On the occasion of Women's Day, we are going to talk about what gender violence is. We will do it counting, in addition to the voice of battered women who have given their testimony to document these letters. We will speak for them about what it is, the different types of gender violence that exist and the influence of a sexist education on the rates of gender violence.
A change is required to reduce these indices, change that lies in an education in equality, no stereotypes for gender roles. Learn with us to detect subtle abuse and culturally accepted micromachisms.
What is gender violence?
We define gender violence as any type of violence, exerted on another person, for reasons solely of gender. That is, all conduct generated in order to harm the other person, physically or psychologically, because they are of a specific gender. This is the official definition of what is gender violence.
The testimony of these warrior women leads to the reflection that gender violence is any attempt to take away the peace, life and freedom of a person you claim to love, in favor of your own benefit. An incomprehensible benefit, since it only serves to increase the ego of visibly self-conscious beings.
Different types of gender violence
There are three main types of gender-based violence:
- Physical violence: It is one that leaves traces in its appearance, that is, blows, shoves, bites or any type of wound caused by the aggressor.
- Psychological violence: It is the one that is exercised through insults, shouts, humiliations and manipulations, it is more subtle and causes the victim herself to feel guilty for the reactions of her aggressor. Within this type of violence, we can distinguish, in turn, two other types of violence. One is the social violence, which consists of isolating the victim from their environment, in order to be able to manipulate them more easily. The other is the economic violence, in which the aggressor takes charge of the family finances in a way that makes the victim totally dependent, to prevent her from moving away from him.
- Sexual violence: It consists of coercing or threatening the victim to achieve sexual intercourse.
Coercion to maintain relationships is also abuse.
The voice of our warrior women reveals to us that abuse has many faces, that the aggressor does not always start with a hit and that it does not have to end up giving it either. Sometimes it just catches you, weaves its web around you and suffocates you, steals your essence without you realizing it and completely nullifies your will to escape.
Subtle abuse and micromachisms
Sometimes abuse is not as visible as it seems, and that is why not so easy to spot. We call this subtle abuse and consists, for example, of seemingly innocent comments that are undermining the self-esteem of the victim. It is a type of abuse that seeks to weaken, usually as a previous step to a clearer abuse. Although sometimes it is simply because culturally and socially es accepted, as are micromachisms.
Sometimes the abuse is so subtle that it cannot be seen with the naked eye.
Micromachisms are so subtle that we don't even perceive them as machismo. For example, the attribution of gender roles, such subtle things as the baby changing table being in the ladies room. The exclusive task of motherhood is attributed to the woman with this fact. This could be considered micromachism, as well as discriminating against a person in the workplace for reasons of gender, either positively or negatively.
The influence of sexist education and its relationship with gender violence
Day by day, there is still a marked sexist education, both at home and in classrooms. There is sexism in language, in social behavior, it is something structural, which we still have deeply rooted in. That is why it is necessary to fight it from home and from the classrooms.
An example of the sexism with which we educate our children is that there are still toys considered «girlish» or «boyish»
A sexist education influences the growth of gender violence, for three reasons:
- Promotes the superiority of one gender over another: girls are pretty, boys are smart, girls are well-mannered, and boys are strong.
- Facilitates economic and social violence: a sexist education favors labor discrimination based on gender, a potential that there are women who are forced to depend economically on their partners. Social pressure towards motherhood and the lack of work-life balance also influence this fact, as well as the social isolation of the victim.
- It makes it difficult to detect subtle abuse and micromachisms: it is much more difficult if your culture supports this type of behavior in some way to detect them. Therefore, it prevents us from social progress, which really breaks with gender stereotypes and reaches the ideal of a diverse and equal society.
The voice of our warriors
We cannot continue to silence the voice of the victims of abuse.
These women who have given their testimony, make it clear to us the need to eradicate sexism from the education of our children. Gender violence continues to grow, in adolescence, in the adult stage. There is more and more news that reveals it to us. There are more and more warriors like them, to give their testimony, more and more are missing, because not all have the same luck.
We cannot let our children, whatever their gender, feel superior to those who are different. We cannot let anyone have the power to humiliate, hit or silence another person's voice, to override their will, to take their life, physically or emotionally. We must raise our voices, speak for these warriors, because it is me, it is you, it is them, we are one, WE ARE ALL.