b. Stereotypes of the Division of Labor between Women and Men
2. Gender Based Violence
Gender-based violence is an act of violence directed against a person due to gender inequality, abuse of power, and gender-differentiating norms (UNHCR, 2021).
The use of the word “gender based” is important to emphasize that this type of violence is rooted in the inequalities of power between women and men (EIEGE, 2014). The Istanbul Convention states that gender-based violence includes, “physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life (Council of Europe, 2011).”
This violence can affect both women and men, although most victims are women and girls (EIEGE, 2014).
Meanwhile, as is widely known, the perpetrators of violence are mostly men. In many places, men have more power and roles than women and girls in resource ownership, decision-making, and even over their bodies.
Some communities have laws that allow men to use violence as a way to enforce discipline and control over women and girls. Gender-based violence can affect everyone regardless of geographic location, economic background, social status, and religion. This violence can occur in public spaces such as roads, markets, workplaces, and can occur in private spaces such as at
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home. This gender-based violence has a lifelong impact on victims of violence and even death.
There are many kinds of gender-based violence.
This violence can be in the form of domestic violence from partners, both physically and psychologically, sexual violence, and economic violence. Gender-based violence can also occur in schools or universities. For example, a male lecturer hugs and kisses a student on the grounds that the lecturer considers the student his child. The student in question does not dare to refuse even though she feels uncomfortable for fear that her studies would be hampered. The example above can be categorized as sexual harassment. The harassment occurred because of the unequal power relations between male lecturers and female students. Gender-based violence can also occur in the office, such as male employees hugging and touching female employees while at work. Although the act of hugging and touching was done casually, it is considered a sexual harassment. Female employees who receive this kind of treatment should be able to report to their superiors. This gender-based violence can also take a form of sexual harassment that occurs on the street such as when women or girls become the victims of wolf-whistling or when their bodies are groped. Additionally, gender-based violence is associated with traditions in certain communities.
…early marriages in certain US communities, rape in South Africa and other countries around the world, trafficking of persons in India, sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, femicide in Guatemala, female genital mutilation in
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Nigeria, so-called honor killings in Iraq or Pakistan (Ott, 2021).
Gender-based violence has a negative impact on victims. Victims of sexual violence, who experience pregnancy and have to have an abortion, are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, serious physical injuries, and HIV. They distance themselves from those around them, experience depression, experience anxiety, suffer from trauma (post-traumatic stress disorder / PTSD), and suicidal. Many rape victims blame themselves, are ostracized by their families and communities for violating social norms, or are even forced to marry the rapists.
Most victims of gender-based violence do not report the violence they experience because of the bad stigma about victims of sexual violence. An example of stigma about victims of sexual violence is that the rape victim is a woman who is flirtatious and likes to dress sexy so that rape is assumed to have started from the woman's coquettishness. Even though rape is a criminal act and the victim of rape certainly does not want it to happen no matter what clothes she wears. In addition, victims or witnesses often do not report sexual violence they experience because they do not know where to report.
For example, when someone sees a husband beating his wife, he does not know where to report it. In some countries such as in America, providing responsive emergency services to crack down on the beatings.
Unfortunately, in Indonesia the emergency services have not been responsive so that incidents such as beatings cannot be handled immediately.
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C. CLOSING
In conclusion, gender issues are still an important issue to be studied and discussed. Gender inequality created by differences between women and men must continue to be eliminated so that gender equality can occur. In this chapter, the gender issues discussed are gender stereotypes and gender based violence. The discussion on gender stereotypes is divided into two, namely the stereotype of the roles of women and men and the stereotype of the division of labor between women and men. In the discussion of gender issues above, it is clear that gender inequality still exists in our society. Many community members do not really understand about gender equality, and many do not know how to behave and behave so as not to create gender inequality. Although it is not easy to change the understanding, attitudes and behaviors related to the differences between women and men because they have been ingrained, active efforts to eliminate gender stereotypes and gender-based violence will create gender equality.