<p>The thesis firstly looks at how women&rsquo / s right to freedom from violence has developed in international (global) human rights law since the early 1990s. In this regard, the study finds that while the issue of violence against women (and women&rsquo / s rights generally) was barely on the international human rights agenda at the beginning of this period, an enormous degree of development has subsequently taken place. Through the adoption of documents such as General Recommendation No. 19 by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on Elimination of Violence against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, international norms and standards were set regarding role of the State in providing women with protection against violence.</p>

The thesis finds that the majority of women affected by HIV and AIDS in South Africa still live in conditions of poor access to health services, inadequate access to housing, limited access to property and live amidst gender-based violence. Nevertheless, there exist legal protections and jurisprudential developments in the country that are significant for the realisation of women’s rights in the context of HIV and AIDS. The thesis concludes that the law is not the ultimate site for change to improve women’s lives, but that applied with other efforts, can be transformative.

This Photovoice study engaged Indigenous girls, aged fifteen, in a participatory study to explore their knowledge of commercial sexual exploitation. Through photos, writing, and discussion four major themes emerged: i. all the participant-researchers had directly experienced and witnessed various incidences of sexual exploitation; ii. the sexual exploitation of Indigenous girls is pervasive and normalized; iii. racialization impacts on life as an Indigenous girl, and finally; iv. friendly and accessible services are critical to preventing and intervening in sexual exploitation but are inadequate. Overall the findings that emerged from the girls’ photos and stories indicate that in view of historic conditions and ongoing racialization and sexualization Indigenous girls are very vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Broad-level change is needed in order to eventually eradicate the sexual exploitation of Indigenous girls. In the meantime, there is the continued need for immediate, community support for girls in regard to sexual exploitation. More research engaging Indigenous girls directly in knowledge creation is needed.

Efforts to increase girls‘ access to quality education focus mostly on removing obstacles linked to poverty and discrimination, and often fail to acknowledge the violence many of them suffer in, around, and on the way to and from school. The objective of the present research is to examine the barriers to combating male sexual and gender-based violence in schools at the community level, and to consider community and expert-issued suggestions on removing these obstacles in the Ghanaian context. It does so through the lens of the Gender and Development approach and uses the Ecological Model of Gender-based Violence. Inspired by the standpoint feminist approach to research, data collection in Awaso and Accra involved classroom observation in four (4) Junior high school classes, 19 qualitative interviews with government and civil society personnel, and four (4) focus group discussions with parents, students and teachers. The findings show that barriers to eliminating male sexual and gender-based violence in Awaso include lack of knowledge of girls‘ rights to protection from violence, of consequences of violence against women and girls and of reporting mechanisms. Other barriers identified were lack of resources at the family and government levels, traditional values of family, community and religion, and social perceptions of both gender hierarchies and violence against women and girls. Gendered power dynamics underlie these barriers and hinder progress on the issue of girls‘ protection from violence, but groups of Ghanaian women, girls, men and boys are challenging these dynamics and finding ways to make schools safer for girls. Their strategies for change are also featured in the present research.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:46:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarwylaGL_DISSERT.pdf: 1835757 bytes, checksum: 903840c5717708199f06b9fc18d0784e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-30 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Cotidianamente, as mulheres s?o v?timas de uma viol?ncia espec?fica perpetrada pelos companheiros. Esses, tomados pelo sentimento de posse, superioridade e domina??o, a praticam contra a mulher, na esfera de uma rela??o ?ntima de afeto, no ?mbito dom?stico onde se d?o as rela??es de familiaridade. Esse tipo espec?fico de crime foi, no dia 06 de outubro de 2006, contemplado com o advento da Lei 11.340/06, conhecida como Lei Maria da Penha, que ? a primeira Lei espec?fica de combate a viol?ncia de g?nero praticada as mulheres. Essa viol?ncia foi por muitos anos invisibilizada, sendo somente na d?cada de 70, ap?s o acontecimento de v?rios crimes passionais que ocorreram nesse per?odo, que o movimento feminista conseguiu, por interm?dio de v?rios atos p?blicos, publicizar a viol?ncia de g?nero perpetrada as mulheres. A partir da d?cada de 80, as feministas come?aram a lutar pelas primeiras pol?ticas p?blicas de combate a essa viol?ncia, o que proporcionou a cria??o da primeira DEAM que, apesar de representar uma grande conquista para as mulheres por criminalizar os atos de viol?ncia, sem uma lei espec?fica para lhe dar suporte, e tendo em vista que os profissionais que nela atuavam n?o eram sensibilizados(as) para compreender o comportamento amb?guo das mulheres - de sa?da e retorno da rela??o-, pouco se avan?ou nesse sentido. Em 2005, o Poder Judici?rio preocupado com a falta de celeridade processual e entendendo que a concilia??o seria uma proposta vi?vel para seu desafogamento, promulgou a Lei 9.099/95 fazendo surgir no pa?s a figura dos Juizados Especiais Criminais, constitu?dos para julgar os crimes de menor potencial ofensivo, onde foi abarcado o crime de viol?ncia de g?nero contra a mulher, constituindo um retrocesso na luta pelo fim dessa viol?ncia. Em 2006, com o advento da Lei Maria da Penha, surgem a figura dos Juizados de Viol?ncia Dom?stica e Familiar Contra a Mulher, com compet?ncia civil e criminal devolvendo ?s DEAM?s seu objeto prim?rio de interven??o e retomando o Inqu?rito policial. Em Natal, resultado da pesquisa realizada com 5 profissionais das ?reas jur?dico/policial, p?de-se obter como resultado que, os(as) aplicadores de ambas as ?reas tem um entendimento limitado acerca da categoria g?nero, fundamental para entender esse tipo penal; apenas um, dos cinco entrevistados n?o foram capacitados para aplicarem a Lei; que apesar da exist?ncia de uma rede social de apoio ?s v?timas, essa n?o se d? de forma articulada; que a maior prote??o ofertada ? v?tima ? a casa-abrigo e outras medidas protetivas de urg?ncia. Entre tantos limites encontrados para aplica??o da Lei, est?o: a falta de uma estrutura adequada, falta de um trabalho com o agressor e o fato da Lei ser condicionada a representa??o da ofendida. Entre os avan?os, p?de-se destacar as medidas protetivas de urg?ncia como sendo aquilo de mais inovador e ?gil proporcionado pela Lei

Doctor Legum - LLD / The thesis firstly looks at how women's right to freedom from violence has developed in international (global) human rights law since the early 1990s. In this regard, the study finds that while the issue of violence against women (and women's rights generally) was barely on the international human rights agenda at the beginning of this period, an enormous degree of development has subsequently taken place. Through the adoption of documents such as General Recommendation No. 19 by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on Elimination of Violence against Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, international norms and standards were set regarding role of the State in providing women with protection against violence. / South Africa

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence constitutes one of the major protection concerns in displacement settings, being the current Syrian crisis in Lebanon no exception. This has led international and Lebanese humanitarian actors to design and implement prevention and response programmes country-wide to ensure the protection of persons of concern. Yet, gender-related programmes seem to maintain a traditional approach which focuses disproportionately on women and girls. As for SGBV programmes, while women and girls do constitute the bulk of SGBV survivors, such traditional approach overlooks the need of other groups concerned by any gender and SGBV-related interventions. This holds especially true to men and boys, whose engagement in SGBV programming is still conceived in silos, usually included in prevention programmes in their role as perpetrators. Working with men and boys survivors is not widespread and there is no consistent attempt to involve men across all stages in programmes. With no aim to compromise the much needed interventions with women and girls, this Master’s thesis aims at exploring an enhanced men-inclusive approach to SGBV programmes through the exploration of a tool called the men’s lens. By analyzing how Syrian refugee men’s own masculinities and manhood and their linkages to their social positioning influence the emergence of SGBV, this Master’s thesis explores the feasibility of such approach through interviews and a set of recommendations to humanitarian actors in Lebanon. As such, the thesis contributes to bringing together academia and the humanitarian realm, contextualising the men’s lens to the reality on the ground. This includes the adoption of a practical focus on the intertwinement between SGBV, masculinities and intersectionality among Syrian refugees in Lebanon, with the ultimate goal of contributing to improving current SGBV programmes in the Syria crisis.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:24:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1334959 bytes, checksum: 4b643905ba78433e9e63803ab6250b1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This study analyzes improvements and limitations in the implementation and effectuation of the policy for tackling gender-based violence, and in assistance services for women in the city of João Pessoa/PB, results of theoretical and empirical reflections from the Social Service Masters Course of Federal University of Paraíba. From a critical-analytical perspective, we could understand the inequalities and asymmetries between men and women, which are results of a society established by a patriarchal logic. We learned that the violence against women is intrinsic to this model of organization and is not restricted to the interpersonal relations only, but also underlies the gender relations. This complex issue is a political and social matter, making the state intervention mandatory. This is a qualitative-quantitative research. The data collection method consisted of interviews followed by a content analysis of the respondents answers, based on the theoretical framework guiding this study. The universe of this research was comprised of 11 women users of the Centro de Referência da Mulher Ednalva Bezerra, a city public agency. The research was carried out from November 2009 to February 2010. The discussion and analysis presented corroborate the guiding questions of this research. We found that the gender-based violence becomes more complex and ambiguous within an affective relationship, making difficult for the victims to lodge a complaint. The approval of the Maria da Penha Law, which curbs gender-based violence in its domestic and family forms, does not translate into effectuation of the assistance services to which the law refers. The impunity for perpetrators also contributes to the reproduction and permanence of this phenomenon. Also, the absent, insufficient, and non-prioritized assistance services from the state reveal its position over the issue, defending class interests and the patriarchal logic. Finally, we learned that the achievements of women are uncontested, with profound changes in society; however, the rights and the broadening of citizenship for women are limited by the landmarks of the capitalist society, which is permeated by the patriarchal logic of gender. / O presente estudo analisa os avanços e limites para implantação e efetivação da política de enfrentamento à violência de gênero, e serviços de atendimento às mulheres no município de João Pessoa/PB, resultado das reflexões teóricas e empíricas realizadas no Curso de Mestrado em Serviço Social, da Universidade Federal da Paraíba. A partir de uma perspectiva analíticacrítica, permitiu compreendermos as desigualdades e assimetrias entre homens e mulheres, as quais são constitutivas da sociedade erigida pela lógica patriarcal. Apreendemos que a violência direcionadas às mulheres é intrínseca a essa organização, não resumida às relações interpessoais, mas estruturante das relações sociais de gênero. Essa problemática complexa é uma questão política e social, portanto torna-se imprescindível a intervenção do Estado. Metodologicamente, recorremos à pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, como técnica de coleta de dados, adotamos a entrevista e análise de conteúdo das falas das entrevistadas, balizada pelo referencial teórico que norteia o estudo. O universo de pesquisa constituiu-se de 11 mulheres usuárias do Centro de Referência da Mulher Ednalva Bezerra, órgão público municipal. O período da pesquisa foi novembro de 2009 a fevereiro de 2010. A discussão e análise apresentadas afirmam as questões norteadoras da presente pesquisa, ao verificarmos que a violência de gênero, ocorrida numa relação afetiva, torna-se mais complexa e ambígua, dificultando sua denúncia; que apesar da aprovação da Lei Maria da Penha, coibe a violência de gênero, na forma doméstica e familiar, não se traduz na efetivação dos serviços de atendimento que são previstos, além da impunidade dos/as agressores/as que é presente, contribuindo para a reprodução e naturalização do fenômeno. Ainda, a ausência, precarização e a não priorização de serviços por parte do Estado exprimem o posicionamento frente à problemática e da defesa dos interesses de classe e da lógica patriarcal. Por fim, apreendemos que são incontestes os deslocamentos de conquistas das mulheres, com profundas mudanças na sociedade, porém os direitos e alargamento da cidadania das mulheres encontram limites nos marcos da sociedade capitalista, permeada pela lógica patriarcal de gênero.

The Rohingya population of Myanmar have been called one of the most persecuted ethnic minorities on earth. Beyond the systemic discrimination and ongoing violations of basic human rights, Tatmadaw operations against Rohingya communities in Rakhine State in recent years have amounted to ethnic cleansing, if not genocide. Reports of widespread sexual violence by security forces have garnered significant international attention, increasing our collective awareness of how rape is used as a weapon of war. In light of Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar’s report recommending that investigation take place to establish an evidence base for future prosecutions, it is critical that sexual and gender-based violence crimes be adequately factored into documentation strategies. This strategy will send a message that abuses upon women’s bodies are no longer regarded as mere inevitable ‘spoils of war’, but instead belong among the gravest of crimes, worthy of international resources and expertise to address. In order to minimize further intrusion into the lives of Rohingya survivors, it is necessary to consider the various possible justice mechanisms that may be used, and the different methods and standards of documentation that may be required for each. While early documentation efforts are encouraged so that relevant evidence is not lost, these considerations call for careful research, planning and ethical reflection. In order to contribute to this process, this thesis explores how law may operate to bring about justice for sexual and gender-based violence, and provides guidance on how to document evidence to be used for this purpose. At the same time, it recognizes that the form of justice international criminal trials can offer is inherently limited in scope. It further explores how “justice”, a contested concept, is not always defined or achieved through the punishment of perpetrators alone. It therefore draws on critiques of international criminal justice to imagine other ways that justice might manifest, and then identifies the methods of documentation possible to facilitate these efforts. / Graduate / 2019-09-07

Previous research has shown a post-disaster increase of Gender Based Violence [GBV], suggesting a need for further investigation of the phenomena and its causes. This research draws together a wide-ranging collection of secondary data sets concerning disasters and gender based violence. It analyses the social environment in post-disaster settings that breeds an increase in GBV with focus on Sexual Gender Based Violence[SGBV] and Intra Personal Violence [IPV]. Through a comparison of two case studies: (a) post-earthquake Haiti and (b) post-hurricane Katrina. The cases are analysed through an analytical framework constructed out of three theories, Eco-feminism, Hyper-masculinity and Situational Theory, which together could give a trustworthy explanation of the phenomena. The findings show that similar factors were prevalent in both cases, and in turn provides insights for the abductively derived framework that relates the causal mechanisms behind the phenomena of post-disaster gender-based violence, building on the commonalities between social environments and structures in the cases. In particular, it was found that a patriarchal root structure and high rates of frustration both provided explanatory causal mechanisms for increased GBV. Though changes in environments can affect the prevalence of GBV as it can provide easier access of victims and lower the risk of penalties in relation to the crimes. In order to address GBV associated with future disasters, post-disaster plans need to adapt a gender mainstreamed approach with focus on safe housing and rapid rebuilding processes for the grass root level.