1. Give at least three examples of GBV and three 3 examples of
child abuse.
2. Discuss the consequences of GBV and child abuse on socioeconomic
development of a country.
3. Explain different strategies put in place by the government ofRwanda in order fight against GBV and child abuse.