Sexualised sexism: popular culture, sexualisation and violence against women and girls

As of July 2014, there have been a slew of campaigns, two Westminster government reviews and countless papers and books which have catapulted the issue of sexualisation into public, policy and academic arenas. The result is a range of perspectives which speak to differing priorities: much current policy concern is about ‘contamination’ of childhood; for some commentators, sexualised popular culture is evidence of progressive liberalisation of social attitudes; critical feminist analysis views the sexualisation of women and girls’ bodies in public space as part of ongoing social inequalities between women and men. Women’s organisations which are experts on violence against women and girls (VAWG) see similar patterns in sexualised popular culture as those that underpin the perpetration of VAWG: masculinity equated with sexual conquest, representations of women and girls as perpetually sexually available. This briefing makes a case for understanding and naming sexualisation as ‘sexualised sexism’ in order to make clear its gendered dynamics and role as a conducive context for violence against women and girls. A final section outlines how international human rights approaches support this analysis

Building Effective Responses: An Independent Review of Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Services in Wales

Independent researchers from the Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence based in the School of Social Work at the University of Central Lancashire were commissioned by the Welsh Government in 2013 to conduct research into violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence services in Wales. The research aimed to inform the forthcoming Ending Violence Against Women and Domestic Abuse (Wales) Bill, implementation of the legislation and future policy more generally, as well as informing future funding decisions. The remit of the review covers: Domestic abuse, including that experienced in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) relationships and elder abuse. Violence against women, including female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage and honour-based violence. Sexual violence including rape, sexual assault and harassment Sexual exploitation including prostitution and trafficking1 for sexual purposes. Services for women and men who are victims or perpetrators of violence against women, domestic abuse or sexual violence. The review does not encompass criminal justice services or housing services and, with the exception of prevention work, services for children and young people in Wales were also excluded from this study

Modeling Violence against Women in India: Theories and Problems

This paper examined the following issues: 1. Is ‘violence against women’ a variable? What kind of variable is it? 2. Is it theoretically plausible to model ‘violence against women’? 3. If it is theoretically plausible to model ‘violence against women’, then is it feasible to estimate such a model and perform simulation exercises? Following are findings: 1. The decision to perpetrate ‘violence against women’ is a binary variable, which takes value unity (1) when the decision is ‘yes’ and zero (0) when the decision is ‘no’. 2. It is theoretically plausible to construct the models of estimating and forecasting the probability of occurrence of ‘violence against women’ facing a typical woman in a particular society on the basis of necessary information. 3. It is not feasible in practice to apply above models for the purposes of policy-formulation and policy-simulation in India because of absence of compilation or systematic compilation of the data on ‘violence against women’ and the variables determining ‘violence against women’

Indicators to Measure Violence Against Women

1. This paper is prepared for the UN Expert Group Meeting on indicators to measure violence against women. The Expert Group Meeting is intended to support the work of the Statistical Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women in developing ‘a set of possible indicators on violence against women in order to assist States in assessing the scope, prevalence and incidence of violence against women’. 2. The paper includes: (i) an overview of existing major initiatives on indicators to measure violence against women; (ii) an assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of those initiatives; (iii) proposes criteria for the identification of a possible set of indicators on violence against women; (iv) summarises options and provides recommendations for a possible set of indicators to support countries to measure the scope, prevalence and incidence of violence against women; and (v) addresses the related data collection requirements and constraints and opportunities for overcoming these

Violence against pregnant women with disabilities

Background Each year, violence is perpetrated against 1.5 million US women, of whom 324,000 are pregnant. Violence in pregnancy has adverse effects on maternal and infant health. Although there are 4.7 million childbearing age women with disabilities, and their pregnancy rates are growing, there is very little information about violence against pregnant women with disabilities. Objectives The study questions are: Are there differences in pre- and in-pregnancy violence experiences of women with and without disabilities? Is disability a significant predictor of pre- and in-pregnancy violence against women? Methods The study uses data from the 2009 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The study conducts χ 2 -tests and multivariate analyses of violence experiences. Results Pregnant women with disabilities experience more violence than those without. Disability is a significant violence predictor. The number and types of stress sources significantly affect the likelihood of violence. Poor health behaviors also contribute to the likelihood of violence. Conclusion There is a need to reduce violence against pregnant women particularly those with disabilities. Effective interventions require information about causality which can be established through analysis of primary data. Future studies should collect and analyze household level data. Care providers can contribute information by monitoring, recording, and reporting stress types, levels, and violence especially among pregnant women with disabilities

Modeling Violence against Women in India: Theories and Problems

This paper examined the following issues: 1. Is ‘violence against women’ a variable? What kind of variable is it? 2. Is it theoretically plausible to model ‘violence against women’? 3. If it is theoretically plausible to model ‘violence against women’, then is it feasible to estimate such a model and perform simulation exercises? Following are findings: 1. The decision to perpetrate ‘violence against women’ is a binary variable, which takes value unity (1) when the decision is ‘yes’ and zero (0) when the decision is ‘no’. 2. It is theoretically plausible to construct the models of estimating and forecasting the probability of occurrence of ‘violence against women’ facing a typical woman in a particular society on the basis of necessary information. 3. It is not feasible in practice to apply above models for the purposes of policy-formulation and policy-simulation in India because of absence of compilation or systematic compilation of the data on ‘violence against women’ and the variables determining ‘violence against women’.Violence, Woman, Probability

Domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia: an overview of the issues

Provides an overview of research on the prevalence of domestic, family and sexual violence, at risk groups and the costs of violence against women to communities and to the economy. Introduction In 2013 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first systematic international review on the prevalence of violence against women. During the course of the review the authors analysed and collated data from around the world, including Australia, on the prevalence of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. The review found that violence against women is a significant public health problem and a violation of human rights that affects more than one third of all women globally. The review concluded that the prevalence of violence constitutes ‘a global public health problem of epidemic proportions, requiring urgent action’. In Australia, domestic, family and sexual violence is widespread across all cultures, ages and socio-economic groups and the majority of those who experience these forms of violence are women. The most recent data on personal safety found that many men and women experience at least one encounter with violence in their lifetimes. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey estimated that in 2012, 49 per cent of men aged 18 years and over and 41 per cent of women aged 18 years and over had experienced some form of violence since the age of 15. Men were far more likely to experience physical violence at the hands of a stranger. However, the majority of women experienced physical violence by someone known to them—usually an intimate partner. While both men and women were more likely to experience physical violence than sexual violence, those who did experience sexual violence were much more likely to be women—around 4 per cent of men and 17 per cent of women had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Of those who experienced sexual violence (both men and women), the majority reported that the perpetrator was known to them. This research paper updates several previous Parliamentary Library publications on the levels of violence experienced by women in Australia. The paper includes an overview of research on the prevalence of domestic, family and sexual violence, at risk groups and the costs of violence against women to communities and to the economy. Limited comparisons of the levels of violence experienced by men and women are included where relevant. The paper also includes an overview of policy approaches designed to prevent violence against women

Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men

Information generated by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, is in the public domain (http://www.nij.gov/publications/pages/reuse-policy.aspx). The Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage gratefully acknowledges the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, for allowing us to reproduce, in part or in whole, the article "Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men" by André B. Rosay. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.More than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women and men have experienced violence in their lifetime, and more than one in three experienced violence in the past year, according to a new report from an NIJ-funded study. The study, part of NIJ's research program on violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women, looked at how prevalent psychological aggression and physical violence by intimate partners, stalking, and sexual violence were among American Indian and Alaska Native women and men. It also examined the perpetrators' race and the impact of the violence.Based upon research prepared under Grant Number 2012-PJ-BX-K001 from the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.Violence Against Women / Violence Against Men / Who Are the Perpetrators? / How Does the Violence Affect Victims? / Differences Between Two National Surveys / Addressing the Problem / Examining Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Wome

The European Added Value of a Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women: Annex 2 Economic Aspects and Legal Perspectives for Action at the European Level

The paper investigates the economic cost of violence against women for the EU and compares the costs of action and inaction. Violence against women is estimated to cost the EU EUR 226 billion each year, including EUR 45 billion for services and EUR 24 billion in lost economic output. The costs of preventive measures are substantially less than the cost of the violence