Listening to the Unheard

We are aware that half of the women world is moving towards the social change, reaching the moon and beyond, in charge of utterly important responsibilities and positions whereas the other half still remains in the nexus of tolerance regarding the violence against them. If you are the regular newspaper reader or you’ve followed a couple of online newspaper on Facebook, it is very unlikely that you don’t come across one of such news stories once in a while. Violence on women is so often and regular, most people take it as the normal part of the actions.

Since violence itself is a very vague topic and can often be ambiguous and unclear, let us clarify its boundary by referring it to any form of physical, sexual or emotional oppressions towards women. Women violence can be perceived in two major ways. It can be perceived as painful or powerful on the basis of how one chooses to evaluate it.

We might have a hypothesis that women violence occurs only in the third world because women are less empowered, the society is male-dominated and they are more vulnerable to the command and expectations from their significant other. However, it is quite shocking to know that women, irrespective of their countries, age, color, and profession are likely to be the victims of violence.

We can find plenty of evidence and facts on the internet about the subject. However, the nature of violence is significantly different across the nations. In the third world, the violence is physical, sexual and emotional. Whereas the psychological violence is more predominant in the developed nations.

Since this issue of women violence is the cause rooted consequence, we need to crack on the root causes of the women violence. Most researches have hinted on the following as the major causes of women violence:

Possessiveness or Jealousy of the Spouse

Since women have been considered as the possession by men from the time of Gods, it has been a major reason why the women are victimized. The husband displays extreme possessiveness to his significant other by punishing her physically for any perceived deception in the relationship or just because he is insecure or jealous in the relationship.

Expectations in the Household Chores

Women are the homemaker of every household. Her family members expect her to perform each activity flawlessly by her husband and in-laws. Any perceived deviations in the expected actions from her can lead to women violence. This does not only come from the husband or the men of the house, it is also commenced by the in-laws, other family members, and even the children.

Right to Punish for Perceived Wrongdoings

The dominance of men over women has been established over a long frame of time. The men are not entirely to be blamed. The society has been framed in a way that men are always in a greater place in terms of power and position. Thus, they take pride and power in punishing for any perceived wrongdoing of the women. This has also accounted for a lot of violence towards the women community.

Exercising the Power, Control, and Authority

People refer to power as the most dangerous form of addiction. So is the case for each and every power obsessed human. And as a weak, fragile and easy victim, women are often picked upon and are used to demonstrate their power, control, and authority. Studies have shown that the men with superiority complex are more likely to demonstrate authority and control over their spouse.

These forms of women violence have been around for a long long time now. Reports show that only around 40 percent of the violence gets shared with the justice providing institutions, even fewer events have involvement with police, i.e. only about 10 percent cases. Now, since there is no one universal way of preventing the women violence altogether, the following ways might be adopted to prevent and minimize the women violence at home, at the workplace or at any possible places.

Education for Prevention

All women need to be equipped with a proper asset of education for their independence and self-sustainment. This will make them aware of what they are overlooking and how they should stand up as capable women and raise their voice against the injustice and violence. Thus, a major investment needs to be done for educating the girls and women of all age to prevent the violence.

Working / Collaborating with Men or Boys

Since men have enjoyed the supremacy for a long time now, the only way men can feel that women stand on the same ground as them is through actions. Thus women should be encouraged to share workspaces, and intellectual opinions with them by cooperating and moving hand in hand. It really helps in some way or the other for men to let go of their pride and think of women as companion not maid.

Interrupt / Discuss / Confront

When the violence is in action, it is the duty of any human being to interrupt the action and ask the doer to justify his/her actions. This is a very crucial activity that calls for the doer’s self-evaluation. It might just help to stop the act of violence. The victim can also take an active participation in interrupting the act. The act should be discussed openly with other concerned people rather than hiding it.

Mentorship

Each and every girl should be aware of what she might face in the future or what she might have been facing and how women should speak for themselves. A proper mentorship from the person with reliable credibility can make a girl more alert and can prepare to take actions for the time when she might actually require them.

Prepare an Action Plan

There should absolutely no shame in taking any kind of help that might result in the reduction of the violence. Thus, each and every act of violence should be reported and help sought if required. There are plenty of organizations which are established with the sole purpose of helping the women who are victimized physically, sexually or emotionally. Just find the most relevant one and report the action. This is going to be extremely helpful to discourage other acts of violence as well.

For years now, women are treated as if they are living in the mercy of men. The issue of women violence has been made political agendas for a lot of times, yet there are activities like gang rapes, and allegations of witches to women. Women are not only victimized by men, but also by women themselves. Thus, the first and foremost thing to minimize women violation is to stand independent and united at the same time. Women need to understand the power of inner confidence, voicing opinions and external support in case the violence takes place.