This very important anniversary was established by the UN assembly in 1999. The date was chosen to commemorate the sacrifice of Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa, three sisters who, due to their political militancy against the regime of the Dominican dictator Rafael Leonida Trujillo, were brutally murdered in 1960. The Mirabal sisters, fervent political activists from the Dominican Republic and supporters of the “June 14 Movement”, were driving by car to visit their husbands (also imprisoned for their political militancy), they were stopped by the police, taken to a sugar cane plantation and, after unspeakable torture, thrown over a precipice to simulate an accident. Public opinion immediately understood that it was a brutal murder. The echo of this tragedy spread, however, only after the death of the dictator. And the sacrifice of women was known to the whole world only in 1999 when this story steeped in violence and gender inequality reached the table of the UN assembly.
The data provided by the United Nations, relating to the period 2005-2016 for 87 countries, are decidedly alarming: 19% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 reported having suffered physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in 12 months before the survey. Hence, the UN and every country on 25 November carry out their battle in defense of the victims. Also, the Day against violence against women is a warning to reach a fundamental goal in the field of Human Rights: do not leave any more women behind and alone. And above all, finally put an end to violence, of any kind.
What kind of violence?
When we talk about violence, usually the first thing that comes to our mind is physical aggression. But this is only one of the possible shapes that violence against women can have. There are many other ways violence can be used.
Domestic violence, especially in the family or in the circle of acquaintances, presents threats, physical and psychological abuse, persecutory acts, stalking, beatings, sexual abuse, honor crimes, murder of the spouse (uxoricide), premeditated or passionate forms.
Even “economic violence” falls within the concept of psychological violence and refers to the control of money by the partner, very often associated with the prohibition of undertaking work activities (to further increase the victim’s economic dependence), in the control of ownership and the prohibition of any autonomous initiative concerning the spouse’s assets.
There is also another particular type of violence exercised in the study or workplace, where women are exposed to sexual abuse and blackmail. It is a very underestimated oppression in its physical and sexual manifestations that goes from a form of “soft” machismo based on jokes, offers of protection, and/or attempts of seduction up to various types of sexual harassment. Underestimation is caused by the tendency to consider certain forms of psychological abuse as inevitable in the world of work, to keep the job, or to make a career, even if it causes a state of intolerance and discomfort in women who feel they are considered as an object, loaded of excessive responsibility and fears with vague or obvious threats.
Many women then end up suffering from psychological and physical disorders of various kinds as a consequence of the constant state of surveillance which, in the long run, ends up compromising the psychophysical equilibrium.
The woman who suffers violence is a traumatized woman, who does not easily rely on social support, as she can experience shame, fear, and above all a sense of guilt towards herself, she comes to think that she is wrong. The woman needs not feel criticized and judged, but protected and cared for, recognized in her fragility and her pain. It is therefore necessary to help her become aware of her experience, which was not an expression of a stable relationship (a love or a work one) but, rather, of a pathological relationship (as, very often, she cannot accept).
93% of women who suffer violence do not report. Everything remains suffocated, closed in a silence that slowly affects the psyche of those who suffer it. The fear of making the situation worse is stronger than the fear of living in hell every day.
However, if reading this article, you recognized yourself in some detail, it is time to say ENOUGH!
The time has come to act!
There are different options for women that are suffering from violence.
1) Talk to a professional aid (psychologist, doctor, police) or contact a women shelter and ask for support
2) talk to a friend, as you may feel more comfortable sharing, in the beginning, your experience with someone you can trust and are emotionally connected with.
3) Get in touch with the VNUK counseling center. You will find support and professional aid for your problem.
Sources:
https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/eliminationofviolenceagainstwomenday
