Violence against girls and women occurs at different stages in their life cycle. Many women experience multiple episodes of violence, which can start from childhood through to adulthood and old age.
The life-cycle approach to gender-based violence helps to understand the cumulative impact of violence faced by girls and women, particularly in terms of its consequences for physical and mental health. These aspects are also important in documenting cases, but also in analyzing the phenomenon.
From the experience of several countries, violence and the female life cycle can be addressed, studied and monitored in a multi-directional way, where several forms of violence can be identified among both residents and refugees or asylum seekers.
Thus, among people from different cultures and according to age, different forms of violence can be identified and documented, as listed in the study entitled “Documenting Gender Based Violence”:
Life periods | Forms of violence |
Prenatal | Prenatal |
Infancy | Infanticide; |
Childhood | Living |
Adolescence | Prostitution |
Maturity | Sexual |
Elderly | Physical |
The causes and roots of
gender-based violence can be individual or societal.
Individual causes
can be root causes or immediate causes:
Root causes are:
·
Alcohol and other substance abuse;
·
Mental disorders (including
post-traumatic);
·
(exaggerated) Desire for control;
·
Personality disorders;
· Aggressive behavior (not only in the family but also in society).
An important factor is childhood abuse and trauma. The risk of violence and abuse of a young person who has also been abused is high. Abuse becomes a model of the good or a solution to his psychological problems, deprivation or failed relationships. Abusive behavior becomes a habit for abusers because: it provides solutions for the present; it is based on control over others, which is something abusers want; it is admitted, unpunished or even supported and therefore teaches them that they can multiply abusive behavior to their benefit.
One important factor is childhood abuse and trauma. The risk of violence and abuse being applied to a young person who has also been abused is high. Abuse becomes a model of good or a solution to his psychological problems, deprivation or failed relationships.
Abusive behavior becomes a habit for abusers because: it provides solutions for the present; it is based on control over others, which is something abusers want; it is admitted, unpunished or even supported and therefore teaches them that they can multiply abusive behavior to their benefit.
The immediate causes are:
·
Acute or chronic stress (stress levels can
also increase as a result of major structural changes that occur as a result of
going through the family life cycle);
·
Anger attacks (especially in people with
low self-control);
·
Depression (which can be caused by various
factors or by previous trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder);
·
Despair (often linked to major changes in
the person’s life or in society);
·
Jealousy attacks;
· Material deprivation, economic problems, unemployment.
The societal causes
of perpetuating antisocial behavior by perpetrators can be linked to several
factors and may include:
·
Discrimination against women (in the
family, at work, in politics, etc.);
·
Societal stereotypes, based on social sexualization,
which privileges men;
·
Promotion of the male model of success in
society;
·
Imperfect legal framework, which does not
facilitate victims’ access to justice;
·
In many cases, domestic violence is not
seen as a potentially criminal act, but is often seen as a “family
dispute” in which no one should get involved;
·
Lack or inadequacy of rehabilitation and
support services for victims;
·
Lack or insufficiency of knowledge and
skills of different professionals in the field of trauma and documentation of
the consequences of violence;
·
The courts do not have a firm response to
perpetrators, and court cases can take a long time, so perpetrators are rarely
subject to severe economic sanctions or deprivation of liberty;
·
The community tolerates perpetrators,
often seeking explanations/justifications for them, blaming the woman (victim);
·
Tolerance of violence, thanks to norms
that legitimize the use of physical force as a means of education;
·
The community may see abuse as part of the
relationship (“when it’s good, when it’s bad”/”bad with bad, but
worse without bad”);
·
Negative/abusive involvement in the family
relationship of other community members, relatives (brothers-in-law, in-laws), who
induce tension and generate conflict, through destructive actions due to
jealousy, envy, revenge, etc.;
·
The insistence of the community
(counsellors, church, relatives, etc.) to offer a second chance to restore the
relationship or maintain the family, “in the interests of the
children”;
·
The social inequality and financial
dependence of women, who cannot work because of the need for childcare. This
situation is also aggravated by the lack/lack or poor quality of childcare
services (e.g. crèches, kindergartens, day centers for children with
disabilities, etc.);
·
Lack of a culture of assertive
communication in society and inability to manage conflict;
·
Lack of family counselling services at
district center, village level (lack of psychologists or insufficient training
for such services);