Sexual Violations Against Women

Sexual Violations Against Women

Background Information

Reviewed literature shows that sexual violation or intimate partner violence against women by private partners prevails across cultural, socioeconomic, and religious groups in the world. Despite some women showing violence in relationships, there are justifications that they react out of self-control as compared to men (WHO, 2012). For instance, a stranger or acquaintance cannot quickly attack a man or as compared to a woman of a girl. In most countries, about one in four women report to have experienced sexual violence by a sexual partner, and more so, one in every three adolescent girls allege to have experienced their initial sex via force (Burn, 2012). Although psychologists have developed and suggested various theories and measures of mitigating menace, the rates of sexual and intimate violence keep soaring (WHO, 2013). Addressing sexual abuse requires more robust approaches because the general concepts seem to bore no fruits.

Definition and Forms of Sexual and Intimacy Violation

Sexual abuse refers to any sexual activity, trying to get sexual favors, unacceptable sexual statement, or attempting to traffic one’s sexuality. This act could entail the application of coercion (force intimidation, blackmail, or threats, by any individual no matter the link between the victim and in any avenue or situation (WHO, 2012). This situation includes when the person in question is unable to permit the act due to unconsciousness, or unstable mental status. Sexual violence includes rape or physical coercing or forcing or penetrating the pubic part using the penis or alternative part of the body or item (Burn, 2012). In this regard, an attempt to act in such a way refers to as attempted rape that involving more than one person termed gang rape..

Types of Sexual Violations

The most common types of sexual abuse are physical violations, namely slapping, beating, hitting, and kicking sexual violence like a forced sexual act, and the associated activities. Other acts include psychological acts such as belittling, insults, repetitive humiliating acts, harmful threats, and intimidation like damaging items, and threats of taking away children (WHO, 2012). Some males could attempt to control behaviors of their partners hence isolating them from families or pals, monitoring their movements, restriction against financial resources, education, employment, and medical care (Lawson, 2012).Besides, sex trafficking refers to the organized transfer of people, especially women, from one country to another for sexual exploitation (WHO, 2013). This word could also mean the act of forcing a migrant into sex before organizing the migration process (Burn, 2011).Besides, trafficked women or girls could fall prey to false employment promises only for them to experience the crude acts of prostitution as their only exchange for freedom.

The Magnitude of the Problem

Law enforcement agencies, clinical settings, non-governmental organizations, and survey studiesprovide information on sexual violence.  Although the survey and researches try to paint the issue of sexual abuse with bias, evidence shows that this problem is causing severe sufferingamong women across the world (Lawson, 2012). More so, researchers seem to have neglected the issue of sexual violence with the presented information being scanty and depicting some patterns of fragmentation. Similarly, police statistics are often incomplete and insufficient, with the majority of women who experience sexual violations failing to report their grievances to the police. Such females are fearful of being shamed, blamed, or no one would believe them (WHO, 2013). Other limitations include biases in the medical-legal clinic data regarding more hostile situations of sexual violation (WHO, 2012).Next, there is also a small number of sexually abused women come for medical check-up immediate after the experience (Burn, 2011). Moreover, the variations in the definition of the term sexual violation, different cultural perceptions about this phenomenon, together with reluctance in disclosing sexual violence to authors, have made it difficult to evaluate the prevalence of this term.

Statistics of Sexual Violations

The application of the comparability methodology with interviews on sexual violence have shown that countries such as Brazil have the most significant percentages of women who report against sexual abuse yet stands at only 8.0% with counties such as Botswana recording the lowest rate at 0.8% (Lawson, 2012). There are, however, no distinctions between intimate rape or sexual violation by strangers. This situation shows that this survey underestimates the magnitude of sexual violence (WHO, 2012). In another study in the U.S, 14.8% of girls above 17years reported having experienced sexual violation, with about 2.8% reporting against attempted rape. Either, 0.3% of the sample stated that they had encountered rape a year ago.

Theories of Sexual Violence

The Family System Theory: Various approaches have attempted to explain the issue of sexual violation to mitigate this vice. The family system theory, for instance, illustrates that the social situation influences violent characteristics.  It states that the most significant resultants of sexual violence include family disagreements, disobedience, financial stress, and high expectations. People’s traits like aggression, jealousy, immaturity, or suspicions among the oppressor and victims could instigate domestic violence (Lawson, 2012). The sexual division of labor has created a scenario wherebysociety uses sexual abuse as a tool for preserving the prevailing family structures (Lawson, 2012). Indeed, this theory has a valid argument in addressing sexual abuse but does not present any remedy to the problem in prevalence.

Frustration-Aggression Theory: This is a socio-psychological perspective asserting that when an individual faces an obstruction against a specific objective, they could feel frustrated, thus directing their feelings to others via tongue lashing or violent activities. Despite critics invalidating and facilitating its amendment, this perspective isolates crucial elements of sexual violation. It explained that the internalized norms or outer controls could inhibit aggressive characteristics despite the robust frustrations (Lawson, 2012). This theory further asserted that energetic patterns could not prevail as the effect of frustration because they depend on various factors.However, it remains ineffective in addressing sexual violence because aggression does not always focus on the source of failures but to another object, such as displaced aggression (Lawson, 2012). This theory’s notion that frustration and aggression relate innately hold no waters. Secondly, many responses emerge from failures, besides aggressive traits. Many other approaches have failed to establish a credible understanding of sexual abuse as exemplified by social bond theory, exchange theory, self-attitude theory, and perversion theory. With the issue of sexual violence becoming critical every passing day, there is a need for the collective approach to helping interpret this vice and develop the best strategy of mitigating its prevalence for the wellbeing of the society.

Conclusion

Sexual violations or intimate violence against women remains the top problem in the world despite researchers, legal institutions, and theorists attempting to address this issue. Bearing in mind that sexual abuse refers to a wide range of activities depending on many influencing factors, statistics reveal that global women and girls are silently suffering from this vice. Even at that, the available information about sexual violation has flaws hence underrating the magnitude of this problem. Following the trend are the theories that attempt to explain sexual violence andthe best way of mitigating or preventing such patterns. Both the family system and frustration-aggression theories isolate vital elements that could help in the proper understanding of the issue and the possible remedies.  As a result, there is a need for appropriate approaches to finding a suitable solution to this global menace.

References

Burn, S. M. (2011). Women across cultures: A global perspective (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Reviewed from: https://sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/proletarian-library/books/95fd56c6048f4a03f2ec7db6efa2bc1f.pdf

Lawson, J. (2012). Sociological Theories of Intimate Partner Violence. The journal of human behavior in the social environment, 28 June. Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10911359.2011.598748

Monzini, P. (2005). Sex traffic: Prostitution, crime, and exploitation. London & New York: Zed Books. Reviewed from: https://www.worldcat.org/title/sex-traffic-prostitution-crime-and-exploitation/oclc/59098858

Sev’er, A. (2002). Fleeing the house of horrors: Women who have left abusive partners. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Reviewed from:  https://utorontopress.com/us/fleeing-the-house-of-horrors-3

WHO (2012). Understanding and addressing violence against women: Intimate partner violence, 3 March. Retrieved from:https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77432/WHO_RHR_12.36_eng.pdf?sequence=1

WHO (2013). Sexual abuse: World report on violence and health, 27 September.  Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/en/chap6.pdf