Introduction to Domestic Violence

Running head: GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Introduction:
According to the definition by United Nations the violence against women and relates to any act
of gender-based violence which results in in sexual, physical or psychological harm and
suffering to women. This can include threats like acts and arbitrary deprivation of Liberty both in
public and in private life.
The term Gender and sexuality according to sociology e a different. general is a term which
refers to the cultural or social distinctions associated with being female or male gender identity is
the extent to which a person identifies as being either feminine or masculine. On the other hand a
person's sexuality is determined by the biology which may not always correspondent with his or
her gender. Therefore the terms Gender and sexuality or not interchangeable. In the past the
patriarchal society had clearly differentiated the responsibilities and duties of male and female
members. The male members where more associated with outside works where the women is
used to indulge in in doing domestic course and brought up their children. The women were not
given proper scope for economic independence for properly utilizing their skills by giving them
education like male counterparts. This situation is more or less same in in many countries.
Despite the fact that the wave of modernism has open the door for women also but in many
societies the responsibilities and expectations from the women have remained same. In many
parts of the world the women are not allowed to show their faces to the others and going out of
the house is not accepted. In order to understand these issues the theories like functionalism,
feminism and modernism can be analyzed.
This paper the discussion about gender based violence and social impacts of it will be analyzed
on the basis of three examples. These examples include domestic violence against women rape

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and acid attacks. These are very common incidents that the women in the society are facing
every day. In comparison to these examples verbal harassment or pay gaps in terms of gender
discrimination seem trivial.
Paragraph 1
The social concern connecting to the sexual or gender inequality has gone far that
includes the oppression of women by men in everyday life. The sociological understanding and
concepts are showing concerns towards the increasing violence on the basis of gender and how
they are leading to affect the social wellbeing of the people in the UK. The cases like domestic
violence on women, rape and acid attacks have become quite common in the developed
country like the UK.
According to the news published in Thesun.co.uk (2019), the UK has seen a disturbing surge of a
gender based violence especially acid attacks even in the city of London. Similarly the data
published in Ons.gov.uk (2020), it has been seen that the crime survey for England and Wales in
2018 the rate of domestic violence on women is fairly high. These violence include both sexual
as well as non-sexual. The targets of these violence include the women ranging from 16 to 59
years. Similarly The Guardian has pointed out the fact that the number of rape cases have been
recorded in different area of the UK but the criminals are not being prosecuted within expected
time.
The other evidences like Standard.co.uk (2019) has also mentioned about the acid attack problem
in the UK. This report has mentioned that the capital London has become the hotspot of such
gender based violence and some of the injured persons are below the age of 10. According to the
data published by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the violence against the women are

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increasing the UK that originates from the domestic violence and leads to the problems like acid
attacks and rape. However, the rate of gender based violence against the women are higher in the
Asian and African societies than that of the UK but in terms of population the percentage is
higher in the UK. These evidences published in the various newspapers and journals supports the
idea that the women are treated to be the weaker section of the society hence the males with
criminal psychology target them and conduct heinous acts to dominate them. The women in the
western societies like that of the UK are more independent in terms of economy as well as
socially. Most of them enjoy liberty as those of men as the legal system allows this for the
women in this society but the issues of femicide is getting impetus with increasing campaigning
against the women empowerment and feminist views.
The misogynist outlooks in the culture as seen by Boffey (2020), believes in the
subjugation of women where the women in the society will be abiding by most of the strict rules
regarding their clothes, education, employment, payment and other responsibilities. The issues
like femicide by the means of domestic violence, acid attacks and rape are being originated from
the hate crime and these violence are becoming global pandemic. The most concerning factor
relating to the women security in the developed country like that of the UK is that in some cases,
the police are not ready to record the cases of the victims making their allegations worthless
before political pressure or other powerful measures.
Paragraph 2
The main concerns relates to the gender based violence in which he female members of
the society are being oppressed by their male counterparts. In order to analyze the reasons and
the impact of these gender based violence up the society, different sociological theories need to

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be analyzed. Feminist sociology, a part of conflict theory sees the society to be divided in terms
of power equation of gender both at the level of reflexivity within the social structure at a larger
context. The focus includes race, sexual orientation, economic status and nationality (Zinn and
Dill 2016). This type of feminism view the society fundamentally based on patriarchy which is
dominated by the male members (Naffine 2018). These male members keep on oppress their
female counterparts every way by humiliating, dismounting, challenging and keep them away
from enjoying equality like themselves or even the liberty or rights that a human being must
enjoy.
The factionalists support sexual activities confining the marriage and a process for
intensification of the ending between the people in the society. This theory supports the idea of
legally recognized relationship. The issues like sexual harassment and assaults therefore contract
the idea of functionalism. This theory seeks to abolish the dominance of one part of the society to
control the others (Turner 2017). It aims for liberating everyone from the unjust social norms
through challenging the existing social norms as well as institutions. Post-modernist view aims to
destabilize the patriarchal norms engrained into the society as this has led to the gender
inequality in the society. The theorists seek to the accomplish the goals by rejecting essentialism,
universal truth and philosophy in favor of embracing the differences existing among women for
demonstrating that all the women are not same.
The Acid Survivors Trust International reveals the fact that the situation of UK in terms
of women security is questionable as it the UK has topped the incidents of acid attacks in the
global chart. This brings the evidence of misogynistic outlook of the UK society that hurts the
legalism and strict social norms of this type of highly developed society (Bindel 2020). The

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inability of the law and order of modern society does not support the security of the women
making them vulnerable to sustain and get empowered.
The other evidences like the data published by the Telegraph UK has revealed that the
sexual stereotypes is increasing the misogynistic ideology in the society that is leading one part
of the society to enhance zealously in the power equilibrium in the society hence the rapists are
continuing their offence. They are being safeguarded by the political system guided by the
political pressure (Davies 2019). In many of the cases, the failure of prosecuting the crimes sends
clear message to the situation of disregarding justice for women.
The theories therefore directly connect the impact of these gender based violence with the social
growth. The points of view of the male members towards the women are reflected in the
everyday situation which can be seen in doing the household chores, admission in the education
system and getting employment.
Paragraph 3
According to the theory the radical feminism calls for the elimination of the male supremacy in
the social as well as economical context. This is the reason why the feminists aim to eliminate
the privileges of the male parts of the society and the sex distinction itself. The theory of
feminism finds the patriarchal ideology to be the most important factor behind sexual
objectification of the women leading to the rape and violence against the women hence
challenging the concepts of gender roles is needed (Barr, Topping and Bowcott 2019).
According to socialist theorists, the society has a greater connection with gender and sexuality
which connect the individuals with a great like along with their psychological wellbeing. Sex
refers to the physiological and physical differences between the males and the females that

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includes the primary sex characteristics like the reproductive system and the secondary
characteristics like muscularity and height of the persons. Now the sociological debates revolves
round the idea of issues of equality regarding sexuality and gender.
The social structure therefore is the main contributing factor to give birth to the
misogynist outlook that originates from the idea of patriarchy. Here the violation against the
women did not evolve one day but acquired its power from everyday treatment of men against
women. From the very beginning of their lives, the boys see the gender role in their houses
where the fathers work outside and mothers take the responsibilities of their homes (Dowson
2017). In some families the male head of ten indulge in domestic violence upon the women
granting their efforts worthless as they stay back home and do not take active part in the
economy of the family. The critis like Dowson (2017) argue that this rows the seed of misogynist
in the minds of the children which empowers the patriarchal outlook more exclusively.
As an argument Chesney-Lind (2017) mentions there is no denying the fact that female
violence fascinates the general public. They in one hand disturbs the humanity but on the other
hand becomes critical for been changed. The patriarchy and Misogynistic ideologies have
become so interconnected that the very idea of men showing respect to women have become a
point of discussion. In every part of the world along with the UK the female counter parts are
seen to be subordinate aand less capable than men (Statista.com 2020). Therefore they are
accepted to be weak and expected to be subjugated by men. From various theories and social
concepts it has been clearly found out that women empowerment is not only limited to the
successful education for placement in a job like a man but also respecting those women who
spend their entire life serving their families. In contrast to this respect the society is going to an

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opposite path of discriminating women in every field and when the verbal control is getting
weaker than the weapon of violence is used.
Therefore it can be said that gender role is taught by the parents and in schools so that they
understand the importance of equality of human being without discriminating male and female in
terms of their physical or psychological capabilities.
Paragraph 4.
The government needs to be aware about the oppression against women and make stricter laws
to women Empowerment. In everyday life a woman faces several types of barriers. In going to
more depth it can be found out that the female children are struggling to survive right from their
mother’s womb. In many countries like India, feticide in common after determination of sex in
the pregnancy. In that country also acid attacks are also very common in schools and colleges.
Harassment in streets and workplaces leads to rape and often murder. The liberty of women is
dysfunctional and open discrimination based on gender is seen within the family. According to
Amnesty.org (2020), acid attacks, domestic violence by the male members of the family and
both mental and sexual torture upon women are quite common in the Asian and African
countries where the society e believes in inequality and power discrimination. The women are
traditionally seen to be dominated by the men and expect less liberty than the male.
As an argument against these social norms mentioned previously, the definition of
violence against women detailed by the UN as detailed in Avaproject.org.uk (2020), these acts
are heinous crime for which the government needs to take more cautious steps for example the
punishment process of the people indulging in acid attacks against women or for that matter
domestic violence by hurting the female members of the family either physically or

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psychological or sexually need to be punished immediately (Wheatstone and Akbar, 2019).
Similarly death sentence of the rapists can be a great example for the criminals who will be e
afraid of doing such acts in the future. It is the thought process of these criminals which convince
them that the women are to be e treated like that. Therefore most of the responsibility goes to the
ability of the government to take necessary steps.
All the evidences suggest similar opinions because the crime against women Were are not
recorded properly due to political pressure, unavailability of evidence and financial background
of the victims but this is the time when women themselves come forward and demand for their
rights. There are several NGOs are working for empowering women in the UK as well as the
developing countries like Bangladesh Pakistan and India so that the women get proper education
and economic support to prevent the operation against them.
Hence it can be said that the government can effectively focus in empowering the half of
the society through giving them proper security and other procurements for their survival. With
the help of NGOs, women empowerment can go further.
Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be concluded that gender based violence is a crime that needs to be
prevent as early as possible. Irrespective of development in the economy, politics, society and
technology, no country of this world are free from violence against women. In this respect every
government in every country be it developed or undeveloped or developing, have failed to give
the absolute security to women because the incidents of acid attacks, domestic violence often
leading to the murder and rape are practiced. These are all taking place in spite of having strict
rules and regulations. The patriarchal society of the world supports the subjugation of the female

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gender and decides what they must do and what not. There are several evidences from different
newspapers and journals which support the acts of violence against women to execute power
over them and keeping them aside in enjoying their rights effectively. The social security and
acceptance of the skills and talent possessed by women are nullified every time and their lives
are made more challenging in the name of religion, tradition, biology and many more.

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