This study focused on the agency of battered women who kill in Turkey by conducting face- to-face interviews and using news articles covering the stories of three battered women who killed their abusers. Using a feminist poststructuralist theory and intersectionality analysis, the study analysed the patterns surrounding the agency of battered women who kill. Male violence in Turkey continues to be an unresolved problem, which continues to only grow. In the mainstream media and discourse, female victims of male violence tend to be portrayed within the victimhood concept. Thus, it creates an image of a weak, passive woman who does not have an agency. However, battered women who kill tend to conflict with the image of a passive victim. The act of killing does not fit the traditional understanding of femininity. The interview findings showed that battered women who killed their abusers were commonly understood as desperate, weak, and ignorant women. While the act of killing was justified, it was through a justification of an act conducted by someone who lacked agency. The news portrayals supported the findings of the interviews and showed that battered women who kill were justified when the woman was portrayed as a victim who killed specifically while she was being battered and was a mother who killed...

This thesis focuses on GBV against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict societies with a particular emphasis on South Sudan. It notes that women and girls are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence, and other consequences of war, including displacement and loss of livelihood. The generally weaker social capital that women tend to possess is often a precursor to wanton abuse at the hands of both friend and foe. A United Nations Human Rights Commission situation report on South Sudan, the country has had an incredibly difficult experience for the people who were the victims of conflict as violence has completely eclipsed the rule of law. Women and girls continue to encounter gender-related violence in form of rape, defilement, sexual slavery and very many other human rights abuses such as forced prostitution, domestic violence and sex trafficking. Coupled with this, their needs are undermined and not adequately addressed by duty-bearers and state actors. This is the case despite the availability of national legal provisions that declare the protection of women and girls as a guiding principle. This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of GBV against women and girls in South Sudan. To achieve this, the study offers an understanding of the nature and architecture of South Sudan as a conflict and post-conflict state, and the causes and contributing factors of GBV against women and girls in South Sudan. It also identifies the consequences and effects of GBV against women and girls in South Sudan and examines the legal framework for the protection of women and girls in South Sudan.   The study engages the feminist framework to place the study into perspective. It argues that the main factors leading to GBV against women and girls stem from the patriarchal nature of South Sudanese culture, which is further evidenced in the institutional structures. The study engages a qualitative research approach that is based on a descriptive analysis to offer a normative reflection on how conflict shapes societal attitudes towards women and girls. Being non-empirical, the study uses a library research method of investigation to incorporate available sources with relevant unpublished sources. The findings show that South Sudan is characterized by divided loyalty to two publics namely formal institutional structures and traditional cultural structures. It indicates that the strong formal and informal patriarchal institutions and practices grounded in violence and misogyny still exist giving men a hegemonic status which promotes aggressive behaviour and devaluation of women whilst serving to legitimize GBV against women and girls and prevent access to justice. The study shows that the prevailing laws in South Sudan are not sufficient to protect women and girls in South Sudan from GBV since many of these laws are enacted and enforced by men who oftentimes are the perpetrators of violence against women and are protected by patriarchal cultural and formal institutions. Finally, the study proposes adopting a human rights approach in an ethnically plural state, institutional reforms, legal reforms and increased resource allocation to GBV prevention.

Introduction Violence against women is one of the major social problems of our time and a violation of women's human rights. Globally, it is estimated that one out of three women are exposed to some type of violence. Extensive, consequential health problems lead women subjected to violence to seek medical treatment more frequently than women who are not subjected to violence.   Aim The aim was to describe abused women's experiences of the healthcare providers’ encounter in contact with the health and medical services. Method General literature study with an inductive approach and descriptive design. Result The women were reluctant to start conversations about violence on their own initiative, why healthcare providers became a crucial actor in violence disclosure and could, in some cases, be the only chance in identifying violence. Several women had never been asked about violence, instead they described negative experiences of medical services where healthcare providers had acted in a manner which left them feeling humiliated and insulted. A minority of the women experienced that the disclosure of violence had led to better medical care and that the healthcare providers subsequently were also able to support the women through following vulnerable medical procedures. Healthcare providers who showed understanding and empathy could contribute to a comfortable and trusting experience. The women preferred to speak to healthcare providers of their own sex, particularly nurses and midwives. Healthcare providers’ validation and terminological explanations of abuse and violence were also important to help women disclose violence. Conclusion This literature study demonstrates substantial challenges in healthcare services’ response to the patient group of women subjected to violence, in a person-centered manner.The healthcare provider plays an important role in the response of these women. More knowledge and competence is required to develop the healthcare’s response to women subjected to violence. / Introduktion Våld mot kvinnor är ett av vår tids stora samhällsproblem samt en kränkning av kvinnors mänskliga rättigheter. Globalt estimeras att en av tre kvinnor utsatts för någon typ av våld. Hälsoproblemen är omfattande vilket gör att våldsutsatta kvinnor söker vård mer frekvent än icke våldsutsatta. Syfte Syftet var att beskriva våldsutsatta kvinnors erfarenheter av vårdpersonalens bemötande i kontakt med hälso- och sjukvården. Metod  Litteraturöversikt med induktiv ansats samt deskriptiv design. Resultat Kvinnorna ville sällan själva ta initiativ till samtal om våld. Sjukvården blev därför en viktig resurs vid avslöjandet om våld och kunde i vissa fall vara den enda chansen att identifiera våld. Flertalet kvinnorna hade inte blivit tillfrågade om våld, utan beskrev istället negativa vårderfarenheter där sjukvårdspersonal agerat på ett sådant sätt att de känt sig förnedrade och kränkta. En minoritet av kvinnor tyckte att avslöjandet lett till bättre vård samt att vårdpersonal därefter kunnat hjälpa kvinnorna igenom svåra vårdsituationer. Vårdpersonal som försökt förstå och visat empati kunde skapa en bekväm och tillitsfull situation. Kvinnorna föredrog att prata med sjukvårdspersonal av samma kön, företrädelsevis sjuksköterskor samt barnmorskor. Sjukvårdspersonalens validering samt begreppsförklaring av övergrepp och våld var likaså viktiga för att hjälpa kvinnornas avslöjande. Slutsats  Av litteraturöversikten framgår att hälso- och sjukvården haft framstående svårigheter med att bemöta gruppen våldsutsatta kvinnor på ett personcentrerat sätt.Vårdpersonalen har en betydelsefull roll vid bemötande av dessa kvinnor. Ökad kunskap och kompetens behövs för att utveckla vårdpersonalens bemötande av våldsutsatta kvinnor.

This thesis will explore how the municipal governments integration provision provides mental health aid towards refugee women that has been exposed to gender-based violence within Östergörland region in Sweden. This will be achieved by using a thematic analysis application on the gathered data that was conducted through semi-structured interviews with three municipal governments in Östergötland region and two external actors, one regional refugee medical center and the other actor is a non-profit organization in Sweden. The multilevel governance framework will be used to analyze the findings from the interviews with the participants to get a throughout and an in-depth analysis. The findings show how the integration provision of providing mental health aid towards gender-based exposed refugee women, is provided through collaboration with outside actors. With the health care being controlled by the Östergötland regional government, the funds given to the municipalities does not cover project for mental health provision.

This thesis intends to explore the conditions of gender-based violence in Latin America and how it interacts with government type, crime rates, and religion. Currently, feminicide is perceived at higher rates in countries such as Mexico and Guatemala. A significantly higher indigenous community, Catholicism, and increased crime organizations are also present in these countries. Therefore, to uphold fundamental human rights, there needs to be a change in how gender-based violence, especially feminicide, is reported. The discussion will include a connection between the variables listed.

Sexual abuse is increasingly covered in mainstream public media in Kenyan magazines.This thesis examines the perception of victims of sexual abuse in public opinion through the lens of intersectional and queer theory. This study aims to consider how are the victims of sexual abuse presented in the local mainstream media, using examples from articles from The Star Magazine, and what is missing in discussions around gender-based violence? The thesis also concluded that silence around sexuality education impacts the depiction of sexual abuse and its victims.

This field study is a thematic and feminist institutionalist analysis on how the civil society and grassroot activists in Gauteng province, South Africa, has been affected and mitigated during and after the COVID -19 pandemic in their work against gender-based violence. The data consist of five semi structured interviews with primary sources, divided in the two sub-groups of activists and formal NGO representatives.  The study presents civil society and activist viewpoints on adaptation, feminist movement building as well as shrinking space and crisis within crisis. This qualitative study is a thematic analysis linked to the theoretical framework of feminist institutionalism in the context of South Africa. The results reflect issues of representation, power balances linked to organizational status, accountability, transparency, and democracy. Conclusion of this study is that need for adaptation and to mitigate the crisis within crisis (GBV and COVID -19 pandemic) is predominant for all stakeholders, but the viewpoints on how the pandemic affected the cooperation within the civil society sector varies between the two subgroups. The formal NGO’s viewpoint in this study is that the pandemic strengthened the cooperation within civil society and with institutions. However, the grassroot activist group’s perspective is that the pandemic created a split within the feminist movement. Shrinking democratic space is evidently affecting the grassroot activist group to a larger extent. The formal NGO group articulates an improved dialogue and cooperation with institutions and an enhanced political will to address gender-based violence.  All stakeholders that were interviewed in this study articulates that the context with new emerging crises, such as power-poverty, inflation and food shortage are challenging the possibilities to address the “shadow pandemic” of gender-based violence which is still a predominant human rights and democratic crisis in South Africa. This study contributes to the context analysis around implementation of the national strategic plan on gender-based violence and femicide and informs on challenges on feminist institutionalism in post-pandemic South Africa.

This study examines sexual violence against women in armed conflict settings as a form of discrimination within the framework of CEDAW. Informed by Judith Butler's theory of Gender Performativity emphasizes that gender is socially constructed. This study utilizes existing literature reviews and reports; the analysis focuses on gender-based violence, revealing its structural nature. Using the Democratic Republic of Congo as a case study, it highlights the interplay of ethnic, political, and economic factors leading to extreme violence. The study emphasizes the authority of the CEDAW committee to propose an inclusive and understandable protocol, protecting women's rights universally. Overcoming barriers like structural discrimination is crucial to strengthening CEDAW's response. The study acknowledges the need to avoid generalizations and underscores the urgency of enhancing the existing framework to protect women during armed conflicts. It contributes to human rights discourse by emphasizing the inherent nature of human rights and equal protection for all individuals.

The term “shadow pandemic” arose along with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, referring to the parallel increase of gender-based violence (GBV) as a result of lockdowns, preventive measures and economic hardships in almost every nation worldwide, including Ethiopia, with one of the highest rates of GBV in the world. With limited physical access to essential services and support, information and communication(ICT) services became an important factor to rely on. Based on interviews with four Ethiopian organisations working with women’s health and rights, this study investigates how ICT services were implemented to support victims of GBV during COVID-19 in Ethiopia, including the facilitators and barriers to using these services for women seeking support and information. The study finds that all four organisations either created new or scaled up existing ICT services during COVID-19. The ICT services provided by the organisations were mainly telephone helplines, while interactive voice response services and mobile chat applications were also provided as channels for support. The identified facilitators and barriers to using these ICT services were related to accessibility and technology, language and cultural traditions, and anonymity and security. While the use of ICT services for victims of GBV seems to be a functioning option for many when the access to in-person support is limited, barriers such as the lack and disruption of networks and telephones still pose a significant challenge for women in rural areas to use the support systems provided by the organisations. A postcolonial feminist approach to the findings highlights the need for a contextualisation of the services and the need to move away from simplistic assumptions that access to services automatically leads to active use and empowerment, and the need to work with an intersectional lens and multiple layers of analysis when battling sensitive issues like GBV in areas where harmful practices are part of longstanding cultural traditions, to ensure access and active use for groups in different contexts and areas throughout the country.

Yemen is a conflict ridden country facing humanitarian issues as well as high levels of inequality, both due to the conflict itself but also the patriarchal hierarchy and customs that elevates men above women. The population of Yemen faces inequality in more than one way, however this study will be focusing on the recurring gender-based violence.  Gender-based violence is a widespread phenomenon and something that affects more than a third of women globally, whether it be through physical violence or more invisible forms such as emotional or financial abuse. This study will focus mainly on the physical abuse, including sexual violence in relation to the ongoing conflict, as well as harmful customs and practices that exists in Yemen. By using an intersectional framework and horizontal inequality the objective of this thesis is to examine how different social factors contribute to increasing gender-based violence. Moreover, this research aims to investigate the role of international organizations in relation to gender inequality and gender-based violence in a conflict ridden country, as well as potential initiatives done by the state of Yemen.  In conclusion, this study emphasizes how critical it is to adapt interventions to the specific obstacles suffered by women in conflict areas in order to assist with upcoming initiatives supporting women's empowerment and gender equality in Yemen and other similar circumstances. Additionally, this thesis concludes the importance of implementing both intersectionality and horizontal inequality as frameworks both on Yemen as a case study and on gender-based violence generally, as the issues are broad and fueled by many contributing factors. This is also what is missing from earlier research, broad and inclusive theories that can be applied to the specific case of gender-based violence in Yemen.