Face Of Violence Research Articles

A qualitative study on gender inequality and gender-based violence in Nepal

BackgroundGender inequality and violence are not mutually exclusive phenomena but complex loops affecting each other. Women in Nepal face several inequalities and violence. The causes are diverse, but most of these results are due to socially assigned lower positioning of women. The hierarchies based on power make women face subordination and violence in Nepal. The study aims to explore participants' understanding and experience to identify the status of inequality for women and how violence emerges as one of its consequences. Furthermore, it explores the causes of sex trafficking as an example of an outcome of inequality and violence.MethodThe study formulated separate male and female groups using a purposive sampling method. The study used a multistage focus group discussion, where the same groups met at different intervals. Six focus group discussions, three times each with male and female groups, were conducted in a year. Thirty-six individuals, including sixteen males and twenty females, were involved in the discussions. The study used constructivist grounded theory for the data analysis.ResultsThe study participants identify that a power play between men and women reinforce inequality and increases the likelihood of violence for women. The findings suggest that the subjugation of women occurs due to practices based on gender differences, constricted life opportunities, and internalization of constructed differences among women. The study identifies that interpersonal and socio-cultural violence can result due to established differences between men and women. Sex trafficking, as an example of the outcome of inequality and violence, occurs due to the disadvantageous position of women compounded by poverty and illiteracy. The study has developed a concept of power-play which is identified as a cause and consequence of women's subordination and violence. This power play is found operative at various levels with social approval for men to use violence and maintain/produce inequality.ConclusionThe theoretical concept of power play shows that there are inequitable power relations between men and women. The male-centric socio-cultural norms and practices have endowed men with privilege, power, and an opportunity to exploit women. This lowers the status of women and the power-play help to produce and sustain inequality. The power-play exposes women to violence and manifests itself as one of the worst expressions used by men.

Gendered violence in state house races

ABSTRACT There is a growing body of literature suggesting that women politicians face greater hostility and violence than men and that this depresses the willingness of women to serve and ultimately descriptive representation. Here we add to this burgeoning literature by examining gender differences in the psychological and physical violence experienced by state house candidates in the 2020 election cycle. Using a survey administered in 18 states, we find that women candidates were significantly more likely than men to report physical violence but not psychological violence. Further, women reported significantly more gendered violence, including sexualized violence. For women, but not for men, running in states more likely to support traditional gender norms was associated with more reported violence. Finally, on one measure of power (running for seats in full-time legislatures), women were more likely than men to report violence.

Anti‐immigration policies of the trump administration: A review of Latinx mental health and resilience in the face of structural violence

AbstractPoor mental health outcomes are a growing concern among Latinx children and adults in the U.S. While existing research has documented risk factors to these mental health disparities, such as barriers to healthcare access and fear of deportation, less is known about the impacts of Former President Trump's anti‐immigrant rhetoric and federal efforts to curb migration on Latinx mental health. Thus, the purpose of this review was two‐fold: (1) to review the empirical literature for any quantitative or qualitative findings discussing the relationship between federal immigration policies passed under the Trump administration and mental health outcomes of the Latinx community and (2) to understand the range of resilience factors that may have facilitated Latinx youth and adults to overcome these sociopolitical changes. Utilizing a modified version of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analyses guidelines, we conducted a narrative review of 21 empirical articles. The review characterizes literature across the fields of psychology, counseling, social justice, and law in terms of population of interest, relevant immigration policy, key mental health findings, and culturally sensitive contributions to either the Minority Stress Model or Social Ecological Resilience. Based on our findings, we argue that immigration enforcement served as a unique stressor to Latinx wellbeing and particularly increased rates of negative emotional experiences and internalizing symptoms. However, culturally rooted resilience factors, such as Luchando Adelante (e.g., striving forward despite uncertainty), helped bolster against relevant adversity. We conclude with an argument for the importance of immigration policy reform for improved mental health outcomes in the Latinx community.

Dance as a register of war: following unruly bodies, affects, and sounds in conflict

ABSTRACT What do people do in the face of violence, war, and tragedy? How do those touched by violence survive, live on, keep on going and feeling? What if ‘dance first, think later’ IS the natural order? In this paper, I propose dancing as an everyday, embodied, and multisensorial register of war. Combining new trajectories in war and military studies with ongoing feminist scholarship on war, embodiment, and emotions and interdisciplinary research on dance and electronic music, this paper explores entanglements between sites of political violence, militarism, and electronic dance music and culture. Drawing upon my research in Northern Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina, I argue that attending to these unseen entanglements activates distinctive ways of knowing the politics of war: they reveal alternative narratives of armed conflict mediated through and in between DJ performances, dancing bodies, and electronic sounds. These experiences offer important insights that unsettle taken for granted locations and affective economies of war while also reproducing conflict logics and divisions. I propose dance as a heuristic device that can recalibrate our understanding of the sensuous, affective, and embodied politics of/in war, enabling us to explore fragile possibilities for resistance and escape from its grip.

Women-Only Transportation: How “Pink” Public Transportation Changes Public Perception of Women’s Mobility

It is well documented that women often face sexual harassment and violence during their daily commutes, particularly in countries with extreme levels of gender inequality. A popular reaction to this problem is to issue women-only transit services. Despite this growing trend, we know very little about it. Looking at the case of Mexico City, this study examines, analyzes, and evaluates women-only transportation, focusing on the roles of culture and public opinion. Drawing from both qualitative and quantitative data, it finds that the violence women face in public transit leads them to always opt for women-only services, encouraging local policy makers to increase their numbers. Local feminist groups have advanced this system by arguing that violence in regular public transit is gender discrimination. Consequently, they have positioned themselves as administrators of women-only transportation, using it as a campaign to defend women’s equal right to urban mobility.

‘The issue is not getting but keeping women in politics’: The impact of violence against women in politics in the Belgian context

Violence against women in politics (VAWIP) is a significant problem. Worldwide, female politicians face violence targeted specifically at them because they are women engaging in politics. The impact of VAWIP has mainly received attention in conflict settings and in countries where women are traditionally largely underrepresented in politics. Based on a case study in Belgium, this article looks into how VAWIP affects female politicians in a country with a high presence of women in politics. To do so, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven female politicians sitting in different Belgian parliaments and municipal councils. Based on a thematic analysis applied to the data, three mechanisms were identified through which VAWIP affects female politicians: it creates a hostile work environment for women, it silences women as political actors, and it hinders women in carrying out their actual work. The results show that all these difficulties added up can lead female politicians to consider leaving or actually leave politics. The article therefore concludes that the impact of VAWIP is twofold: it drives women out of politics but also significantly reduces their input while they are active in politics.

Living a frozen life: a qualitative study on asylum seekers’ experiences and care practices at accommodation centers in Sweden

BackgroundForced migrants fleeing conflict and violence face a high risk of mental health problems due to experiences before displacement, perilous journeys, and conditions in the new host societies. Asylum seekers seem to be in particularly vulnerable situations, indicated by higher prevalence rates of mental health problems compared to resettled refugees. Asylum seekers’ mental health is highly influenced by the conditions they face in host countries while awaiting a decision on their case. In Sweden, 40% of asylum seekers reside in state-provided accommodation centers during the asylum process. Collective accommodation centers for asylum seekers have been said to impose restrictive social conditions and to be associated with poorer mental health outcomes than other housing forms (e.g., self-organized housing). However, there seems to be a scarcity of qualitative studies exploring the experiences of asylum seekers in different contexts. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the experiences of asylum seekers and how they manage their mental wellbeing while living at accommodation centers in Sweden.MethodsFourteen semi-structured interviews with asylum seekers were conducted at two accommodation centers in Sweden. Participants were recruited using purposeful sampling and represented a diverse group of asylum seekers regarding age, background, and gender. The data was analyzed using content analysis.ResultsThree overarching categories were identified; 1) Frozen life, 2) Constant worrying and “overthinking”, and 3) Distractions and peer support. Participants experienced a state of being that could be characterized as a frozen life, which was associated with intense feelings of psychological distress, mostly described as manifesting itself in consuming patterns of ruminative thoughts, for instance overthinking and constant worrying. However, despite high levels of distress, participants demonstrated agency in managing negative mental health outcomes through self-care practices, peer support, and the development of care practices in caring for others in need.ConclusionThis study offers new insights into the everyday challenges that asylum seekers at accommodation centers face. Furthermore, it offers valuable observations of how asylum seekers at accommodation centers cope through self-care practices, peer support, and care practices in caring for peers in need. In order to enable sustainable and empowering support, mental health and psychosocial support services must identify and address both challenges and strengths, be grounded in the lived reality of asylum seekers, and build on existing resources. Moreover, further policy work needs to be done to enable faster asylum processes.

Informal Help-Seeking in Moments of Acute Danger: Intimate Partner Violence Survivors' Emergency Outreach Efforts and the Forces That Shape Them.

Heightened attention to police brutality has created momentum for alternative, community-based responses to violence, including that inflicted by an intimate partner. But to build effective alternatives, we must know what survivors already do in moments of acute danger when they do not call the police. This study sought to explore these moments from an ecological perspective. Using a qualitative descriptive methodology, we conducted 25 interviews with a diverse sample of intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Each described the first, the worst, and the most recent IPV incident, whom they reached out to and why, the outcomes of their help-seeking, and the individual, interpersonal, and psychosocial influences on the process. Even in the face of severe violence, what participants most wanted was someone who would listen without judgment. Direct interpersonal factors that influenced their help-seeking included their partner's controlling behavior, as well as their network members' capacities, perspectives on IPV, and feelings about the survivor. Broader influential factors included the radiating effects of IPV and other forms of trauma in survivors' networks. Participants offered recommendations on how domestic violence (DV) programs could both strengthen survivors' networks and provide them with targeted community support in moments of grave danger. As we continue to develop community-based alternatives to police intervention, DV programs have a critical opportunity to build on survivors' own recommendations. This process must address the ongoing effects of trauma that hamper the ability of so many network members to support survivors in crisis.

Introduction: Black Laughs Matter

Introduction: Black Laughs Matter

Indigenous women leading the defense of human rights from abuses related to mega-projects: Impacting corporate behavior — overcoming silencing practices

In the face of extreme violence, some Indigenous women-led social movement organizations that defend human rights in the context of abuses committed in connection to mega-projects have achieved favorable changes in corporate practices (success). In the predominantly patriarchal, capitalist and racist context of Latin America, what explains the success (or not) of Indigenous women-led mobilizations regarding the most politically and economically powerful actors in the world? My doctoral study is dedicated to responding to this question. In this article, I offer a very brief overview of that study. Thus, I provide some details about my research model in order to then introduce the acción trenzada theoretical framework that emerges from it. In light of that framework and the case of Lenca leader Berta Cáceres in Honduras, I next discuss aspects of a dynamic of forces where criminalization as a silencing practice is used against mobilizations led by Indigenous women human rights defenders, and how they are overcoming it.

Category Status Reclamation: How a Marginalized Gender Reclaimed Its Status

In 2019, a highly marginalized gender minority in India gained recognition as the first and only transgender monastic order (Kinnar Akhara) in a set of thirteen Hindu religious monastic orders that had been male dominated for more than a millennium. This is significant given that gender inequality is a persistent grand societal challenge, but the term tends to evoke the gender binary while transgenders continue to face violence and discrimination around the world. Gender is a social category and the persistence of gender inequality has been attributed to a difference of status. Thus, we take gender inequality as a case of category status inequality and study the category status change achieved by the Kinnar Akhara towards drawing insights for addressing gender inequality. We conduct a qualitative empirical study using 4 years of archival data between 2015 and 2019 from the public sphere, and find that the Kinnar Akhara referred to multiple histories to influence status beliefs about the third gender, make status claims and elicit status grants. The Kinnar Akhara leveraged constitutional, civilizational, and national histories to achieve its goal of reclaiming high status for the third gender. We contribute to the literature by proposing the idea of status reclamation as a return to high status after status loss, supporting the idea of dynamism in category status systems and demonstrating how religion may be used as a resource to address gender inequality.

Trauma to self and other: Reflections on field research and conflict

Researchers who wish to engage with survivors of conflict and violence face a range of complex ethical issues – including psychological dimensions of research – often with few resources or little support. This article draws on the author’s reflections as both a trauma therapist and field researcher and bridges the fields of mental health and conflict studies to explore two questions: 1) How can a researcher reduce the possibility of retraumatizing or causing psychological harm to study participants? 2) How can she diminish the possibility of being psychologically harmed herself? The author argues that a researcher must have a foundational understanding of psychological trauma, cultivate an awareness of the differences between research and healing, sharpen her interviewing skills, and identify means of co-producing knowledge to reduce the possibility for retraumatization. Researchers can prepare themselves for the psychological impacts of research by increasing self-awareness, engaging a variety of social and professional supports, and limiting exposure to traumatic material. The author argues for institutions to increase their responsibility for the well-being of researchers. This article begins to sketch the contours of ‘trauma-informed methodologies’ and contributes to the broader discussion of research ethics of fieldwork and conflict.

Survival over safety: non-reporting of criminalised violence by young migrants excluded from protection

ABSTRACT Children and young people seeking asylum on their own face violence in many forms. Little is known about how they seek protection from criminalised violence. This article is based on ethnographic research, interviews and a survey of young migrants living precariously, mostly from Afghanistan, who fled to Sweden alone when they were children, but who did not have their protection needs recognised. Through lived experiences of not reporting criminalised violence to police, the article examines how protection is further denied in the context of recent changes to the Swedish migratory and welfare regime. This article finds that young migrants often perceive non-reporting as a zero-sum strategy of survival over safety. Insecure legal status prevents young migrants from engaging the law for protection from criminalised violence. Experiences of discriminatory and violent police treatment and institutional violence forming part of trajectories of displacement reinforce the lack of protection. Strategies of silence and solidarity are used to ensure the preservation of the self, the migratory project, to protect friends, and, occasionally, perpetrators. By examining young migrants’ experiences of non-protection from criminalised violence, intersecting structural forms of violence become visible. These failures of protection constitute part of a continuum of violence experienced by young people seeking asylum.

Human rights violations and associated factors of the Hijras in Bangladesh-A cross-sectional study.

Hijras in Bangladesh face considerable discrimination, stigma, and violence despite the 2013 legislation that recognized Hijras as a third gender. There is a dearth of published literature describing the extent of human rights violations among this population and their associated factors. A questionnaire was administered to 346 study participants aged 15 years and older, living in five urban cities of Bangladesh who self-identified as Hijra, in 2019. The six human rights violation indicators (Economic, Employment, Health, Education, Social and Civic and Political Right) assessed were categorized as binary. Associations between sociodemographic characteristics and the six human rights violations were tested using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Human right violations including economic, educational, political, employment, health and social/civil right violations were reported in 73.3%, 59.3%, 58.5%, 46.4%, 42.7%, and 34.4% of the participants, respectively. Economic rights violations were associated with bisexuality (Adjusted odds ratios [AOR] 3.60, 95%CI: 1.57, 8.26) and not living with family (AOR 2.71, 95%CI: 1.21, 6.09), while Hijras who earned more than 10,000 Bangladesh Taka experienced higher odds of educational (AOR 2.77, 95%CI: 1.06, 7.19) and political rights violations (AOR 4.30, 95%CI: 1.06, 7.44). Living in Dhaka city was associated with a reduced odds for economic and political rights violation while experiencing violations of one human right could lead to violation of another in the Hijra community. Human rights violations were common in Bangladesh Hijras, particularly the Bisexual Hijras. Media and educational awareness campaigns are needed to address the underlying roots of a violation. Programs focused on the families, young people and high-income earners of this community are needed in Bangladesh.

Black & Mild: A Tutorial, After the CDC.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that smoking causes ~480,000 U.S. deaths annually. Many of these deaths are ultimately coded within "heart disease" and "cancer" deaths-the United States' top two causes of death. These deaths represent aggregations of dozens of distinct International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes. COVID-19 has also killed ~480,000 Americans annually. Yet its codes are much more limited/specific-such that COVID-19 might well be the singular leading cause of death in the United States. And yet here we are: 2+ years of pandemic and the CDC not only acting like it can't do math, but actively clearing paths for continued disease/death. This poem, crafted as counternarrative to the superficially apolitical (re/in)actions of the CDC, enacts the public health critical race praxis principle of "disciplinary self-critique" to suggest that the CDC has indeed aligned itself with neoliberal racial capitalism in an unapologetic endorsement/enactment of necropolitics. It draws from a rich archive of Black music that thematically engages smoking as ritual, resistance, and practice of community, as well as metaphor for/of transcendence and self-love in the face of structural violence and thinly-veiled necropolitical sacrifice at the altar of neoliberal public health-an altar long-built from the blood and bones of the "sick and tired." Or, if you prefer, the lungs and breath of the "mild." In the face of all the resources-financial and regulatory-governmental public health uses to keep us from smoking, vaping, and getting high, apparently, it's the CDC that is high-so high it is no longer able/willing to see the foundations of social justice that anchor our field. To view the original version of this poem, see the supplemental material section of this article online.

Proportion of ALGBT adult Brazilians, sociodemographic characteristics, and self-reported violence

Asexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (ALGBT) individuals face worse life conditions and violence rates than their heterosexual cisgender counterparts. Brazil is often highlighted for having one of the highest rates of hate-related homicides against ALGBTs in the world. However, to date, Brazil’s ALGBT population has not been investigated with a representative sample, and basic information such as population size or sociodemographic characteristics are mostly based in non-systematic data. We aimed to assess the proportion of asexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and non-binary adults in Brazil, their sociodemographic characteristics, and self-reported violence rates. In 2018, a sample (n = 6000) of the Brazilian adult population answered a face-to-face survey assessing sociodemographic characteristics, gender identity, sexual orientation, and self-reported psychological, physical, verbal, and sexual violence. Among Brazilian adults, 12.04% are ALGBT: 5.76% asexual, 0.93% lesbian, 1.37% gay, 2.12% bisexual, 0.68 trans, and 1.18% non-binary. Compared to heterosexual cisgender men, most ALGBT individuals have worse socioeconomic indicators and higher rates of self-reported psychological and verbal violence. All ALGBT groups and heterosexual cisgender women reported sexual violence more often than heterosexual cisgender men. It was reported between 4 up to 25 times more often by heterosexual cisgender women and trans individuals, respectively. The rates of the other ALGBT groups sit among the two. Our findings provide evidence of the important size of the ALGBT Brazilian population, as well as their socioeconomic vulnerability, and concerning violence levels experienced by the group. Policy makers may refer to the present article in order to mitigate this population’s vulnerability and to better understand its sociodemographic characteristics.

Women's Economic Empowerment and Protection Social Rights in Preventing Domestic Violence

Gender equality in terms of economic participation and social standing of women appears to have contributed to violations of women's rights. This paper aims to examine the economic empowerment of women in Malaysia, preserve their social rights in the face of domestic violence, and propose a framework as part of the Malaysian Government's inclusive development. The analysis is based on a qualitative and descriptive cross-sectional study. The research found that prejudice and oppression against women are not sufficiently addressed in Malaysia due to low economic participation and insufficient observance of social rights. Keywords: Women Empowerment; Economy Involvement; Social Rights; Domestic Violence. eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i20.3395

Do we feel safe and confident about workplace violence in the emergency departments?

Study objectiveThis study aimed to determine the relationship of safety and safety perception of physicians working in emergency departments with socio-demographic characteristics and working conditions. MethodThe study included physicians who work in the emergency department. An online questionnaire with two sections was used to collect data. The first section comprised 11 questions about the socio-demographic characteristics and working conditions. The second section comprised the Safety and Confidence Scale for Health Professionals (SCSHP) that assessed how safe physicians felt and how confident they were in the face of violence. ResultsA total of 402 participants were included in the study. The median score of the participants with less than one year of work experience was significantly lower than the other subgroups (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the SCSHP score among other subgroups. The median SCSHP score of the male participants was higher than that of the female participants (p < 0.001). The median score of married participants was significantly higher than that of unmarried participants (p = 0.007). However, other characteristics didn't have a significant effect on SCSHP scores (p > 0.05). When the relationship between the working title and SCSHP score was examined, significant differences were found between faculty members and specialist doctors vs general practitioners (p = 0.005, 0.001, respectively), whereas no significant difference was found in SCSHP scores among other subgroups (p > 0.0125). ConclusionAmong physicians working in the emergency department, those with less work experience, female physicians, and those who are unmarried feel less safe and confident about workplace violence.

Loops of Violence(s) Within Europe’s Governance of Migration in Libya, Italy, Greece, and Belgium

Studies have reported alarmingly high rates of traumatic experiences for refugee populations. While nearly all refugees experienced trauma in their country of origin, a vast majority of those seeking protection abroad also face (extreme) violence during their journeys and once in the country of destination. By concentrating on the migratory experiences of about 300 unaccompanied minors that we approached in Libya, Italy, Greece, and Belgium, this article analyses how different forms of violence are inflicted on these young migrants while moving to Europe. By concentrating on personal accounts of (recurrent) interactions with the EU migration and border management tools, we reveal the structural violence within the day-to-day governance of migration. Often framed as unintended or accidental, the article discusses how violence is instead ubiquitous, as it is systematically inflicted on migrants—including unaccompanied minors—in the form of repeated series of violent events or “loops of violence.” Importantly, such manifestations of violence are perpetrated by key institutional and non-institutional actors in the “migration industry” who are (in)directly involved in managing migration both inside and outside of the EU. Conceptually, we rely on K. E. Dempsey’s political geography of the different typologies of violence within Europe’s governance of migration and asylum and use it to concentrate on key transitional phases/fractures in migratory trajectories—i.e., as unaccompanied young migrants (try to) cross international borders and legal boundaries.

Analysis of law relating to censorship of literary and cinematographic works

Despite the fact that India produces more films per year than any other country, film certification for public exhibition has always been an arbitrary and politically charged procedure. The fact that the government appoints members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) rather than an industry or group independent of the government has resulted in the board being used to disburse political patronage. There have been instances when after getting certification of Films by censor board the films had to face violence or threats of violence or disruptions by self-styled protector of Indian values and fringe groups as it happened in the case of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil1 and Bahubali 22. All these instances lead us to the conclusion that there are unreasonably stringent on the freedom of speech and expression of authors and film-makers.