How violence against women threatens the economy

Mrs Collins who was presenting a paper entitled Violence against women, and implications on economic development in Nigeria said by understanding the various dimensions of this problem through data collection and analysis, decision makers are better able to develop and evaluate measures designed to prevent and eliminate violence against women.She gave three levels of gender-based […]

Mrs Collins who was presenting a paper entitled Violence against women, and implications on economic development in Nigeria said by understanding the various dimensions of this problem through data collection and analysis, decision makers are better able to develop and evaluate measures designed to prevent and eliminate violence against women.
She gave three levels of gender-based violence, the first of which she described as violence within the home also known as domestic violence, and  the most prevalent form of gender-based violence as it occurs when a man beats his female partner.  
“Psychological abuse always accompanies physical abuse and majority of women abused by their partners are abused many times. Physical, sexual and psychological violence against women within a couple and  in the family consists of battery, sexual abuse, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women and girls, marital rape, dowry-related violence, incest, non-spousal violence like a son’s violence against his mother and violence related to exploitation and deprivation of freedom,” she said.
Mrs Collins also said violence against women within the general community which comprises of physical, sexual and psychological abuse occurring within the general community include battery, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and intimidation in school or work, forced treatments and abusive medication, the exploitation and commercialization of women’s bodies which is related to increased poverty that is mainly a result of unbridled economic liberalism also threatens the confidence of women.
The university lecturer said these types of violence occurring within the general community also include contraception imposed on women by constraints or force, forced sterilization or abortions, selective abortion of female foetus and female infanticide.
She also said there are violence perpetrated by the state in the form of physical, sexual and psychological violence often perpetrated or tolerated by states that priorities custom or tradition over the respect of fundamental freedom.  She said ‘the rise of religious fundamentalism is extremely disturbing as regards women’s right to their economic autonomy and their freedom of choice and the social exclusion of them is so great that it constitutes a new form of apartheid.
Mrs Collins added a culture of silence surrounds cases of violence against women in Nigeria, making it difficult to get a true picture of its extent.  Some of the reasons why it is difficult to get an accurate account of violence perpetrated against women are that most of the gender-based violence occurs in the private sphere – within families, inside homes, and out of sight.
“When violence happens at home, the woman’s work environment is affected also and the after-effects have serious consequence on the business environment by reducing the number of time she would usually spend at work and lost profits from the time she may need to take off work,” she said.
She added violence against them lowers their earning potentials which on the broader scale lower Gross National Product.
The lecturer pointed out that causes of gender-based violence are many and varies depending on the types of violence.  Traditional attitudes towards women around the world help perpetuate the violence. Stereotypical roles in which women are seen as subordinate to men constrain a woman’s ability to exercise choices that would enable her end the abuse.
Mrs Collins also stated that findings from the study where questionnaires were administered to a random sample of 150 women in Jos, Plateau State showed that violence against women is a real problem in the Nigerian society as the survey showed a negativerelationship between occurrences of violence against women to economic development implying that economic development is reduced as the violence in women keeps occurring or is frequent. She said from the study it is clear that forms and types of violence experienced differ between individuals and groups which pose a threat to economic growth.
She advised that it rests on all concerned bodies including government at all levels, International Organizations, religious groups, Human Rights Groups, and Non Governmental Organizations  to take collaborative action in exposing the danger of violence against women and to keep making the economic argument against violence, and make it loudly. Business owners, political leaders and even philanthropists might be persuaded to get more involved.
She advised that unless men change their attitude, women will continue to be victims of violence because in most cases, they are the perpetrators of violent acts against women. Thus, programmes to eliminate violence should be put in place by government and non-government organizations targeted towards the male folk.