How To Prevent Gender Violence: Examples And Values
Gender violence is a social scourge of which a greater degree of awareness has been acquired in recent years.
Through campaigns, visibility and demonstrations, the population has been taking a position that is increasingly opposed to any type of aggression, both physical and psychological, towards women.
However, much remains to be done For this reason, in this article we explain in depth how to prevent this type of violence, education programs focused on children and adolescents to raise awareness and prevent them from committing violence or being victims of adults.
Violence against women does not begin in marriage or even in courtship. It is something much deeper, inherited from parents to children. There are many cases of abusers who saw and experienced situations of aggression towards women in their early childhood. It is for this reason that working to break this hereditary chain becomes really important.
Although in recent years there has been greater awareness of the issue, involving both men and women, the truth is that there is still a long way to go. The demonstration of this comes at the end of the year, when the number of women murdered by their partners, rapists and robbers who physically, psychologically and sexually abused them is taken into account.
Fortunately, Thanks to sensitivity and the social movement, governments have been putting in place programs and policies to put an end to this scourge promoting education for equality in primary and secondary schools, in addition to fighting against sexist myths and associated stereotypes.
The testimonies of female survivors have allowed us to study this phenomenon in more depth, learning what strategies should be promoted to guarantee greater survival in the face of this type of violence, in addition to offering methods to report when experiencing or seeing a case of this type.
Values to promote
Below are values that should be promoted to fight against gender violence whether directly attacking what underlies it, gender inequality understood in a broad sense, in addition to promoting a greater degree of understanding of the phenomenon and involvement in the fight for equality.
1. Promote women’s self-esteem
Especially girls and adolescents The idea must be promoted that they are capable of everything they set their minds to and that they, by the simple fact of existing, are already valuable. They don’t need a partner to feel something.
This idea aims to avoid toxic relationships that, if they evolve, can degenerate into episodes of both physical and psychological violence.
Learning that you are valuable enough to stop the relationship at the first signs of undervaluation and humiliation by your partner is one of the best prevention techniques.
2. Men and women should be equally involved in parenting
Although the idea that the man goes to work and the woman is the one who stays at home to take care of the children and do the housework is already quite outdated, the truth is that there is still no equitable distribution of work in home.
Both the father and the mother, in heterosexual couples, are in charge of raising the children. Both serve as development models for children.
The father cannot ignore his children, and it must be clear that he is as responsible for what his children do as the mother is. Educating is about an exercise of equality
Closely related to the previous value, It should be promoted to identify those roles that were traditionally associated with one or another gender and become aware of how this fact has been changing.
Both men and women can do any job and be any way without resorting to typical insults such as “faggot” or “tomboy.”
4. Gender violence is not (only) a marriage thing
Many teenagers who have boyfriends, without knowing it, are being victims of gender violence, no matter how subtle it may be. This type of violence can occur both physically and explicitly and in a more psychological and less clear way.
Pejorative comments and verbal humiliation are attacks. This is why sexist violence prevention programs must help understand when one is being a victim of psychological abuse.
5. Love and violence are incompatible
As painful as it may be for those who are victims of this, You must be aware that if you suffer aggression from your partner, it means that you do not love him or her
Love is a fact, not an assumption. When two people love each other, they cuddle, caress, and say nice words to each other. In other words, they treat each other pleasantly.
Violence is not a pleasant thing and therefore is not a symptom of love in any way.
6. In the couple there must be respect and mutual care
Two people who love each other may argue and sometimes have disagreements, but this will eventually be resolved.
Love implies that both members of the couple respect each other and show that you care about the other.
Arguments are normal and healthy, typical of any healthy relationship. What is not normal is aggression of any kind.
7. He is neither sick nor has he gotten out of hand
Whoever mistreats does not do it because they have a mental disorder nor because they could not control themselves.
If he did it, it is because he felt he had the ability and the right to do so, and subdue their partner through violence. Furthermore, it is common for the aggressor to humiliate his victim after the violent episode occurs.
8. The victim will always be innocent
There may have been an unpleasant situation in which both the aggressor and the person who was attacked shared some bad words, but the person on the receiving end of the attack will always remain the victim.
It is common for the victim to feel guilty, and that is why the myth that they asked for it must be fought.
Today, the belief is widespread that if a woman was beaten it was because she did something bad. It may be the case that something happens, but The beating will never be justifiable and the person who caused it is clearly the culprit
Examples of effective campaigns
Below we explain two cases of successful campaigns that have been carried out in two Latin American countries: Mexico and El Salvador.
1. Love, but the good kind
Carried out in Mexico and focused on adolescents and teachers, this campaign involved the implementation of workshops in which traditional roles and gender stereotypes were reflected on. Reproductive and sexual rights were also addressed.
This campaign had a positive effect on those who participated, causing the group of young men to significantly reduce their aggressive behavior and pejorative beliefs towards women.
Thanks to the campaign it has been possible to fight against sexism in Mexico, one of the countries most affected by sexist violence in Latin America, in addition to demonstrating the need and effectiveness of early intervention in a period as critical as adolescence.
2. City young woman
El Salvador is another of the countries hit by this social scourge In addition to episodes of violence against women, there are numerous cases of teenage pregnancies caused by sexual violence.
This program focuses on assertiveness, encouraging women to speak without taboos about this type of violence and if they have suffered an episode, to serve as a testimony that they can move forward.
