SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED

VIOLENCE:
A HUMAN RIGHTS
PERSPECTIVE
Prepared by Asina A. Omari
For
State Attorney’s Training
 OUTLINE
• Definition
• Nature
N t off SGBV – Definition
D fi iti
• Causes of SGBV
- Traditional Roles of Women
- lack of legal protection
- harmful traditional practices
• SGBV as a HRs Violation
• Effects of SGBV
• Combating SGBV
• Conclusion
 SGBV- Definition
• Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against
Women, 1993, Article 2(a) defines SGBV as:

““…(encompassing
( i b butt nott limited
li it d tto):
) physical
h i l and
d
psychological violence occurring in the family or
community, including battering, sexual abuse of
female children in the household, dowry related
violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation
and other traditional p practices harmful to women;;
non-spousal violence related to exploitation,
sexual harassment and intimidation at work,
forced pregnancies, forced abortion and forced
sterilization, trafficking in women and forced
prostitution and violence perpetrated by the
state ”
state.
 Definition cont …
• Sexual violence violates individual rights and
freedoms. It is an intrusion to the most private
and intimate part of the woman’s body.

• SV violates a p persons p personal and pphysical

y
integrity, right to life, highest attainable standard
of health, liberty and security of the person,
torture, degrading
d di etc.
 Nature and Extent
SGBV encompasses many forms ranging from:
- rape
p and attempted
p rape
p
- sexual abuse
- sexual intimidation at work place
- trafficking
t ffi ki in i women
- forced prostitution
- battering
- dowry related violence
- marital rape ?? SOSPA*
- female genital mutilation/cutting
- other violence resulting from traditional practices
 Nature and Extent Cont…
• Most of these forms can be inflicted on women
by either individuals or state agents.

• Rape
Rape, sexual harassment
harassment, forced marriages
marriages,
early and child marriages and domestic violence
are the prevalent forms of violence in the private
sphere.

• Domestic violence has emerged as the most

prevalent followed by rape the most grave and
popular form of sexual violence.
 Nature and Extent Cont…
• D
Despite
i the
h available
il bl statistics
i i the h magnitude
i d off
the problem however is difficult to determine
because very few cases are reported
reported.

• SGBV often goes unreported for the fear of

retribution, shame, powerlessness, lack of
support breakdown or unreliability of public
support,
services etc.

• Women face violence in the hands of people

theyy know,, partners,
p , relatives etc as well as
strangers
 Causes of SGBV
• R
Roott causes off SGBV ini any society
i t lie
li in
i th
the
societies attitude towards gender discrimination
that
a pplace
ace women
o e in subo
subordinate
d a e pos
position
o in
relation to men.

• The lack of social and economic value for

women and accepted social gender roles which
is based on gender equality and discrimination
perpetuate and reinforce women’s
subordination.

• GBV attempts to establish or enforce gender

hierarchies and perpetuate gender inequalities.
 Causes of SGBV…cont
The following are the leading causes of SGBV:
1. Traditional Roles of Women:
• Private vs Public Sphere

• Subordination, neglect and disrespect of women are the

common characteristics of the many societies in Africa
and
d world
ld . Th
Though
h this
hi should
h ld not b
be the
h case

• The role of women is that of bearing

g children and caring
g
for the family.

• In some cases they are always subordinate and totally

dependent on husbands and relatives who may be the
bread winners and family heads.

This is also reflected in everyday life and exacerbates

women’s vulnerability to SGBV.
 Causes of SGBV…cont

2.Harmful Traditional Practices

- FGM, Widowhood rituals, early and
g
child marriages
- e.g. there are beliefs that having sexual
intercourse with children and virgins will
make men rich, cure them of HIV/AIDS
etc
 Causes of SGBV…cont
3. Changed Socio-Economic Circumstances
and Conditions
-Traditional societal support mechanisms (safety
nets) often collapse in urban and peri-urban
areas

- Unemployment, redundancy have changed

social relations ♂ feel that their traditional roles
are challenged by the whole situation
situation. This leads
to anger, frustration, uncertainty and
helplessness which turns into violence and
abuse.
 Causes of SGBV…cont
3. Lack of Legal Protection
- when law fails to prohibit acts of SGBV
then its condoning SGBV
e.g. - no clear prohibition of Domestic
Violence
- Marital Rape??
 Causes of SGBV…cont
4. Laxity in Law enforcement and
implementation
- the law might be there but due to lack
g , institutional capacity
of knowledge, p y
negligence or entrenched social cultural
valued it is not beingg implemented
p
e.g. Enforcing Law on FGM??
 Vulnerability to SGBV
• While all women are generally exposed to SGBV, some
groups are at risk compared to others.
• The rate of exposure is determined by the woman’s
woman s age
and vulnerability.
• It must be understood that vulnerability is determined by
the form of violence.
violence
• Unaccompanied women, lone female heads of
households, elderly women, women with disabilities are
at risk.
• Children are also particularly vulnerable;
unaccompanied,
p , children with foster families and even
those with their families have a high risk of being
abused.
• As for domestic violence the most vulnerable group is
married women, and cohabiting women
 SGBV as a HRs Violation
• SV is a a traumatic experience with severe physical and
psychological effects on the victims and survivors.
• SV violates women’s
women s HRs under both international and
domestic laws .
• It violates:
1. THE RIGHT TO LIFE:
• “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of
persons” ((UDHR,, ICCPR,, ACHPR,, Const URT etc.
p
- rape and other forms of SV deprive women’s right
to liberty, security of person and life.
- HIV/AIDS,
HIV/AIDS violence that accompanies rape and
others can result to death.
 SGBV as a HRs Violation cont….

2. TOURTURE,CRUEL, INHUMAN OR
DEGARDING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT:

• rape and other forms of SV are reco2gnized as

torture because they involve some form of
physical and psychological suffering, physical
b t lit
brutality.

• S
Sexuall abuse,
b rape andd fforcing
i off iinstruments
t t iin
the vigina, forced anal and oral sex, prolonged
sex sexual intercourse with animal are common
sex,
and are among the devastating forms of torture.
 SGBV as a HRs Violation cont….
TOURTURE Cont ..
• The consequences of these acts include,
physical and mental pain
pain, suffering
suffering, trauma
trauma,
pregnancy, miscarriage and other gynecological
and obstetrics complications, HIV/AIDS and
death.
death

• SV is generally committed for specific purposes,

including punishment, intimidation,
dehumanizing and degrading a woman’s
personality (and her family)
family).

• Its also true that men do suffer from SV but the

vast majority of victims and survivors are women
 SGBV as a HRs Violation cont….
3. THE RIGHT TO EQUALITY IN THE FAMILY:
• In many cases SV is a result from failure of the legal
system
y to treat rape
p by
y husbands or intimate p
partners as
a crime

• Married women do not get the same protection as their

unmarried counterparts, the same goes for
prostitutes/sex workers or members of vulnerable groups
like people with disabilities.

• Selective tolerance of SV in the family and other

situations stems from a culture where men are
encouraged to treat women as property and women are
viewed as the honour of the family, i.e. if you rape a
woman you shame the whole family and clan! This
deters reporting
 SGBV as a HRs Violation cont….

4. THE RIGHT TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD

OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH:
• SV inflicts mental pain that affects the victim’s
and survivors health, depression, stress, anxiety,
t
trauma (PTSD),
(PTSD) schizophrenia,
hi h i generall lloss off
self esteem, suicide and other mental illnesses.

• The Physical health effects include: cuts,

bruises internal injuries
bruises, injuries, fractures
fractures, broken
bones,STDs and HIV/AIDS . Gang rape- tearing
up of the whole reproductive system.
 SGBV as a HRs Violation cont….

5. RIGHT TO LIBERTY AND SECURITY

OF PERSON:
• The danger of rape contains a woman’s
liberty scared to walk out of the
liberty,
home/shelter especially at night.

• Security of person cannot be there when

even in
i th
the security
it off h
her h
home th
the
woman is not free from fear of SV.
 Effects of SGBV
• SGBV bears serious health, social &
psychological effects on the survivor.

• The effects necessitate,

necessitate medical psychological
and legal intervention and assistance this may
entail money, thus the importance of prevention.

• Health consequences
q include: injury
j y shock,,
exposure to HIV and STDs unwanted
pregnancies, unsafe abortions etc
 Effects of SGBV
• Other than the physical suffering survivors
also suffer psychological trauma
trauma, and at
times even in the absence of physical
assault death may occur
occur.

• Stigma and social ostracization by and

from the community.
 Combating SGBV
Having a multi-sectoral programme aimed at combating all
acts of SGBV that is tailored around prevention and
response
p to SGBV and the recognition
g that this is not
work only meant for NGOs and CBOs.

• Raising awareness on SGBV and the increased danger

danger,
condemning acts of SGBV as HRs Violations and threats
to public health.

• Supporting education and information campaigns,

trainingg community y leaders and influential g
groupsp in
communities who in turn disseminate knowledge to
others.
- religious leaders
leaders, village leaders
leaders, traditional
healers, women’s groups etc
 Combating SGBV
• Encourage the government and other authorities to
establish drop in centers and shelters where survivors
can be pprovided with counseling,
g, legal
g aid,, medical care
including post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) etc thus
providing alternatives to survivors especially those of
domestic violence and child abuse.

• Encourage reporting to the police, this also means

working
orking with
ith police and other la
law enforcement
agencies,NGOs, CBO, FBOs and training them and
equipping them with the necessary facilities

• Involving the men and the community in general to

promote behavior change,
p g , advocatingg for change
g of the
traditional norms and customs that fuel SGBV
 Conclusion
• The whole community suffers SGBV but women,
children and other vulnerable groups in the society are
vulnerable to violence, although there us a slight
diff
difference on their
th i vulnerability
l bilit which
hi h iin mostt cases iis
determined by age and form of violence.

• They are in danger in their own homes at work, in school

and in the local communities, at all times.

• The efforts of the Government and NGOs in combating

acts of SGBV have not necessarily ended this plight.

• Using the existing laws to combat SGBV and creating of

awareness and integration of men and women in SGBV
programs has had notable effects in transforming
gendered
d d social i l roles
l ththatt ffuell SGBV
SGBV.