scholarly journals Making the Law Work for Men and Women: Advancing Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination in Nigeria’s Anti-Open Grazing Laws

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-381
Author(s):  
Jane Ezirigwe

The realization of equality between men and women is a fundamental part of the international development agenda. This entails equal opportunities and elimination of all forms of discrimination. Discrimination can be embedded overtly or covertly in laws. Therefore, making the law work for both men and women demands an all-inclusive approach. In Nigeria, the crisis involving herders and farmers has led to the loss of lives and properties, internal displacement, and human right abuses including rape. In a bid to curb the crisis, ‘anti-open grazing’ laws have been made in some states. Most of the acts criminalized and offences prohibited were gender-neutral, despite a more embracing approach on gender sensitivity in lawmaking.This article adopts an evaluative approach to assess inclusivity in the recent anti-open grazing laws in Nigeria. It argues that the laws covertly promote patriarchal benefits and boost hegemonic male dominance. Its aim is to reveal that gender-specific circumstances which reinforce sexual and gender-based violence against women, including rape, were ignored. This is notwithstanding the fact that the bodies of women and girls have been turned into battlefields. The study suggests that because society is not homogeneous, there is a need to reflect this diversity by updating these laws, to make them inclusive, in offering protection to women. It recommends that since equal opportunities come with equal responsibilities, the need to identify and prohibit the roles of women in the crisis becomes pertinent. This makes the laws work for both men and women, in pursuit of their agricultural endeavours

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Pat O’Connor ◽  
Margaret Hodgins ◽  
Dorian R. Woods ◽  
Elisa Wallwaey ◽  
Rachel Palmen ◽  
...  

Gender-based violence and sexual harassment (GBVH) by and towards academics and students has been under-theorised at an organisational level in higher education institutions (HEIs). The methodology involves a critical review of the literature on GBVH and organizational responses to it, locating it in the context of an analysis of organizational power. The theoretical perspective involves a focus on power and workplace bullying. It identifies three power-related characteristics of academic environments which it is suggested facilitate GBVH: their male-dominant hierarchical character; their neoliberal managerialist ethos and gender/intersectional incompetent leadership which perpetuates male entitlement and toxic masculinities. These characteristics also inhibit tackling GBVH by depicting it as an individual problem, encouraging informal coping and militating against the prosecution of perpetrators. Initiating a discussion and action at organizational and state levels about GBVH as a power-related phenomenon, challenging the dominant neo-liberal ethos and the hierarchical character of HEIs, as well as reducing their male dominance and increasing the gender competence of those in positions of power are seen as initial steps in tackling the problem.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 160-170
Author(s):  
Abdul Azeez E.P. ◽  
Dandub Palzor Negi ◽  
Aditi Mishra

The issue of open defecation is ubiquitous in a country like India where certain demographic groups are underprivileged and often the victims of substandard life and human right violations. Women are the direct victims of open defecation and the non-availability of toilets and the practice of open defecation makes women vulnerable to health risks and gender-based violence. The present article analyses the practice of open defecation by conducting in-depth interviews with 30 women in the reproductive age group in the five villages of Bandarsindri, Kheda, Sirohi, Mundoti and Nahoriyain in central Rajasthan. The study found that women’s experience of open defecation is accompanied by fear, shame, lack of privacy and dignity, and conflict—all of which impact the overall quality of life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 282-287
Author(s):  
Eva Brems ◽  
Lourdes Peroni ◽  
Ellen Desmet

Borders follow migrants even inside the territory of their State of destination. These ‘sticky’ figurative borders may flow directly from immigration norms and practice or indirectly from other areas of law. This Special Issue focuses on the gendered nature of these borders, as they rely on/reinforce socially constructed norms of masculinity and femininity. As a result, these figurative borders undermine the equal enjoyment of human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers along gender lines. Specifically, gendered borders are analysed in relation to the themes of asylum, domestic labour and gender-based violence. The human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in these domains are analysed in an integrated and complex fashion. The analysis demonstrates that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers navigate and challenge not only sticky figurative borders, but also borders between different areas of law. The (non)interaction between these different areas of law may equally create or reinforce unequal human rights protection along gender lines. The law, across different areas and through the workings of diverse categories, definitions and standards, may thus work as a border-reinforcer.


2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neusa Maria Franzoi ◽  
Rosa Maria Godoy Serpa da Fonseca ◽  
Rebeca Nunes Guedes

This study is the result of a survey carried out with professionals of the Family Health Strategy’s teams (FHS) in Araraquara, SP, Brazil. The study analyzed the conceptions held by FHS professionals concerning women, men and gender-based violence from the perspective of gender. The theoretical and methodological framework used was composed of gender and gender-based violence as social constructs guiding health practices. Empirical data were obtained from workshops and submitted to content analysis. The coexistence of critical and potentially transforming conceptions with conservative ones that reproduce the hegemonic ideology of male dominance was observed. These results confirm the need to broaden professional education to enable workers to deal with gender-based violence, which is a common element in the routine lives of women seeking health services.


Laws ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Rika Saraswati

To support women who are dealing with the legal system, especially women victims of gender-based violence, the Indonesian government issued Supreme Court Regulation (Perma) No. 3 of 2017 on Guidelines for Judging Cases of Women in Conflict with the Law. This regulation deals with women as victims, defendants and witnesses, and is used for civil and criminal cases. The Perma appears to attempt to counterbalance existing discriminatory practices in the courts and their processes. This article discusses the effectiveness of the “special treatment” in Supreme Court Regulation (Perma) No. 3 of 2017 on Guidelines for Judging Cases of Women in Conflict with the Law. This Perma seems to provide hope for producing progressive court decisions by contributing to the elimination of discrimination against women in the court process. However, this expectation certainly needs to be reviewed, given that, in their entirety, any such proceedings involve not only judges but also other law enforcement officials, namely the prosecutors. Furthermore, the presence of this Perma is considered by some Indonesian feminists to contradict the Judicial Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Judicial Behaviour (“the Code”). The Code requires judges to be neutral in judging but this Perma demands the opposite. This study is a qualitative study, and the data is obtained through a literature study of research conducted on court decisions and gender-based violence cases involving Indonesian women.


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-112

This sample of photos from 16 August–15 November 2019 aims to convey a sense of Palestinian life during this quarter. The images capture Palestinians across the diaspora as they fight to exercise their rights: to run for office, to vote, and to protest both Israeli occupation and gender-based violence.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Snodgrass

This article explores the complexities of gender-based violence in post-apartheid South Africa and interrogates the socio-political issues at the intersection of class, ‘race’ and gender, which impact South African women. Gender equality is up against a powerful enemy in societies with strong patriarchal traditions such as South Africa, where women of all ‘races’ and cultures have been oppressed, exploited and kept in positions of subservience for generations. In South Africa, where sexism and racism intersect, black women as a group have suffered the major brunt of this discrimination and are at the receiving end of extreme violence. South Africa’s gender-based violence is fuelled historically by the ideologies of apartheid (racism) and patriarchy (sexism), which are symbiotically premised on systemic humiliation that devalues and debases whole groups of people and renders them inferior. It is further argued that the current neo-patriarchal backlash in South Africa foments and sustains the subjugation of women and casts them as both victims and perpetuators of pervasive patriarchal values.


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.


2021 ◽  
pp. sextrans-2020-054896
Author(s):  
Navin Kumar ◽  
Kamila Janmohamed ◽  
Kate Nyhan ◽  
Laura Forastiere ◽  
Wei-Hong Zhang ◽  
...  

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing socioeconomic and health disparities, including disparities in sexual health and well-being. While there have been several reviews published on COVID-19 and population health disparities generally—including some with attention to HIV—none has focused on sexual health (ie, STI care, female sexual health, sexual behaviour). We have conducted a scoping review focused on sexual health (excluding reproductive health (RH), intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV)) in the COVID-19 era, examining sexual behaviours and sexual health outcomes.MethodsA scoping review, compiling both peer-reviewed and grey literature, focused on sexual health (excluding RH, IPV and GBV) and COVID-19 was conducted on 15 September 2020. Multiple bibliographical databases were searched. Study selection conformed to Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Reviewers’ Manual 2015 Methodology for JBI Scoping Reviews. We only included English-language original studies.ResultsWe found that men who have sex with men may be moving back toward pre-pandemic levels of sexual activity, and that STI and HIV testing rates seem to have decreased. There was minimal focus on outcomes such as the economic impact on sexual health (excluding RH, IPV and GBV) and STI care, especially STI care of marginalised populations. In terms of population groups, there was limited focus on sex workers or on women, especially women’s sexual behaviour and mental health. We noticed limited use of qualitative techniques. Very few studies were in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).ConclusionsSexual health research is critical during a global infectious disease pandemic and our review of studies suggested notable research gaps. Researchers can focus efforts on LMICs and under-researched topics within sexual health and explore the use of qualitative techniques and interventions where appropriate.


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