International feminist perspectives

Running head: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN UK
Gender-based Violence in UK
Student’s name
University
Author’s note

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In the year 2017, the Crime Survey of England and Wales stated in an estimation that
20% women in UK have experienced some type of or other sexual assault since they are 16. As
opposed to women, only 4% of the male population have experienced such harassment. More
shockingly, as per the statistical bulletin on sexual violence released by the Ministry of Justice
(MoJ), Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Home Office declared that about 85000 women
in England and Wales experience rape, domestic violence or sexual harassment every hour
(Rapecrisis.org.uk 2019). This shows the graveness and severity of the issue. Moreover, a
comparison between the statistics of male victims and female victims of sexual assault clearly
point to the fact that women are more prone to undergo this kind of horrible experiences. Such
sexual assaults are nevertheless are a manifestation of gender-based violence, where women and
non-male persons suffers from both physical and psychological trauma.
The present essay deals with one of the pertinent issues in the sphere of the existing
debates on gender and sexuality—violence on women. It is argued that women are most likely to
suffer from sexual, mental and physical torture within the patriarchal social structure. Therefore,
the focus of this essay remains on the fact that patriarchy uses violence as a tool to assert male
domination on women. From the aforementioned statistics, it is evident that the experience of
sexual assault, or related harassment is a very commonplace experience for women in the United
Kingdom. Not denying the fact that boys and even adult males also experience similar harms, the
claim still stands that the issue of sexual abuse primarily affects women. Hence, it can be
primarily considered as a gender based violence. And since a long time now, women have been
subject to sexual assaults as a form of subjugation among other social oppressions. The essay,
therefore, will explore the issue of gender-based violence from a sociological perspective, taking
into consideration the concepts of gender roles and gender identities. Further, it will also explore

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the feminist theory of gender role and the patriarchal framework of the society, trying to
establish violence as a form of oppression inflicted upon women, followed by an analysis of
Frustration-Aggression Theory, based on Freudian psychology, to comprehend the rationale
behind sexual abuse. Finally, the essay will attempt to present a discourse on the impact of
gender-based violence on the society and look for ways to reduce such atrocities on women.
In our everyday lives, it is not unusual for women to experience catcalls, lewd remarks or
unwanted sexual advancements such as groping or molestation in the streets, schools or
workplaces. Women are also vulnerable to rape and sexual assault while having personal quality
time outside like pubs or clubs. Date abuse has become a commonplace incident in the UK.
Moreover, more than 35% of women experience domestic violence or intimate partner violence
in the country (not including the violence against children in the statistics). Therefore, it can be
easily assumed that the experience of violence against women or gendered violence is a widely
prevalent phenomenon in the UK, in spite of being a so-called liberal, progressive and developed
country.
In the European context, Gender-based violence has been an ongoing social issue, which
includes high rates of sexual assault, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and conflict.
In the past, such gender-based violence was even carried out in a mass scale in the guise of
religious persecution such as with-hunting, expanding to direct physical assault and rape in the
industrialization era. As the time has changed, with the perceived progress and liberalization of
the society, gender-based violence has also taken new forms, inflicting violence on women and
other non-male individuals on a more interpersonal level, and leading up to harassment, rape,

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dating abuse, acid throwing, stalking, intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, marital rape,
reproductive coercion etc.
Gender-based violence, also known as gendered violence or gender violence, refers to
harm inflicted upon individuals classified on the basis of the normative understanding to their
respective gender. This connection or basis can be in the form of the cultural understanding of
gender roles. Gender role, in its implication, denotes a wide range of behaviours, attitudes and
demeanor which is considered as appropriate or acceptable for their assigned biological or
perceived sex (Peters and Wolper 2018). However, sex and gender do not essentially bear the
same connotations. In general terms, sex denotes the anatomical and biological differences
between male and female. It is usually differentiated on the basis of the genitalia and other
genetic differences. Gender, on the other hand, refers to the different cultural and social roles
that society assigns to people based on their biological sex (Rossi 2018).
Social scientists and scholars claim that gender is essentially a social construct, i.e.
society ascribes some stereotypical qualities on a person based on their biological or perceived
sex. For example, traditionally men are supposed to be strong, brave, unemotional and
aggressive, whereas women by nature are considered to be more delicate, physically weaker,
emotional and shy than men. Subsequently, these stereotypes lead the society to certain
expectations that are to be fulfilled by both men and women (Haslanger 2017). From an early
childhood, individuals are instilled with such stereotypes by their parents, peers, and even the
surrounding communities. For example, little boys are told ‘not to cry like a girl’, with an
expectation for them to be brave and strong. On the other hand, girls are taught how to talk or sit