Gender violence shredding equality fabric
What you need to know:
Several reasons are often advanced to justify GDV but, in truth, they are hollow-shallow.
Their ‘Walls of Jericho’ are too weak to withstand the tunes of the gender equality crusade.
- They are, mainly, the retrogressive culture of ‘disciplining’ women and financial insecurities.
In the past one month, the media have been awash with spiralling gender-based violence (GBV) incidents targeting vulnerable women. Rapes, murders and suicides of women have been common. Although both genders are affected, women bear the brunt.
This creeping trend is causing a reversal of the many gains in gender equality.
DEGRADING
The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women defines GBV as any harmful act that is perpetrated against one person’s will and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between males and females. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty, whether in public or private life.
According to the National Gender and Equality Commission report of 2016, 39 percent of women and girls aged 15 and above have experienced GBV, with one in four women suffering the vice every year.
GBV is global and a socially tolerated human rights violation in some cultures. Last year, the United States was grappling with sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, a sitting Supreme Court judge.
Nevertheless, laws and policies are in place with punitive provisions but the violations still spiral upwards.
The Constitution, under Article 27, is unequivocal on equality and freedom of all persons. Article 28 guarantees every person inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected. Article 29 secures the right of all persons not to be subjected to any form of violence from either public or private sources. It outlaws treatment or punishment which is cruel, inhuman or degrading.
HOLLOW-SHALLOW
Strangely, arguments have been advanced to justify the prevalence of GBV – like in the case of P.O. v. Board of Trustees AF & 2 Others 2014, where it was underscored that, GBV is the most prevalent human rights violation. No other form of sex discrimination violates so many fundamental rights as articulated in the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
These include Art. 1 (all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights); Art. 3 (Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person); and Art. 5 (No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment).
Several reasons are often advanced to justify GDV but, in truth, they are hollow-shallow. Their ‘Walls of Jericho’ are too weak to withstand the tunes of the gender equality crusade. They are, mainly, the retrogressive culture of ‘disciplining’ women and financial insecurities, reasons overtaken by advancement in human rights.
But all is not lost. First, strengthen policy guidelines on GBV through measures such as awareness creation and capacity building. Secondly, strengthen the legal framework by enacting laws, where necessary, to deal with perpetrators to stem human rights violations and facilitate implementation of the Constitution.
Lastly, create specific budgetary provisions by both national and county governments to manage and tackle GBV through aggressive awareness training of the relevant stakeholders.
Mr Ayuo is a legal researcher. [email protected]
