Alessandra Guedes' presentation from her UNICEF Innocenti seminar held at our offices on 26th November 2019.
This presentation:
• reviews evidence for the intersections between violence against women and violence against children,
• explores existing tensions between these fields of work, and
• discusses collaborative ways forward.
If there is a Hell on Earth, it is the Lives of Children in Gaza.pdf
Violence Against Women & Violence Against Children - The Points of Intersection
1. Violence Against Women
and Violence Against
Children – The Points
of Intersection
Alessandra Guedes
Manager, Gender and Development Research
UNICEF Office of Research Innocenti - Florence, Italy
2. 2 FIELDS THAT HAVE GROWN IN SEPARATE WAYS
• New fields of knowledge that are drastically underfunded
• Highly political areas of work
• Led by passionate advocates, researchers, activists
• Competing agendas: protection children vs protecting women
• Concern that focus on “violence against children” will undermine
“violence against women agenda”
• Separate advocacy, research, programmatic and policy efforts
3. Intersections between VAW and VAC
1 SHARED RISK FACTORS
2 SOCIAL NORMS
3 CO-OCCURRENCE
4 INTER-GENERATIONAL EFFECTS
5 COMMON & COMPOUNDING CONSEQUENCES
6 ADOLESCENCE
4. 1 SHARED RISK FACTORS FOR PERPETRATING VAW AND VAC
• Gender inequality and discrimination
• Lack of responsive institutions
• Weak legal sanctions against violence
• Male dominance in the household
• Marital conflict
• Harmful use of alcohol and drugs
• Early exposure to violence
5. 2 SOCIAL NORMS
• Condone violent discipline (wife-beating and
corporal punishment)
• Promote masculinities based on violence and
control
• Prioritize family reputation and blame victims
• Support gender inequality
6. 2 SHARED “LOGIC” OF BEATING WOMEN AND CHILDREN
• “If it’s a great mistake, then the husband is
justified in beating his wife. Why not? A
cow will not be obedient without beatings.”
(husband in India)
• “Every child needs punishment to grow.
Yes, I beat. The harder you beat, the better
he will learn what you teach.”
(female teacher in Uganda)
8. 3 CO-OCCURRENCE
• Partner violence and child
abuse/maltreatment can occur in the
same family
• Children in households where mother is
abused are more likely to experience
violent discipline
9. 3
CO-OCCURRENCE
% of women (15-49), according to whether they reported that children in the household
experienced corporal punishment (by anyone) and intimate partner violence
(physical/sexual) ever
22
18
14
23
41
28
26
34
23
15
7
5
12
13
16
18
28
36
18
14
18
18
7
12
17
13
18
46
60
62
47
38
44
40
25
22
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Perú 2017
Paraguay 2008
Nicaragua 2011/12
Nicaragua 2006
Jamaica 2008-9
Guatemala 2008/9
Colombia 2015
Colombia 2005
Bolivia 2003
Porcentaje
Si CF no VP
Ambos CF y VP
No CF si VP
no CF no VP
Yes CP No IPV
Yes CP Yes IPV
No CP Yes IPV
No CP No IPV
Source:
Unpublished
analysis by
UNICEF
LACRO and
PAHO/WHO
10. 4 INTER-GENERATIONAL EFFECTS
• Partner violence can affect children throughout the
life cycle: low-birth weight, under-5 mortality,
children’s mental health and development
• Consequences of VAC can last into adulthood
• Early exposure to violence increases risk of
perpetrating or experiencing violence later in life
11. 4
INTER-GENERATIONAL EFFECTS
% of ever pregnant women who reported physical violence during
pregnancy (by any perpetrator), select LAC countries
Source:
Unpublished
analysis by
PAHO/WHO of
nationally
representative
household
surveys
7.1
9.5
4.2
6.0
9.2
5.7
7.0
7.4
9.7
7.1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Trinidad & Tobago 2017
Peru 2017
Panama 2009
Jamaica 2016
Honduras 2011/12
Haiti 2016/17
Guatemala 2014/15
Dominican Republic 2013
Colombia 2015
Belize 2015
Percent
13. 4
INTER-GENERATIONAL EFFECTS
Prevalence of IPV, according to women’s experience of physical
abuse in childhood
Source:
Violence
against
women in
Latin America
and the
Caribbean:
Comparative
analysis of
population-
level data
from 12
countries
(PAHO & CDC,
2012).
14. 4
INTER-GENERATIONAL EFFECTS
Prevalence of IPV, according to whether survivor’s mother (or
stepmother) was beaten
Source:
Violence
against
women in
Latin America
and the
Caribbean:
Comparative
analysis of
population-
level data
from 12
countries
(PAHO & CDC,
2012).
15. 4
INTER-GENERATIONAL EFFECTS
Physical punishment of children, according to woman’s
experience of IPV
Source: Violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Comparative analysis of
population-level data from 12 countries (PAHO & CDC, 2012).
16. 4
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF KEY RISK FACTORS IN MALE INTIMATE
PARTNER VIOLENCE PERPETRATION IN ASIA AND PACIFIC
Source: Multi-
Country Study
on Men and
Violence in
Asia and the
Pacific, 2013
17. 5 COMMON & COMPOUNDING CONSEQUENCES
• Similar mental, physical, sexual and
reproductive health consequences
• Exposure to multiple forms of violence
(polyvictimization) may have cumulative,
compounding effects
18. 6 ADOLESCENCE
• Period of elevated vulnerability to some forms of VAC/VAW
• Perpetration and victimization often begin in adolescence
• Early marriage and childbearing are risk factors for both VAW and VAC
• Adolescents sometimes overlooked by both fields
• Prevention opportunities exist
19. Collaborative solutions
Implement and
enforce laws
criminalizing
abuse and
exploitation of
both women and
children
Promote social
and gender
norms that don‘t
condone VAW or
VAC
Coordinate
prevention and
response services
that are age and
gender
appropriate
Integrate gender
socialization into
parenting and
home visitation
programs to
promote the equal
treatment of boys
and girls
Combine
economic
empowerment
efforts with
participatory
discussions on
gender, power
and discipline
Close the gaps
in research
20. Challenges to be addressed when seeking greater coordination
Area of
overlapping
interests
“win-win”
VAC VAW
• Will services be adequately tailored to the needs of children
and adolescents?
• Will children’s rights/safety take precedence over women’s
rights/safety (ex: mandatory reporting)?
• Will women be penalized when children are exposed to
intimate partner violence for failing to protect?
• How do we handle women as perpetrators of child
maltreatment?
• What about intersections with other forms of violence?
21. Thank you
Alessandra Guedes
aguedes@unicef.org
@Alesscguedes
Alessandra Guedes, Sarah Bott, Claudia Garcia-Moreno & Manuela
Colombini (2016) Bridging the gaps: a global review of intersections of
violence against women and violence against children, Global Health
Action, 9:1, 31516, DOI: 10.3402/gha.v9.31516