Violence Against Women

This essay will explore the violence against women in regards to health, and social status. Documents created by international institutions such as the The United Nations and their studies on violence against women in a transnational context.

Violence against women continues to persist as one of the most terrible, shocking and prevalent human rights cruelty around the world. It is represented as a threat to all women in which it prevents them from development, peace, inequality and real progress. Violence against women is considered as a type of gendered-based violence since gendered-based violence involves both men and women, but generally it is said that women are the ones who mostly suffer since gender-based violence is "derived from unequal power relationships". Violence against women can be interpreted in various ways according to the individual who is interpreting it, but the definition f violence against women as referred to by the United Nations is said to be as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life" (Heise, Pitanguy and Germain 3). This definition of violence against women is now widely and internationally spread worldwide and is used to define violence against women in courts, homes and in public sectors. Violence against women may include a broad range of violent acts such as sexual harassment, sexual slavery, household violence, forced and early marriage, rape, sexual exploitation and sometimes murder. Each and every one these forms of violence jeopardize women's lives, bodies, and psychological integrity. All women may be considered as potential victims of violence since women are most at risk of violence from men they know.

Furthermore, violence against women is associated with serious problems that may result in physical, sexual and psychological harm. Women who regularly undergo violence usually suffer from health problems such as headaches, back pain, abdominal pain, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, limited mobility, and poor overall health. Sadly, these women's health is not the only thing that would get affected after undergoing violence; their mental health get's severely affected as well. Therefore, Women undergoing violence not only suffer from temporary side-effects, but by time they tend to develop serious syndromes that affect them physically, mentally and psychologically. These syndromes include the Rape Trauma Syndrome, and the Battered Person syndrome. Both these syndromes are a result of women who experienced violence in different ways, but not both of them has the same result.

The Rape Trauma Syndrome is a form of post traumatic stress disorder experienced by a woman who has experienced rape. This syndrome has "three characteristic phases" (Women's Web), the first stage is called the actual stage. The actual stage occurs immidietly after the rape and it consists of symptoms such as "Shock, dismay, disbelief, hysteria, guilt and shame" (Women's Web). Later on the second stage occurs after the victim have resumed their normal lifestyle, this stage is called the Outward Adjustment Stage, here the victim is considered to be in denial since they are trying to get their life back on track and trying to forget about the assault. This phase usually lasts for a few months or even several years till the victim realizes that she hasn't gotten over the rape or assault which then leads to the final stage which is called long-term reorganization. Here the victim "acknowledges the sexual assault and seeks to reintegrate the experience into her daily life" (Women's Web). The victim also no longer considers the rape as the central focus of their life and this helps them move on past the rape and focus more on their social lives. Even though the last stage of The Rape Trauma Syndrome is moving on and recovering, this syndrome still has long term effects that remain with the victim including eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. In addition to that certain phobias may remain as well such as the fear of men, the fear of being in crowds, the fear of being left alone and the fear of going out at all! Overall, the women who suffer or have suffered from The Rape Trauma Syndrome will have their lifestyles affected severely in a way they cannot control, their sense of personal security and safety is damaged, they will also feel hesitant to enter relationships and establish a sexual relation with a partner, so they end up being alone and considering the world as a threatening place. Usually all rape victims were held responsible to the sexual assault since they had no proof or defense against the rapist, and no charges get pressed against the rapist, but now The Rape Trauma Syndrome is introduced to court but is "governed by special rules" (Cling 22). However, even though the syndrome got introduced to court, many courts have still forbidden lawyers and experts to testify and use the defense of The Rape Trauma Syndrome, "even when they have firmly established that the women has The Rape Trauma Syndrome" (Cling 29).

In the same manner, The Battered Person Syndrome is also a form of post traumatic stress disorder, but it results from a person being battered. This syndrome was previously called The Battered Woman Syndrome, but after an immense lot of research, it has been established that men could face battery too; therefore the syndrome's name was altered to The Battered Person Syndrome. Even though men face battery too, but statistics show that women tend to face battery more than men do. Women who suffer from the Battered Person Syndrome are recognized to face psychological conditions and are described as someone who has been the victim of consistent severe domestic violence. However, for a woman to be classified as a battered woman, she has to have been through the two cycles of abuse. A Cycle of abuse is abuse that occurs in a repeating pattern. There are two cycles of abuse are identified as generational and episodic. The Battered Person Syndrome is somehow similar in its stages to The Rape Trauma Syndrome; The Battered Person Syndrome involves four main stages that the person or more specifically the woman may encounter. Stage one starts with the woman being in denial or denying the battery to others. For a number of reasons such as shame or the "batterer's anger and accusations of betrayal" (Cling 42), women tend to usually go through that first stage of this syndrome, therefore many Battery reports seem to be unreported. As for the second stage, Battered women tend to feel "guilty" and think that it's their fault of why they face battery