The Hidden Forms of Gender-based Violence

On 3 December, 2018, while receiving one of the most prestigious football awards-Ballon d’Or, Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg, 23, the first woman to receive such an award, was asked by the presenter if “she could twerk”.

The reality is one in three women will be the victim of sexual harassment. Worldwide more than a third of all women – 35.6% – will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, usually from a male partner, according to the first comprehensive study of its kind from the World Health Organisation (WHO). To be clear, sexual harassment is a form of gender-based violence. In 1993 the United Nations General Assembly defined violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.

Violence against women

Data from the Crime and Problem Analysis (CAPA) Branch of the Trinidad & Tobago Police Service (TTPS) revealed that there were approximately 11,441 reports relating to domestic violence incidents between 2010 and 2015. More recently, a 2018 report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) shows that one in three women in our country would have experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner. These women who experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) remained quiet about their experience and most survivors did not seek or receive assistance for their situation. In 2017, 43 of the 52 women murdered were due to domestic violence.

 Various forms of violence

The Istanbul Convention, which is the Council of Europe and the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, defines violence against women as falling under four key forms: physical, sexual, psychological and economic.

Physical violence refers to any act which causes physical harm as a result of unlawful physical force. Physical violence can take the form of, among others, serious and minor assault, deprivation of liberty, and manslaughter. As a nation, we saw this evidenced by the recent kidnapping of Maria Dass-Supersad, who was abducted outside her workplace at the University of the West Indies.

Physical and sexual violence, once reported, is usually highlighted in the media. Sexual violence is any act performed on an individual without their consent and can take the form of rape or sexual assault.

Psychological violence

Women may think that they are not being abuse because they are not being hurt physically. However emotional and verbal abuse can have short-term and long-lasting effects that are just as serious as the effects of physical abuse. Any act which causes psychological harm to an individual is considered psychological violence. Psychological violence can take the form of, for example, coercion, defamation, verbal insult or harassment. It includes insults and attempts to scare, isolate, or control you.

Economic violence

One elusive form of violence is economic violence. Economic violence is defined as any act or behaviour which causes economic harm to an individual. Economic violence can take the form of, for example, property damage, restricting access to financial resources, education or the labour market, or not complying with economic responsibilities, such as alimony.

Legal framework

It is heartening to report that The Domestic Violence Act of Trinidad & Tobago (1999) broadened the scope of the definition to include financial abuse. This is stated as under Section 3 and is stated as follows; “domestic violence” includes physical, sexual, emotional or psychological or financial abuse committed by a person against a spouse, child, any other person who is a member of the household or dependant.

The Act also encompasses psychological abuse in detail as follows; “emotional or psychological abuse” means a pattern of behaviour of any kind, the purpose of which is to undermine the emotional or mental well-being of a person including— (a) persistent intimidation by the use of abusive or threatening language; persistent following of the person from place to place; (c) depriving that person of the use of his property; (d) the watching or besetting of the place where the person resides, works, carries on business or happens to be; (e) interfering with or damaging the property of the person; (f) the forced confinement of the person; (g) persistent telephoning of the person at the person’s place of residence or work; and (h) making unwelcome and repeated or intimidatory contact with a child or elderly relative of the person.

 What does psychological violence look like?

While we may become familiar with the law, do we know if we are being abuse? Or is the behaviour acceptable in some quarters? The person who consistently berates his partner- “you’re stupid”, “you’re too fat”, “you’re a loser” is committing an act of psychological violence. The person who is controlling when and with whom his partner goes out, is committing an act of psychological violence. Psychological violence is also often a sign that physical abuse may follow.

Women should also be aware that “gaslighting” tactics are sometimes used by the perpetrator. “Gaslighting” is the word used when someone makes you feel like you are losing your mind or memory. The perpetrator may deny an event happened, call you crazy or overly sensitive or describe an event as completely different from how you remember it. The woman may begin to question herself, her mind and if the events actually happened or question whether she was -reacting. Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse that perpetrators use to maintain power and control. Gaslighting happens over time so it may not be easily noticed at first.

The notion of self

Most people may have experienced some form of psychological violence at some point of their life. An individual’s response to psychological violence may be tempered by his or her notion of self and their locus of control. There is a general agreement across studies and among researchers that self-esteem is inversely related to frequency and severity of physical and/or psychological abuse. Women with lower self-esteem are more likely to experience violence and stay in an abusive relationship. It is also difficult to devise effective strategies for coping with the damages inflicted by those violent acts.

People that have high external locus of control believe that many things that happen in their lives are out of their control. They believe that their own actions are a result of external factors that are beyond their control. By decreasing their external locus of control, women may feel less “helpless” and better able to change their situation.

For some women it is not easy, and sometimes it seems impossible, to leave an abusive relationship. The theory of learned helplessness, initiated by American psychologist Martin Seligman, has also been used to explain why women will not escape an abusive even when given the means and resources to do so. Learned helplessness is a psychological state of being where previous experiences can cause disruptions in motivation, cognitive thinking, and emotions which can result in women being passive, depressed and having feelings of hopelessness. When a woman is consistently abused the psychological impact can often be a sense of helplessness and even hopelessness.

Personal support

Intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence against women. Some women continue to silently suffer in shame, imprisoned by the stigma society has created, afraid to reveal that they are being abused. We must help lift the veil of secrecy that so many women are forced to wear every day. Women need to support each other and create a safe space that will allow other women to confide their ordeal of violence.

 Living with domestic violence can never be easy. Through our everyday conversations and actions, we need to remind our colleagues, neighbours, friends and family members that they are not alone. Victims need support to feel empowered to live a life free of violence. Every victim of domestic violence needs to be reminded that they are worthy and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

This article was first published in the Trinidad Guardian newspapers on 20 December, 2018.