Stephanie Montesanti On Violence Against Women

There are numerous explanations experts have come up with about violence against women and why it occurs but what most agree on is that the motive behind the abuse is rooted in gender inequality and it is for that reason some refer it as gender-based violence. In her report about violence in the lives of women, Stephanie Montesanti writes that the feminist opinion about the cause of this violence comes from “male-dominated social structures and socialization practices that teach men and women gender-specific roles that can influence violence and abuse against women” (Montesanti, 2015). In other words, they believe that the established beliefs of male superiority over women and society’s unwavering opinion of what men and women are supposed
to behave like become a toxic setup for males to take advantage of and overpower females. The Women’s International Network, a collection of journals pertaining to women’s health and equality topics, agrees with this opinion. In one report, they expand on that opinion by writing:
Research suggests that gender-based violence is a learned behaviour, linked to male power, privilege and dominance in the family and society. The social structure which sustains and maintains gender inequalities such as the general acceptance by society of subordination of women to men, or the socio-sexual roles of men and women driven by religion, the media, and culture, contribute to perpetuating this way of thinking and acting. (“Women and Violence”, 2001)
This passage confirms the idea that violence and abuse made towards women is linked to pre-existing ideologies of gender and the influence of society, religion, and media have on the perception of a woman and her place in the structure of society.
I strongly agree with the statement they made about gender-violence being a learned behaviour because for centuries men have held power over women in many ways and even if steps are being taken towards equality, history has left its mark on modern society and some men are still treating women as second-class citizens. Another organization called the Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) added a different element to the other explanations, stating that “violence against women is a global problem and not limited to a specific group of women in society. However, the forms of violence might be shaped differently based on factors such as sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, class, age, nationality” (BWSS, 2015). This quotation sheds a light on the fact that, on top of a male-dominated society, things like racism and homophobia play a huge role in the cause of violence against
women. Unfortunately for the women that fall victim to gender-based violence, their suffering does not end with the incident itself. Depending on the severity of abuse, women can have lasting and damaging effects on them or their lifestyle. In Stephanie Montesanti’s report, she also explained what happens after a woman is a victim, stating that the abuse “has a number of health consequences that include injury, chronic pain, sexually-transmitted diseases, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, to name a few” (Montesanti, 2015). It is clear that while the health-related problems can ultimately be disastrous for a woman, the psychological effects are also on that same level. Depression and PTSD can lead to sleep and eating disorders, alcoholism, and even suicide. According to the Government of Canada, the impact of violence against women on Canadian women include “inability to work, loss of wages, lack of participation in regular activities and limited ability to care for themselves and their children” (“Impact on Canadians”, 2013). The issues that can arise from women not working, losing money, and the children being affected could include the women losing their job, becoming homeless or being forced to find living arrangements with friends or family, having to resort to shelters, and their children witnessing the abuse could cause the kids to become depressed or even violent themselves later on. When it comes to ending violence against women, it will have to be a collective effort between governments, communities, and individuals. Since experts have determined gender-based violence is a learned behaviour and is influenced by our misogynistic society, they have concluded that there must be education on healthy relationships, equality between genders, and warning signs of abuse. The Battered Women’s Support Services suggests that schools should be supporting programs that promote ending violence because it “increases the ability of youth to recognize violence, transform their knowledge into action against violence, and contributes to changing systems to aid rather than impede an end to violence against girls and women” (BWSS, 2015). These programs have been proven to be successful in educating youth but there are not enough schools providing such learning opportunities that are essential to ensure the students’ well-being and survival both presently and in the future. Lori Heise, Mary Ellsberg, and Megan Gottemoeller, experts in women’s health care, have come up with solutions that individuals can do to help end gender-based violence. They encourage people to take action by doing more to:
Urge understanding, concern, and compassion for victims of violence, provide emotional and spiritual guidance to victims of abuse, educate themselves about physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and explore their own biases, fears, and prejudices, and teach children to respect others and themselves.” (Heise et al.)
If men and women were able to do things like what these experts suggested, more people would be wanting to see progress and change in society to help the women affected by abuse. Once the masses of people are well educated about this issue and begin to demand gender-based violence be resolved, I believe more women will be saved from the horrible actions they may suffer. Canada has been doing many progressive things over the years to help end violence against women.
In fact, Canada has spent billions towards the cause. According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, “each year Canadians collectively spend $7.4 billion to deal with the aftermath of spousal violence” (CWF, 2015). Furthermore, the Government of Canada publicly released how this money is being spent, stating that the $7.4 billion goes to:
Victims (some $6.0 billion in costs associated with victims seeking medical attention, lost wages, damaged or destroyed property and the “intangibles” of pain and suffering and loss of life), third parties (over $890 million in third party costs, including social service operating costs, losses to employers, the negative impact on children exposed to spousal violence, and other government expenditures), and justice system costs (about $545 million in costs borne by the criminal justice system and civil justice system). (“Impact on Canadians”, 2013)
This information reveals that the Canadian government and its federal services are providing adequate support towards fighting violence against women within the country and are making certain they are helping the victim as much as possible by covering costs during and after the road to
recovery.
What I have learned while researching is that violence against women is an issue that was established with the belief of many people that men are superior to women and they have the right to overpower them because of that belief and the experts have concluded that the solutions to this issue all involve educating the general public about violence against women and how to prevent it. One section of my research that took me by surprise was the amount of women who are abused in Canada. It is heartbreaking that half of Canadian women have been abused at some point in their life. That statistic alone is enough reason for change needing to be done quickly. Thankfully, Canadian women are fortunate that our government is doing many things to cover financial consequences brought by the violence they suffered when various other countries do not even do that much. However, there is still work to be done in terms of ending violence against women once and for all. I agree with the experts in women’s healthcare and their approach to educate both children and adults on this issue, how to recognize abuse, and what they can do as individuals, a community, and even a country to help those victims of gender-based violence and abuse.