The concept Gender violence Refers to that which is exercised against any person based on their gender or gender that negatively impacts their identity and social, physical or psychological well-being.
Usually when we hear the term, the image of a person who has been physically assaulted, or even death, is almost always present in our minds.
But you should know that gender violence not only involves physical or verbal actions, but any sign that is issued for the purpose of damaging another person because of belonging to the sex to which it belongs, is considered as gender violence.
According to WHO, 1 in 3 women suffers from violence in the world. In Spain alone, since the beginning of 2016, 11 women have been murdered by their partner and more than 66,000 women are murdered every year around the world. The numbers are at least alarming.
For you to understand what I explain below, I will say that possibly the first aggression that these women suffered at the hands of their partner, was not physical.
Forms that adopt gender violence
To know what violence really is, we must know how it can appear to detect it quickly, since it can hide behind an act that by ignorance we do not consider aggressive or violent.
We can say that violence in general can adopt 5 ways:
- Physical : This form of violence is perhaps the best known. Physical violence is considered to be one that is used against someone's body causing pain and / or harm. That is, any intentional action towards another person, affecting his or her physical integrity.
- Psychological : This form is more difficult to detect than the previous one. It is also known as emotional violence. The intention is to impair the value and self-concept as well as the self-esteem of an individual. This form of violence is usually verbal. They can be hurtful words, insults, shouts and even humiliation.
- Sexual : It is a matter of forcing or coercing a person for the purpose of performing a particular sexual act without his own consent. It is important to add that sexual violence will be considered, as long as the victim does not consent, regardless of the relationship that maintains with the aggressor. It can be exercised by physical, psychological or moral force.
- Symbolic : It is considered symbolic violence that uses at the social level stereotypes, symbols, messages, values, icons or signs to inculcate to the recipient a difference of power or diminution of one's own value by belonging to a certain social group. In this case to discriminate and detect this type of violence is quite difficult because of the degree of habituation between the recipient and the message. With this type of violence we refer, for example, to advertisements where women are used as advertising sexual claims or values instilled from childhood, such as: "Men never cry."
- Economical : This form is characterized by those actions or omissions towards someone that can harm the economy and the subsistence of the person. It can be intuited by means of restrictions that have as purpose the control of the economic income, as well as the interruption or restriction not justified in order to obtain resources.
As you can read, not only is a coup considered violence, in fact In a recent study carried out in the Spanish population by Graña and Cuenca with heterosexual couples and adulthood, it was found that the two-way psychological violence is the one that has a greater presence 80% of psychic violence against 25% of physical violence .
Types of gender violence
Once I showed you the above classification, let's talk a little about the topic for which you started reading this article, gender violence.
If we look at the data obtained on complaints of gender-based violence, in Spain alone, a total of 126,742 complaints In 2015.
Knowing this fact, it shows that we are talking about a critical issue in our society, even more so if we think that the figure obtained does not refer to all those people who were mistreated but only those who denounced the aggressor.
Once you have reached this point of the article and you know the ways in which violence can be exercised as well as the seriousness of the issue, it is now time to talk about the types of gender violence that exist.
To carry out the classification I have chosen the one made by Johnson, in which the author uses the degree of control exercised to make the distinction. Thus we can distinguish gender violence in two independent groups
- Coercive control violence or intimate terrorism : In this case refers to a pattern of relationship that is usually fulfilled within the couple. This pattern is stable over time, and even increases the severity even after the rupture of the relationship.
- V Situational violence : This type is characterized by the existence of a pattern of violent behavior that occurs episodically or as a reaction, and is associated with the management of difficult situations in the couple. After the rupture, the risk and incidence decrease in general.
As for situational violence, when we talk about critical situations that can provoke violent reactions we refer to those associated with conflicts in the relationship or the breakdown of one's own partner.
If we take a look at the data, in Community samples Where gender violence occurs, Coercive type violence is 11% and situational violence is 89%.
In the case of Judicial samples Where the complaint was filed, the 29% is situational, while 68% is coercive.
10 Signs that indicate that you are a victim of gender
Perhaps in reading the above paragraphs you have felt identified in some other line. If you still have doubts about it, here are 10 easy-to-spot indicators that can give you more detailed information about whether you are really being a gender victim in your relationship.
The following indicators not only focus on what the aggressor does, but also pick up how you feel. In addition some examples are added to make it even clearer.
1-Jealousy
It is an indicator that can make you think that your partner is actually worrying about you, but what you really want is to have you under control. The behaviors that will be shown in this case will make you feel that you have done something wrong, although in reality you simply do your life with normality.
Signs that exemplify the indicator would be to interrogate you about who you talk to, to accuse you of flirting with other people, to feel jealous of other relationships you had in the past and even to blame you for others to look at you.
2-The control
As I mentioned in the previous section, the fact of wanting to exercise control over you, may make you think that only interested in your well-being and your security, in fact it is possible that I try to make you believe.
With the passage of time, and as the relationship progresses this behavior will become more intense. The behaviors you can show are: take control of your own economy, control how you dress, call you frequently during the day or even prohibit you from doing what you want.
Another form of common control is emotional blackmail, in which if you do not or stop doing what you ask, you will threaten something, such as ending the relationship or even commit suicide.
3-Insulation
In this case, your partner will try to distance you permanently from your social circles and even from your family. He may let you relate to them only when he is present. Maybe you even think she's right. The intention is to cut the bonds that come from outside the relationship and minimize the support and external resources of the victim to incapacitate it.
The attempt to isolate can be seen when your partner accuses your friends and relatives of people who do not know what is best for you and that all they want is to break your relationship. It can become suffocating to the point of removing the keys of your car, and block the lines of communication with the outside, such as the phone or the internet.
4-Irresponsibility
In this section it is alluded to blame others for their own behaviors or problems. What is more commonly known as"balls out"??. Your partner in this case, will blame either because it does what it does, or why it is as it is.
Anything that happens, that your partner considers negative, come from inside or outside the relationship to pay you, because in this sense, guilt almost always directs it to the victim. Surely you get to feel that the fault is really yours, and that you can do something to avoid the problem or your behavior next time.
5-Hypersensitivity
Your partner will receive any message as a personal attack. Any word, action, gesture or look aimed at your partner, this will feel as a personal offense. As a consequence, he will surely discharge his wrath upon you. You may try not to notice yourself, and go unnoticed so as not to disturb you.
6-Abuse of a verbal nature
This behavior implies that your partner tells you things that will be meant to make you feel bad. This behavior will be seen in insults or comments that degrade, despise and hurt you. You may even go with your physique, or when you address yourself to it with vexing nicknames.
This type of abuse can be in private or even in public humiliating you. This can seriously impair your self-esteem, to the point of believing that what your partner says is true. You can stop fixing yourself, and feel good and even abandon yourself and not take care of your physical appearance.
7-Sexual Abuse and Rigid Sex Roles
Your partner will expect you to be a submissive person in the sexual field. It only matters your pleasure, and the sexual encounter will occur when your partner wants. In this section we include rape, as you may use physical force or coercion to get what you want.
If your partner forces you to have sex when you do not want it, or force you to engage in sexual practices that you do not want, you are being sexually abused.
8-Abuse and physical violence
Perhaps this indicator is the easiest to detect. Any intentional violent act that causes you physical harm or puts you at risk (even a minimal risk) is considered physical violence.
If your partner threatens you with physical force, or any conduct that damages you and endangers your physical integrity, it is considered physical violence. All indicators are serious, but this in particular should make you react quickly to the situation for your safety.
9-Breaking objects
It is a way of punishing and terrifying the victim. In the case of punishment, you will break your belongings and possessions (especially those that have more value for you). When we refer to terrorizing, it is simply a sign of your partner towards you of their violence and physical strength, to frighten you and make you a submissive person.
You may have had to lock up some precious object of yours for fear of breaking it, or you can even see yourself in the environment where you spend more time (car or home) several damages caused by your partner.
10-Sudden mood swings
Your partner seems to have two faces. After an explosion of anger appears the kindness or behaviors in the form of affection. This type of behavior, similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is very common in people who meet the profile of abusers. Your feeling will be of confusion and fear, since you do not know how it will react or what its humor is at that moment.
Where can you go?
If you are from Spain, they can help you immediately if you call 016 . It is a telephone service of information and legal advice on gender violence. You can call from anywhere because the calls you make to this number will leave no trace on the phone bill.
If you live in Latin America, I leave you a web link where you can get help wherever you are: http://www.unwomen.org/en/where-we-are/americas-and-the-caribbean/regional- And-country-offices
When in doubt contact them, you deserve better.
References
- M.P. Johnson. Gender and types of intimate partner violence: A response to an anti-feminist literature review.
- Different forms of intimate partner violence: Implications for forensic psychological assessment in the Spanish legal context: José M. Muñoza, Enrique Echeburúab.