Violence Against Women
Not a day goes by without some form of violence being inflicted against women. Be it incest/rape, a husband beating his wife, a female victim of a snatch thief or a manager sexually harassing his secretary – all these are examples of violence against women. The fact is that these perpetrators are men who use violence to exert power and control over women.
This type of gender-based violence is what we call Violence Against Women (VAW). It can happen to any woman of any race, age, size, or social status. While physical violence like wife battering, rape, or sexual assault are widely known and condemned, other forms of violence like psychological and emotional violence can have an equally damaging impact on women’s lives. Examples include wives who live under the constant fear of threats, husbands who control their wives’ movements/finances and constantly blame them when things go wrong are other subtle forms of VAW.
VAW happens when such men regard women as their subordinates and feel they have a right to inflict harm and destroy their lives. VAW is wrong and unacceptable.
Over the years, WCC has been highlighting VAW issues like domestic violence, rape, and sexual harassment. Through talks, seminars and outreach activities, WCC works with different communities to raise awareness on the importance of the participation of people to overcome VAW in our society. WCC, as part of the Joint Action Group against Violence Against Women (JAG),has also been actively lobbying and campaigning for legal changes for women and children.
WCC’s primary aim is to work towards the elimination of VAW and for gender equality. WCC believes that gender violence can be overcome when men and women have mutual respect for each other and work in partnership with each other.
Domestic Violence is abuse committed against a person by someone in the family. Domestic violence has different forms, which includes slapping, kicking, choking, hitting a person’s head against the wall, forced sex or sexual acts, threatening to hurt a person, making a person feel small, stupid, or worthless and damaging property to upset the victim. People who commit domestic violence are trying to control the person being abused. Violence of any kind is wrong.
Women’s organisations lobbied for nearly ten years before the DVA was passed in 1994. Today, battered women can seek help from government agencies like the police, welfare department, hospital, and women’s NGOs to take action against their abusers.