The Power of Bipartisan Mobilization: The Success of Tunisia’s Feminist Movement During the Coronavirus Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Maro Youssef ◽  
Sarah Yerkes

Abstract The Tunisian government, which is deeply divided, especially along ideological lines, responded to growing concerns over increased violence against women during the Coronavirus pandemic by establishing a new domestic violence shelter and 24/7 hotline. This article asks: Why did the state respond to gender-based violence(gbv) concerns during the Coronavirus pandemic in Tunisia, despite ideological and political divisions? We argue that the state addressed some concerns around violence during the pandemic because combatting gbv has bipartisan support in Tunisia. Tunisian Islamist and secularist women’s rights organizations succeeded in building a bipartisan coalition of support on this issue because they worked either together in a short-lived coalition or in tandem with similar goals over the past decade during the democratic transition in Tunisia. Building on the existing coalition literature, we show that feminist coalition formation before a pandemic has implications for feminists’ success in times of crisis.

Author(s):  
Zorica Saltirovska Professor ◽  
Sunchica Dimitrijoska Professor

Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that prevents women from enjoying the rights and liberties on an equal level with men. Inevitably, domestic violence shows the same trend of victimizing women to such a degree that the term “domestic violence” is increasingly becoming synonymous with “violence against women”. The Istanbul Convention defines domestic violence as "gender-based violence against women", or in other words "violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately." The situation is similar in the Republic of Macedonia, where women are predominantly victims of domestic violence. However, the Macedonian legal framework does not define domestic violence as gender-based violence, and thus it does not define it as a specific form of discrimination against women. The national legislation stipulates that victims are to be protected in both a criminal and a civil procedure, and the Law on Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence determines the actions of the institutions and civil organizations in the prevention of domestic violence and the protection of victims. The system for protection of victims of domestic violence closely supports the Law on Social Protection and the Law on Free Legal Aid, both of which include provisions on additional assistance for women victims of domestic violence. However, the existing legislation has multiple deficiencies and does not allow for a greater efficacy in implementing the prescribed measures for the protection of victims of domestic violence. For this reason, as well as due to the inconsistent implementation of legal solutions of this particular issue, the civil sector is constantly expressing their concern about the increasingly wider spread of domestic violence against women and about the protection capabilities at their disposal. The lack of recognition of all forms of gender-based violence, the trivial number of criminal sentences against persons who perform acts of domestic violence, the insufficient support offered to victims – including victim shelters, legal assistance, and counseling, and the lack of systematic databases on domestic violence cases on a national level, are a mere few of the many issues clearly pointing to the inevitable conclusion that the protection of women-victims of domestic violence is inadequate. Hence, the functionality and efficiency of both the existing legislation and the institutions in charge of protection and support of women – victims of domestic violence is being questioned, which is also the subject for analysis in this paper.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 862-881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieko Yoshihama ◽  
Tomoko Yunomae ◽  
Azumi Tsuge ◽  
Keiko Ikeda ◽  
Reiko Masai

This study reports on 82 unduplicated cases of violence against women and children after the Great East Japan Disaster of March 2011. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from informants who worked with the disaster-affected populations. In addition to domestic violence, reported cases involved sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact, including quid pro quo assault perpetrated by nonintimates. Perpetrators often exploited a sense of fear, helplessness, and powerlessness and used threats to force compliance with sexual demands in exchange for life-sustaining resources. Findings point to the urgent need to develop measures to prevent and respond to postdisaster gender-based violence.


2020 ◽  
pp. 101269022097971
Author(s):  
Cathy van Ingen

This article presents a biographical narrative of Christy Martin, a former world champion boxer who survived being stabbed and shot by her trainer/husband. Rooted in a sociological imagination, this biographic research chronicles Martin’s boxing career and its entanglements with gender-based violence. The boxing industry has a widely acknowledged, yet under-reported, problem with men’s violence against women. This article aims to illustrate that women’s boxing should be critically examined for the ways in which it functions both as a site of and a sanctuary from gender-based violence. Within this paper, I draw from media coverage of Christy Martin’s boxing career, over 700 pages of transcripts from the subsequent criminal trial, an interview with Martin, as well as my own research in women’s boxing, including work with survivors of domestic violence.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-95
Author(s):  
Shakila A. Rehman ◽  
Muhammad Shahid

Although gender-based violence is prevalent in all societies however it is more widespread in Pakistan. Women of all ages, from birth to old age, are victims of violence. The consequences of gender-based violence are devastating not only for women but for the whole family. Violence against women is mostly treated as a private matter and hence goes unreported and thus its actual prevalence remains little known. There are many forms of gender-based-violence. Among these, violence during pregnancy is some what less discussed. The present study examines some aspects of violence during pregnancy by the husband, and looks at its health consequences. The study was conducted in a Katchi abadi (unauthorized settlement) of Karachi, among poor women. Findings show that prevalence of violence by husbands during pregnancy is high among study population.


Author(s):  
Olena Uliutina ◽  
Olena Artemenko ◽  
Yuliia Vyshnevska

The article examines the problem of domestic violence against women in marriage and family relations, and also identifies ways for the legal regulation of this issue. It turns out that at present, violence against women is one of the main social mechanisms through which women are forced to occupy a subordinate position in comparison with men. Violence directed at women reflects the structure of subordination and power, the depth of the differences between the sexes. «Violence against women» according to UN documents means any act of violence committed on the basis of gender, which causes or may cause physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering to a woman, as well as threats to commit such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private life. It is concluded that in order to minimize the spread of such a negative phenomenon among the population, it is worth: to ensure the conduct of educational trainings and seminars for specialists of services for women and family affairs, social work, medical and pedagogical workers, volunteers to identify and prevent this type of crime; to strengthen public participation in the development of mechanisms and information on crimes related to domestic violence against women; improve the improvement of the collection of information of actors implementing measures to prevent and counter domestic violence and gender-based violence and establish better communication and cooperation between different bodies; ensure that the public is adequately informed about preventive measures and the ability to respond to crimes of domestic violence against women.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 172-180
Author(s):  
Sunil Gambhir ◽  
Akash Deep Aggarwal ◽  
Aatika Mahajan ◽  
Ritu Setiya

This paper examines violence against women, with a special focus on domestic violence, along with sexual violence and sexual assault, in multidimensional perspective for the period of two years so as to understand its magnitude and its impact on the rights of women in the northern part of India. Among all such cases, there were 57.2% cases of domestic violence, 20.3% cases of sexual violence and sexual assault, 17.8% cases of attempted poisoning, 1.5% cases of homicidal burns, and 1.2% cases of attempted suicide. The greatest number of cases was recorded during the spring, followed by summer. It was observed that the greatest number of cases (60.24%) was recorded under the homemaker (housewife) category of women followed by the working category (26.80%). The greatest number of cases is seen in the age group of 20 to 30 years (42.77%), followed by the age group of 30 to 40 years (23.49%). A slightly higher number of cases (51.20%) was reported from rural areas. The greatest number of cases was recorded under the domestic violence category. The second highest percentage of cases reported involved sexual violence and sexual assault. The greatest number of married cases had a duration of zero to ten years (43.37%), followed by the unmarried category (19.87%). With reference to duration of violence, the greatest number of cases is seen in the age group of zero to six months (32.53%). The greatest number of cases is seen under the no child category (40.96%). Regarding the alleged perpetrator, the greatest number of cases is seen under the husband category (23.79%), followed by unknown category (22.28%).


1970 ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Fatima Sadiqi

Theories, debates, and activism on sexual health and rights have travelled withreasonable speed in North Africa in the past three decades or so and considerable headway has been achieved on this front (see Charrad, 2010; Sadiqi, 2008; Ennaji & Sadiqi, 2011). However, although related, questions of domestic violence, which may also include sexual assault and rape, have been rather side-lined theoretically, in spite of the fact that activism and legal reform remain strong in the region, and in spite of the fact that gender-based violence is considered essential to the most fundamental provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This regression in theoretical work on domestic violence in the region resulted in lack of action on the part of policy-makers.


2020 ◽  
pp. 145-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nomi Dave

This chapter examines the limits of musical activism by considering some of the varied ways in which music has addressed women’s rights and gender-based violence in Guinea. It centers around the case of a young Guinean rapper who was recently charged with sexual assault, and whose case generated intense criticism from feminist activists and intense support from his fans. The chapter considers two songs closely connected to the case: one that calls for an end to violence against women, and one that calls on women to forgive him. These two songs seem to reflect radically divergent views on gender-based violence. But they are both linked to an underlying ambivalence about women’s rights on the behalf of musicians, audiences, and the state. Survivors of sexual violence are absent in both cases, erased by a politics of forgiveness that calls on them to forget and to be forgotten.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jéssica Andrade da Fonseca ◽  
Giovanna Burgos Souto Maior E Viviane Colares

Introdução: As infecções sexualmente transmissíveis (IST´s) estão acometendo cada vez mais a população adolescente. Entre os fatores responsáveis, é possível citar a diminuição da idade para início da vida sexual, não uso de preservativo e o aumento no número de parceria sexual. Alguns estudos relatam ainda a relação entre a violência e o risco para as IST´s. Objetivo: Avaliar a violência como fator de risco as infecções sexualmente transmissíveis em adolescentes. Materiais e métodos: A busca bibliográfica foi realizada nas bases de dados BVS, LILACS, PubMed e SciELO, a partir da estratégia PECO, na qual, P (população) é composta por adolescentes; E (exposição) à violência; C (comparação), não houve e, no O (outcomes ou desfecho), temos infecções ou doenças sexualmente transmissíveis. A partir disso, utilizou-se a seguinte estratégia de busca: ((adolescent OR teen OR child) AND (violence OR sex offenses OR exposure to violence OR child abuse OR violence against women OR gender-based violence OR domestic violence OR intimate partner violence)) AND (sexually transmitted infections OR sexually transmitted disease). Foram incluídos: estudos clínicos, estudos comparativos, teste clínico controlado, estudo multicêntrico, estudo observacional e ensaio clinico randomizado. A revisão sistemática foi registrada no PROSPERO sob o número CRD42021273079. Os revisores foram cegos e independentes durante as fases de seleção por títulos/resumos e leitura do artigo na íntegra. Resultados: Foram encontrados 502 artigos nas bases de dados selecionadas, destes 18 (duplicados) foram excluídos. Resultando em 484 artigos para triagem de títulos e resumos por 2 (duas) autoras, realizou-se o teste de KAPPA que apresentou um índice de concordância entre as autoras de 0,9, considerado excelente. Restando 78 artigos para leitura na integra. Considerações finais: Com o seguimento das próximas etapas do presente estudo, avaliaremos a violência como fator de risco para IST´s.


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