scholarly journals Domestic violence: Evidence-based policies before and during the pandemic in Greece

Temida ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Artinopoulou

Domestic violence and gender-based violence has been studied and recognised for many years in Greece. Adequate legislation on the criminalization of domestic violence has been implemented since 2006 (Law 3500/2006 on the Confrontation of Domestic Violence). A network of support services has also operated across the country for many years, staffed with professionals trained in the gender-sensitive perspective. However, Greece still faces the impact of the economic crisis that started in 2010 and the critical aspects of the crisis from the reduction of the public budget imposed by the European institutions in the lives of the individuals, the victims and the providers of the social services have not been fully assessed yet. The COVID-19 pandemic created problems in the victims? access to social services and not only. The shadow pandemic describes the alarm on the increase of domestic violence during the pandemic and the isolation of the victims from the providers of social and psychological support. Addressing both the issue of domestic violence through a victim-centered approach before and during the pandemic in Greece and the need for the implementation of evidence-based policies are the general aims of the paper. To this, we present few findings from an original victimological online research on domestic violence during the first lockdown in the country (March to May 2020) and we justify the need for the implementation of evidence-based policies in the criminal justice system in Greece.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Marques

Despite legislative advancements, domestic violence is still today a crime considered as "minor" by many, or often the actions that materialise it are not even recognised. The first steps in Portuguese legislation were taken by the Penal Code approved in 1982, which typified the crime of ill-treatment between spouses, and by the Law n. º 61/91 of 13th of August, which guaranteed “adequate protection to women victims of violence”. However, only in 2007, was the crime of Domestic Violence created, which shows, from 1982 until then, a long path of hesitations and slow social evolution concerning the consciousness of this crime’s seriousness. Until 2007, the crime of spousal abuse was integrated in a broader criminal arrangement, characterised by the abuse of persons. In 2009, with the typification of the crime of Domestic Violence and with the publication of the legal regime applicable to the prevention, protection, and assistance of victims, denominated as Law of Domestic Violence, a more consolidated phase was inaugurated, in both legal treatment and social intervention. Despite these evolutions, Portugal continues to witness an attitude of "social and collective consent" to some forms of Domestic Violence, oftentimes disguised in the acceptance and normalisation of gender inequalities. We have seen news stories where judgements are presented, within the scope of Domestic Violence cases, where discriminatory ideas against women and excuses for the crime of Domestic Violence are manifested. This is proof that some of the representatives of justice (the judges) do not accept what has already been legally approved in the Portuguese legal system. Similarly, recent studies on the population’s perception of domestic and gender-based violence show the abiding ideas and understandings of acceptance and normalisation of domestic and gender-based violence in Portuguese society. We intend to present the evolution of the typification of the crime of domestic violence in Portugal. Then, we intend to understand how this phenomenon has been perceived in Portuguese society. Therefore, we will be able to understand the continuities and ruptures between the legislative body and the social body in what concerns Domestic Violence and Violence against Women in Portugal.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-142
Author(s):  
Stephen Vertigans ◽  
◽  
Natascha Mueller-Hirth ◽  
Fredrick Okinda

Informal settlements have been identified as locations both where the spread of COVID-19 has generally been slower than within the Global North and measures to restrain the pandemic have further intensified local peoples’ marginality as income decreases without welfare or financial safety nets. In this paper, qualitative fieldwork is detailed which commenced in Korogocho, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, immediately prior to national COVID-19 restrictions. This March 2020, pre-COVID phase of the fieldwork focused on a community-based project and the basis for resilience in transforming local lives. During the next 12 months of the pandemic fieldwork continued, exploring experiences and reactions to restraining policies. These findings reinforce concerns about the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions on marginalised peoples’ income, food security, health, safety and gender-based violence. How the local people reacted to these effects highlights their creative resilience and adaptability. The paper concludes by examining the impact of, and responses to, the controlling measures on the social relationships and cohesion that underpins the community resilience.


Author(s):  
Marcela Jabbaz Churba

AbstractThis study aims to analyse the legal decision-making process in the Community of Valencia (Spain) regarding contentious divorces particularly with respect to parental authority (patria potestas), custody and visiting arrangements for children, and the opinions of mothers and fathers on the impact these judicial measures have had on their lives. It also considers the biases in these decisions produced by privileging the rights of the adults over those of the children. Three particular moments are studied: (1) the situation before the break-up, focusing on the invisible gender gap in care; (2) the judicial process, where we observe the impact of hidden gender-based violence and gender stereotypes; and (3) the situation post-decision, showing how any existing violence continues after divorce, by means of parental authority. The concept of ‘motherhood under threat’ is placed at the centre of these issues, where children’s voices are given the least attention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-334
Author(s):  
Mauro Machado do Prado ◽  
Ana Paula de Castro Neves ◽  
Nathália Machado Cardoso Dardeau de Albuquerque

O presente trabalho consiste em um estudo qualitativo das representações sociais de imigrantes venezuelanas na América do Sul no período de 2016 a 2019, a partir de manchetes de notícias divulgadas em jornais digitais brasileiros. O objetivo é verificar a ocorrência ou não de veiculações que constituam de forma explícita ou implícita uma violação à dignidade e aos direitos dessas mulheres, ao fomentar ou incitar a xenofobia e a violência de gênero na sociedade através de palavras, frases ou expressões capazes de provocar um aniquilamento simbólico. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo bibliográfico e documental acerca das vulnerabilidades sociais presentes nos processos imigratórios contemporâneos, que foi consubstanciado com a análise de conteúdo (BARDIN, 2009), em abordagem qualitativa, de manchetes publicadas em jornais digitais brasileiros. A partir da análise realizada, foi possível inferir que estes veículos de comunicação vêm frequentemente descrevendo a migração venezuelana como um problema, mas em conotação negativa, sem o cuidado de descrição do contexto de forma mais clara e abrangente da questão a ser noticiada.   Xenofobia y violencia de género: un análisis de los titulares de las mujeres venezolanas en el periodismo web brasileño El presente trabajo consiste en un estudio cualitativo de las representaciones sociales de los inmigrantes venezolanos en América del Sur en el período de 2016 a 2019, a partir de titulares de noticias publicados en periódicos digitales brasileños. El objetivo es verificar la ocurrencia o no de colocaciones que constituyan explícita o implícitamente una violación a la dignidad y derechos de estas mujeres, al promover o incitar la xenofobia y la violencia de género en la sociedad a través de palabras, frases o expresiones capaces de provocar una aniquilación simbólica. Para ello, se realizó un estudio bibliográfico y documental sobre las vulnerabilidades sociales presentes en los procesos migratorios contemporáneos, el cual fue fundamentado con análisis de contenido (BARDIN, 2009), en un enfoque cualitativo, de titulares publicados en diarios digitales brasileños. Del análisis realizado, se pudo inferir que estos medios de comunicación han venido describiendo muchas veces la migración venezolana como un problema, pero en una connotación negativa, sin preocuparse por describir de manera más clara y completa el contexto del tema a reportar. Palabras clave: Derechos humanos de la mujer. La violencia de género. Xenofobia. Periodismo web.   Xenophobia and gender violence: an analysis of headings broadcasted in brazilian webjornalism on venezuelan women The present work consists of a qualitative study of the social representations of Venezuelan immigrants in South America in the period from 2016 to 2019, based on news headlines published in Brazilian digital newspapers. The objective is to verify the occurrence or not of placements that explicitly or implicitly constitute a violation of the dignity and rights of these women, by promoting or inciting xenophobia and gender violence in society through words, phrases or expressions capable of provoking a symbolic annihilation. To this end, a bibliographic and documentary study was carried out on the social vulnerabilities present in contemporary immigration processes, which was substantiated with content analysis (BARDIN, 2009), in a qualitative approach, of headlines published in Brazilian digital newspapers. From the analysis carried out, it was possible to infer that these media outlets have often been describing Venezuelan migration as a problem, but in a negative connotation, without taking care to describe the context more clearly and comprehensively of the issue to be reported. Keywords: Women’s human rights. Gender-based violence. Xenophobia. Webjournalism.


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.


Refuge ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-164
Author(s):  
Constance MacIntosh

This report is an effort to address information gaps regarding how gendered claims are addressed by adjudicators at Canada’s Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (the RPD). It looks at one specific type of gendered claim: persecution through domestic or intimate violence. The study considers all the RPD decisions from 2004 to 2009 and judicial reviews from 2005 to 2009 that were reported in the Quicklaw LexisNexis service. These decisions are analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. This report finds adjudicators consistently identify domestic violence as a form of gendered persecution that can form a nexus to a convention ground. However, despite contrary directions from the Gender Guidelines, adjudicators often fail to recognize the social, cultural, economic, and psychological dynamics of domestic abuse as legally relevant for their assessment of state protection. There is a striking failure on this account when it comes to determining if it was reasonable to expect the claimant to seek state protection. This report presents data on factors such as the rates at which adjudicators consider the adequacy of women’s shelters and the responsiveness of local police to complaints. As well as identifying the frequency and grounds for which judicial reviews are granted, this report also presents a series of recommendations for reform. These recommendations identify where studies are needed, how the Gender Guidelines need reform to make them a helpful instrument, and how training and support for PRD adjudicators needs to be enhanced.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 158-167
Author(s):  
Hooshmand Alizadeh ◽  
Josef Kohlbacher ◽  
Rozhen Kamal Mohammed-Amin ◽  
Tabin Latif Raouf

Feminist street art aims to transform patriarchal spaces into places of gendered resistance by asserting a feminist presence in the city. Considering this, as well as women’s social life, their struggle against lingering forces of patriarchy, and relating features of inequality (domestic violence), there was a feminist installation artwork by the young Kurdish artist Tara Abdulla that shook the city of Sulaimani in Iraqi Kurdistan on 26 October 2020. She had prepared a 4,800‐meter‐long washing line covered with the clothes of 99,678 Kurdish women who were survivors of sexual and gender‐based violence. They installed it along the busiest street of the city (Salim Street). She used this piece of feminine to express her reaction to the Kurdish society regarding, the abuse that goes on silently, behind closed doors. She also aimed towards normalizing women’s bodies. After the installation, she received many controversial reactions. As her artwork was a pioneering project in line with feminist issues in Kurdistan which preoccupied the city for quite a while, the aim of this article is to investigate the diverse effects of her work on the current dialogue regarding gender inequality in the Kurdish society. To do this, we used the research method of content analysis on big data (Facebook comments) to investigate the public reactions of a larger number of locals. The Feminine effectively exposed some of the deep‐rooted cultural, religious, and social barriers in addressing gender inequalities and silent sexual violence issues in the modern Kurdish patriarchal society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-18
Author(s):  
Magdalena Pfalzgraf

Valerie Tagwira’s debut novel The Uncertainty of Hope, set in Harare in 2005, depicts the city on the brink of collapse, characterized by the effects of economic crisis and political violence against the urban poor. Political marginalization of the working classes and gender-based violence intersect and diminish the prospects for the social and spatial mobility of the urban poor. In this article I apply the lens of flânerie to the pedestrian movements of Tagwira’s protagonist Onai Moyo, an impoverished woman who makes a living by selling vegetables on Harare’s streets. In order to make a case for Onai’s ‘flânerie against all odds’, I revisit Walter Benjamin’s theorization as well as recent scholarly engagements with flânerie in non-European settings. By giving her protagonist a gaze traditionally associated with a European middle-class urbanity of the 19th century, Tagwira expands a tradition of city writing/walking and, like other contemporary engagements with flânerie, also breathes new life into a concept often pronounced inappropriate or unproductive for readings of non-European literature. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. v-vi
Author(s):  
Claudia Mitchell

The concerns addressed by the authors in this issue point to the need for a reimagining of girlhood as it is currently framed by settler and carceral states. To quote the guest editors, Sandrina de Finney, Patricia Krueger-Henney, and Lena Palacios, “The very notions of girl and girlhood are embedded in a colonial privileging of white, cis-heteropatriarchal, ableist constructs of femininity bolstered by Euro-Western theories of normative child development that were—and still are—violently imposed on othered, non-white girls, queer, and gender-nonconforming bodies.” Indigenous-led initiatives in Canada, such as the Networks for Change: Girl-led ‘from the Ground up’ Policy-making to Address Sexual Violence in Canada and South Africa project, highlighted in four of the eight articles in this issue, along with the insights and recommendations offered in the articles that deal with the various positionalities and contexts of Latinx and Black girls, can be described as creating a new trail. In using the term trail, here, I am guided by the voices of the Indigenous researchers, activists, elders, and community scholars who participated in the conference called More Than Words in Addressing Sexual and Gender-based Violence: A Dialogue on the Impact of Indigenous-focused, Youthled Engagement Through the Arts on Families and Communities held in Montreal. Their use of the term trail suggests a new order, one that is balanced between the ancestors and spiritual teachings on the one hand, and contemporary spaces that need to be decolonized on the other with this initiative being guided by intergenerationality and a constant interrogation of language. The guest editors of this special issue and all the contributors have gone a long way on this newly named trail.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document