Violence Against Women In The Global South

"World Health Organization, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, South African Medical Research Council"--Title page.

The fact that women have achieved higher levels of political inclusion within low- and middle-income countries has generated much speculation about whether this is reaping broader benefits in tackling gender-based inequalities. This book uncovers the multiple political dynamics that influence governments to adopt and implement gender equity policies, pushing the debate beyond simply the role of women’s inclusion in influencing policy. Bringing the politics of development into discussion with feminist literature on women's empowerment, the book proposes the new concept of ‘power domains’ as a way to capture how inter-elite bargaining, coalitional politics, and social movement activism combine to shape policies that promote gender equity. In particular, the book investigates the conditions under which countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have adopted legislation against domestic violence, which remains widespread in many developing countries. The book demonstrates that women’s presence in formal politics and policy spaces does not fully explain the pace in adopting and implementing domestic violence law. Underlying drivers of change within broader domains of power also include the role of clientelistic politics and informal processes of bargaining, coalition-building, and persuasion; the discursive framing of gender-equitable ideas; and how transnational norms influence women’s political inclusion and gender-inclusive policy outcomes. The comparative approach across Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, India, and Bangladesh demonstrates how advancing gender equality varies by political context and according to the interests surrounding a particular issue. Negotiating Gender Equity in the Global South will be of interest to students and scholars of gender and development, as well as to activists within governments, political parties, nongovernmental organizations, women’s movements, and donor agencies, at national and international levels, who are looking to develop effective strategies for advancing gender equality.

Reducing Urban Violence in the Global South seeks to identify the drivers of urban violence in the cities of the Global South and how they relate to and interact with poverty and inequalities. Drawing on the findings of an ambitious 5-year, 15-project research programme supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre and the UK’s Department for International Development, the book explores what works, and what doesn't, to prevent and reduce violence in urban centres. Cities in developing countries are often seen as key drivers of economic growth, but they are often also the sites of extreme violence, poverty, and inequality. The research in this book was developed and conducted by researchers from the Global South, who work and live in the countries studied; it challenges many of the assumptions from the Global North about how poverty, violence, and inequalities interact in urban spaces. In so doing, the book demonstrates that accepted understandings of the causes of and solutions to urban violence developed in the Global North should not be imported into the Global South without careful consideration of local dynamics and contexts. Reducing Urban Violence in the Global South concludes by considering the broader implications for policy and practice, offering recommendations for improving interventions to make cities safer and more inclusive. The fresh perspectives and insights offered by this book will be useful to scholars and students of development and urban violence, as well as to practitioners and policymakers working on urban violence reduction programmes.

Women have made significant inroads into political life in recent years, but in many parts of the world, their increased engagement has spurred attacks, intimidation, and harassment. This book provides the first comprehensive account of this phenomenon, exploring how women came to give these experiences a name: violence against women in politics. Tracing its global emergence as a concept, Mona Lena Krook draws on insights from multiple disciplines--political science, sociology, history, gender studies, economics, linguistics, psychology, and forensic science--to develop a more robust version of this concept to support ongoing activism and inform future scholarly work. Krook argues that violence against women in politics is not simply a gendered extension of existing definitions of political violence privileging physical aggressions against rivals. Rather, it is a distinct phenomenon involving a broad range of harms to attack and undermine women as political actors, taking physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and semiotic forms. Incorporating a wide range of country examples, she illustrates what this violence looks like in practice, catalogues emerging solutions around the world, and considers how to document this phenomenon more effectively. Highlighting its implications for democracy, human rights, and gender equality, the book asserts that addressing this issue requires ongoing dialogue and collaboration to ensure women's equal rights to participate--freely and safely--in political life around the globe.

This report documents the dynamics of violence against women in South Asia across the life cycle, from early childhood to old age. It explores the different types of violence that women may face throughout their lives, as well as the associated perpetrators (male and female), risk and protective factors for both victims and perpetrators, and interventions to address violence across all life cycle stages. The report also analyzes the societal factors that drive the primarily male — but also female — perpetrators to commit violence against women in the region. For each stage and type of violence, the report critically reviews existing research from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, supplemented by original analysis and select literature from outside the region. Policies and programs that address violence against women and girls are analyzed in order to highlight key actors and promising interventions. Finally, the report identifies critical gaps in research, program evaluations, and interventions in order to provide strategic recommendations for policy makers, civil society, and other stakeholders working to mitigate violence against women in South Asia.

This book amplifies the different voices and experiences of those facing gender-based violence (GBV) in the Global South. It explores the localised ways in which marginalised individuals design modes of coping with and address GBV, including cultural interpretations, and artistic and faith-based expressions. The book examines GBV triggers, prevalence, and societal impacts while referring to community, national, and regional mobilisation to deal with the phenomenon in its various manifestations, including physical, psychological, political, domestic, and public violence. It explores issues related to women’s negotiations with the patriarchal underpinnings of GBV; the role of the law and history in the perpetuation of GBV; the complementary role of culture and faith to legal protection against GBV, and access to justice for women and girls. In doing so, the book exposes understandings and expressions of GBV, as well as methodologies and indigenous initiatives to prevent it through local viable solutions. The book thus challenges the normalisation of GBV in the Global South. Providing concrete and culturally relevant suggestions for challenging ingrained models of gender understandings of violence in the Global South, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of Development Studies, Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Violence and Abuse Studies, Human Rights, Criminal Law, and Socio-Legal Studies.

Bringing together 14 journalism scholars from around the world, this edited collection addresses the deficit of coverage of violence against women in the Global South by examining the role of the legacy press and social media that report on and highlight ways to improve reporting. Authors investigate the ontological limitations which present structural and systemic challenges for journalists who report on the normalization of violence against women in country cases in Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; Indonesia; Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa; Egypt; Libya, Syria, and Yemen. Challenges include patriarchal forces; gender imbalance in newsrooms; propaganda and censorship strategies by repressive, hyper-masculine, and populist political regimes; economic and digital inequities; and civil and transnational wars. Presenting diverse conceptual, methodological, and empirical chapters, the collection offers a revision of existing frameworks and guidelines and aims to promote more gender-sensitive, trauma-informed, solutions-driven, and victim or survivor centered reporting in the region.