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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
HOW IS "VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN" SEEN IN THE SOCIETY? WHAT ARE THE GOOD WAYS TO PUT AN END TO THIS VIOLENCE ?
ESSAY WRITTEN BY: SABINE EL ASMAR
Every person has a right to a tolerable human existence. In fact, equality
and human decency are a right not a freedom. In contrast, women are
sometimes victims of violence by governments, forensic doctors, and the
police in many parts of the world.Wherever they are, all women are facing the same barriers of mistreatment
and violence. Women are always fighting between getting their rights and
stopping violence against them.
But what are the woman’s rights? A woman has the right to obtain education, to work in society and earn money, to keep this money, to express her
opinion and be heard. She has the right to negociate about marriage, to
accept or refuse a husband, to ask for divorce.
On the other hand, in some countries , women are being victims of all forms
of violence: rapes, sexual abuse, domestic violence. Lots of examples
illustrate this idea. In Russia, 12,000 women die a year as a result of
domestic violence. In Afghanistan, for example, women are stoned to death
if the mesh doesn’t cover all their head… In these countries, women are afraid
of the slightest misbehavior. Moreover, the rate of female suicide, as a
solution for a deep depression, increased in many countries.
Not everyone agrees that violence is a "crime". We can affirm this by the
misconduct of certain judges, by the police… First, some judges consider
violence as a crime against honor and custom rather than a crime against
the physical integrity of the victims. Sometimes, the guilty person can
avoid punishment if he gets married to the victim. As for the police,
violence is dissmissed as a family issue, they don't interfere. Finally,
the forensic doctors do not consider violence as a crime, that's why they
minimize the victim's injuries and blame the victim, especially if she
wasn’t a virgin at the moment of the assault. In such cases, women are often
insulted as if they were the guilty ones not the victims.
Knowing this, several behaviors should be followed when facing
"violence cases".
First of all, all forms of violence against women should be criminalized
with an appropriate serious penalty. The Law should criminalize sexual
abuse by prison staff. Then, the police should take any testimony from any
mistreated woman. They should accept to treat each complaint presented.
Police should also receive good training to face violence problems. They
should understand what crime and violence mean. They have to know how to
investigate, to take notes, and especially how to eliminate the
mistreatment of women. As for the forensic doctors, they should treat all
the victims of violence with compassion, fairness, and respect. Each woman
who was a victim of violence has the right to a medico- legal system with
the necessary diagnosis and treatment.
The government has a big role in this violence case. Many clear and fair
steps have been discussed and approaved by the government in order to stop
violence against women. In fact, the government has to prevent violence,
to protect mistreated women who were once victims of violence, to offer
them help, support services, counseling, refuge…The government should undertake
public education compaigns on preventing violence against women; criminals
should be brought to justice as protection and freedom should be provided to
all women.As we all know, women are being the victims of violence and sexual abuse
in many countries. They are mistreated by the police, the law, the
doctors…
Personally, I think that everyone should pledge to fight violence against
women in all its forms and build them ways to win justice. In reality, no
one owns a man, no one owns a woman. Each person needs support from
another human being so that they face together all life’s mysteries.
REFERENCES:
1)Women’s rights in Islam.
http://www.themodernreligion.com/women/w_rights_summary.htm2)Violence against women- (Human Rights Watch)
http://www.hrw.org/hrw/backgrounder/wrd/fiveplus.htm3)Women’s rights.
http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/list-archive/prospective-lscs/msg00048.html4)Governments urged to stop violence against women- (Human Rights Watch)
http://www.hrw.org/hrw/press/2000/06/women0602.htm5)Women’s human rights.
http://www.unifem.undp.org/hrights.htm
(ESSAY WRITTEN BY: SABINE EL ASMAR)
(July 28,2000)
Page Created on August 3, 2000
Last updated on August 3, 2000
Copyright © 2000 by Nada AbiSamra
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