The White Ribbon : Violence Against Women

It is evident that violence towards women has become an important matter that needs to end and more awareness has been brought to the issue. Most people are disturbed when hearing about violent crimes that are committed towards

Joe Biden and the United States Congress recognized the severity of violence against women and the need for national policy by passing the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. The original Violence Against Women Act, for short VAWA, provided provisions holding offenders accountable for their crimes and ensured programs to provide services for victims of violence (whitehouse.gov, n.d.). VAWA improved the criminal justice response to violence against women with federal funds given to law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, etc. every year to ensure adequate training and understanding

N.p., 07 May 2015. Web. 07 May 2015.”. As there is an increase of abuse upon women, the amount of child marriages, domestic violence, and sexual exploitation increases. This feedback represents the gender-based violence which symbolizes women who are trying to survive but can’t due to the fact of women getting beaten. Hillary Clinton created the “Violence Against Women” office to reduce the amount of gender-based violence to provide a safer environment for

Nowadays, domestic violence is still an issue that affects women not only in the United States but all around the world.

Gender-based violence impacts women and girls mental health and plays a role in the types of trauma women are more likely to experience and their responses to those types or traumas.

I watched a Ted Talk documentary named Silent No More – Using Your Voice to End Violence Against Women by Andrea Menard. The video focused on violence against women and how women should not silent or blame themselves. I learned that one in three women will experience violence in their life. The type of violence will vary from sexual or physical abuse. The most common forms of abuse are sexual assault, sex trafficking, molestation, domestic violence, stalking, date rape, sexual harassment and murder.

Throughout history, women have continuously found themselves as the subjects of oppression. Although the treatment of women has drastically changed over time, women are still exposed to much of the violence that exists today. Per the National Organization for Women, “young women, low-income women and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape” (National Organization for Women, 2016). Women-centered violence is highly prevalent and reoccurring all over the world, even in our local communities. Individuals may be hesitant to consider just how much violence against women affects their communities.

One of the largest issues in today’s society is gendered violence. Gendered violence is violence that occurs because of the role expectations associated with each gender, as well as the unequal power relationships between the genders (Defining Gender-Based Violence). The more common form of this is violence against women. One campaign that is working diligently to try and eliminate this problem is the White Ribbon Campaign. The White Ribbon Campaign is a movement of boys and men working to end violence against females and promote gender equity. The campaign asks men to wear white ribbons as a pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls (White Ribbon). The White Ribbon Campaign has been successful and effective in its efforts to educate men and boys about gendered violence and is making headway in their pursuance of the end of violence against women.

Domestic violence used to be considered a private family matter and was not considered a societal problem until feminists in the 70's started pushing the matter. Beginning in the 1970’s, social policy toward female victims of domestic assaults focused on improving legal response and

According to statistics found by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Every nine seconds a woman is abused by her husband or intimate partner. At least 1 in every 4 women and 1 in every 9 men have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often the abuser is one of their own family. Domestic violence is a problem that somehow affects every one of us in this room at some time and is actually the leading cause of injury to women -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

Violence against women is "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women”. The violence against women could be considered to always be an issue since from the beginning women were lower than men. But over time it got worse and men could beat and just overall control women and it all goes unpunished. Its impact can be physical, sexual and cause mental issues for women and girls, even including death.

I am a 38-year-old white American female. Some would argue that there is no better time to a woman in America – we have far more rights and privileges than either our colonial ancestors or women in many third world nations. Yet, even in my lifetime women have achieved milestones like the Violence Against Women Act, originally passed in 1994 but reauthorized and updated in 2013. Females in this country fight battles on many fronts that males, as a group, do not have to deal with on the same level. Women are sexually harassed, assaulted and raped far more than men. I myself have dealt with all three scenarios so far in my 38 years. Sexual harassment, sexual battery, and rape are all social problems that millions of American women face daily.

Domestic violence has been a main issue throughout history and all over the world; it can evidentially affect children, the elderly, women, and even men. Although abuse can affect many individuals, a significant portion of domestic abuse cases are against women. Globally, women are constantly facing physical, social and mental abuse by men and/or their significant others. In past years, the issue of domestic violence has gained the attention of researchers. In fact, studies have shown that it is a global issue negatively impacting the social and health status of individuals, particularly women. A survey of domestic abuse in Canada signifies that 29% of married women have been abused by their partners at least once (Nwosu, 2006). Many argue

This began to change in the 1980s, as women’s groups were organized locally and internationally to demand attention to the physical, psychological, and economic abuse of women (p.369-370). Domestic violence is a serious social issue that happens to many women in our world today. This type of abuse is not declining but continually rising on a daily basis. There have been issues in the past with the way these cases were being handled. Today, there has been some improvement concerning the laws that have been enforced in order to protect women from this type of abuse. There has been extensive research done on this issue in the past concerning domestic violence. Over the last ten years there have been a number of surveys on domestic violence that have been published from around the world.

This study sought to determine the perception of the residents on the social acceptability of the various forms and prevalence of violence against women. The study supposed that when people perceived the various forms of violence against women as socially acceptable, their prevalence tends to be high.