Violence against women

Witch Burning, XIV Century

The history of violence against women is vaguely described in the scientific literature. Partly due to the fact that due to social norms, taboos, stigma and the delicate nature of these problems, many types of such violence (namely, rape, sexual assault and domestic violence) are not recorded, and statistics are underestimated ^{[2] [3]} . This problem is still widespread, and the lack of reliable and continuous data makes it difficult to study violence against women and create a general picture of it in a historical context ^[4] . Although the history of violence against women is difficult to track, it can be argued that this violence was widespread, permissible and legalized throughout the history of mankind ^[5] . Examples include facts such as Roman law allowing husbands to punish their wives up to a state of near death ^[6] , a witch hunt encouraged by both the church and the state ^[5] , and permission from 18th-century English law to allow men to punish their wives help sticks "no thicker than their thumb." This form of punishment prevailed in England and America until the end of the XIX century ^[5] . Some experts believe that the history of violence against women is associated with a history of treating women as property and with a gender role that requires them to obey men and other women ^[7] . Often, to clarify the extent and history of violence against women, the construct of the patriarchy is used , in which there is a firmly established model of gender inequality ^{[3] [4]} .

The 1993 United Nations states that “violence against women is a manifestation of the historically unequal balance of power between men and women that has led to domination of women and discrimination against women with side of men, and also hinders the comprehensive improvement of the status of women, and that violence against women is one of the fundamental social mechanisms by which women are forced to occupy their subordinates situation in comparison with men ” ^[1] . Today it is necessary to recognize that this form of violence exists everywhere and “there is no region, country or culture in the world where women would be guaranteed freedom from violence” ^[4] . It is noteworthy that violence against women is especially prevalent in developing countries and parts of the world. For example, in India , Pakistan , Bangladesh , Sri Lanka and Nepal , murder due to a dowry and the burning of a bride are common; in Southeast Asia , in particular in Cambodia , acid dousing is common; in the Middle East and South Asia - honor killings; in certain regions of Africa , the Middle East and Asia , female circumcision ; in Ethiopia , Central Asia and the Caucasus , the abduction of brides ; in certain parts of Black Africa and Oceania , ransom-related violence (forms such as cruelty, human trafficking, and forced marriage) ^{[8] [9]} . Some regions are no longer associated with violence against women, however, more recently, this was common practice. For example, honor killings in southern Europe ^[10] . In Italy, until 1981, the Criminal Code considered mitigating considerations of honor in cases of the murder of a woman or her sexual partner ^[11] . Nevertheless, the use of culturally-based arguments to justify specific forms of violence can legitimize acts of violence against women. The question remains open of how cultural traditions, local customs, social expectations, and various interpretations of religion can interact with certain abuses ^{[4] [12]} . Social groups from a large number of countries justify their acts of violence against women by cultural traditions and appeal to the need to protect the cultural heritage, however, such statements are doubtful because they come from various political leaders or persons in power, but not from women against whom violence is committed ^[4] .

The history of confronting violence against women at the international level includes the following important events:

• 1979 year. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in recommendations 12 and 19, recognized violence as discrimination against women ^[13] ;
• 1993 year. At the World Conference on Human Rights, violence against women was recognized as a violation of human rights ^[13] ;

According to reports of the World Health Organization , violence against women increases the costs of the health care system, as women survivors of violence need more medical care, including expensive, than women who have not been abused ^[14] . Numerous studies confirm the link between violence against women and international violence. As these studies show, abuse of women in society is one of the most reliable predictive parameters for violence at the state and interstate levels ^{[15] [16]} .

The UNICEF report “Women in Transition” proposes the following classification of violence against women according to the age stages of their lives ^[17] .

Domestic Violence

Women are most at risk of violence from people with whom they have close relationships, especially from intimate partners. The proportion of domestic violence in violence against women as a whole can be estimated from the following example: from 40 to 70% of murders of women are committed by their husbands or partners ^[18] . Domestic violence can take the form of not only physical, but also psychological and verbal violence ^[19] . Women who suffered from intimate partner violence often do not report violence to the police, so many experts believe that the real extent of the problem is poorly assessed ^[20] . For women, the risk of dying at the hands of an intimate partner is much higher than for men. In the USA in 2005, 1181 women and 329 men were killed by intimate partners ^[21] . In England and Wales, partners or former partners kill about 100 women each year, with 21 men killed in 2010 ^[22] . In France, in 2011, 122 women and 24 men were killed by partners or former partners ^[23] .

In January 2008, Acting Head of the Department of Public Order Protection of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia , Police Lieutenant General Mikhail Artamoshkin, in an interview with the Shield and Sword newspaper, reported that “According to statistics, about 14 thousand women die every year at the hands of husbands or other relatives and 3 thousand women kill their husbands or partners, and in 9 out of 10 cases - when a woman was subjected to systematic beatings and violence. ” ^[24]

Violence in close relationships also occurs in relationships between women, in particular between mothers and daughters, in lesbian relationships, between roommates or apartments ^[25] .

Group Violence

Sometimes women are abused by groups of people. In 2010, Amnesty International reported group sexual assaults of single women in the city of Hassi Messaoud in Algeria . According to human rights activists, the victims were attacked, not only because they were women, but also because they were single and economically independent ^[26] .

Violence as part of national customs

Many countries have traditions and customs associated with violence against women. This, in particular, female genital mutilation , forced marriage, including the abduction of a bride , honor killings .

In Russia, according to experts, several thousand women annually marry not of their own free will ^[27] . Cases of bride kidnapping in the Caucasus are well known, but they also occur in other regions ^[27] . There are also known cases of honor killings in Chechnya ^[28] , Dagestan ^[27] , Krasnodar Territory ^[27] .

State Violence

War and Militarism

Militarism leads to increased violence against women. Since ancient times, wars have been accompanied by rape ^[29] . During the war, occupation authorities often coerce women into prostitution or sexual slavery .

Rafael Grugman in the book Woman and War. From love to violence, he spoke about the massive military rape during the Second World War, absolutely all armies of the Hitler and anti-Hitler coalition stained themselves with this, about the rape of “their own” and “alien” women, about forced prostitution, soldiers’s brothels, “children of war”, born in the occupied territories, and noted three characteristic signs of military rape.

The first is publicity. They are performed openly, in full confidence in permissiveness. There is no fear of punishment, the rapist in military uniform does not consider his actions criminal.

The second is gang rape. It, according to the rapists, “rallies the collective” (as well as the joint drinking of alcohol). “Heroes”, not fearing sexually transmitted diseases, proudly call themselves “milk brothers”.

The third sign is the killing of a woman after sexual abuse. If the first two signs are provoked by a violation of demographic imbalance, the need for sexual release and a temporary clouding of the mind - the driving force is alcohol and an excess of male sex hormones, then killing a raped woman is a crime that cannot be justified <...> ^[30]

Massive military rape took place in wars at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first century.

During the Balkan Wars, the Bosnian War (1992–95) and Kosovo (1996–99), according to the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), tens of thousands of women and girls were raped - according to various sources, only in the Bosnian war - from 20 to 50 thousand. Most of them are Muslim <...>

In 2001, the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia recognized the systematic mass rape of women as a crime against humanity ^[31]

Police and authorities

In cases where police officers abuse their position and carry out physical or sexual violence against women, it is much more difficult for victims to report the violence committed ^[32] . Russian human rights defenders report numerous cases of psychological, physical and sexual violence against women by law enforcement officials ^[27] .

• Foot bandaging
• Domestic violence
• Female circumcision
• Infibulation
• Misogyny
• Child abuse
• Violence against women in Ukraine
• Acid dousing
• Sati (ritual)
• Sexual slavery
• Human trafficking
• Femicide

• CoE Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (unavailable link from 05/26/2013 [2281 days] - history , copy )
• Benjamin Knaak. The picture of the life of European women is scary (neopr.) . Profile (03/07/2014). Date of treatment March 29, 2014.
• The problem of violence against women in the history of culture