Reflective Essay on Silence

According to Senanayake (2011) and Ando (2011), Gender-based violence (GBV) encompasses physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and psychological violence that is directed at an individual based on his or her biological sex or preferred gender identity. Although anyone can be a victim of GBV regardless of their location, social status, religion, etc. most GBV cases reported today mostly highlight the suffering women and girls have from this type of violence (Ando, 2011). Gender-based violence occurs in all parts of the world, but the risk is higher in places where such violence is integrated into their cultural norms and where traditional concepts of gender hierarchy and gender norms exist. Today, this issue is being challenged with urgency because it is becoming a major public health concern in society such as the spreading of HIV, unwanted pregnancy, and psychological instability (Senanayake, 2011). In the article by Pittaway (2007), she highlighted several points that argue the importance of breaking the silence of sexual abuse. Her argument's main point focuses on how 'silence is complicity”. Sexual violence leads to physical violence from the husband and other male family members. Includes shame on the part of the family. Attempting to break the silence is also a cultural challenge and collectivist pressure. There is also a lot of trauma involved (mental & physical) for women, girls, and children.

Overall well-being needs to be given priority. The endless cycle of abuse and silence will only continue if there is no safe space for victims to report to. Also, if silence is sustained, there will be a lack of awareness on a global aspect and similar actions will continue and no actions against the issue will arise. There will be no global discussion on how countries can help each other to combat GBV. Moreover, Silence emboldens the abuser. GBV also the psychological well-being of the victims, without properly addressing these issues of negative emotions such as shame, fear, guilt, embarrassment, doubts, self-loathing, disgust, and hate, there will be more people that will be psychologically incapacitated (depression) because their mental capacity can't handle the emotions and stress they feel. This could have an impact not only the society but also on the economy of the country as there are more liabilities because victims cannot lead normal lives.

This also impacts family dynamics, as in other cultures, raped victims women are thrown out of their houses and social groups abandoned because of the shame they bring to their families. Similarly, in refugee camps, women chose to remain silent because of the power relation of the organization from the social workers who abuse them to the officials who also take advantage of their vulnerabilities. They choose to keep quiet about abuse because of the fear of being deported or thrown out by the refugee camp. There is also the fear that people would not believe them because their abusers have a higher profession compared to them. In the article written by Senanayake (2011), she mentioned several actions that can be an effective health sector response to GBV. First is funding for specialists and creating specific health sectors that specialize in different health concerns. Instead of the government putting the health care system into one category, they should create division because victims experience abuse differently and their needs differ from each other especially the effects of the abuse from a gender perspective. They should also open more opportunities for GBV victims to have more information about whom to seek help, where to go, and its process. There is also the importance of institutionalization of designated safe spaces for the victims to be more open about their abuse and free from stigma and influence by their specific religion, because in some cases cultural-religious barriers prevent women and others from seeking help from the SRHR services due to stigmatization, deviates from the cultural beliefs and the fear of being ostracized by the religious groups.

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According to Ando (2011), Gender-based violence raises the issue of gender inequality due to “unequal power relationships between men and women'. In most gender-based violence cases, women are usually the victims of assaults. In my experience, I have experienced street harassment before. Back in Brunei when my family and I were still staying at an apartment flat, my sister and I would always walk our two dogs after dinner. There were several events when we experienced drivers passing us by whistling or calling us out. At that time, I would often just wear shorts because it's hot and it feels more comfortable for me to move, but because of the numerous occurrences of whistling, I avoided wearing shorts and I started to baggy pants and long shirts to hide my body. At that time, I was so conscious of this perceived perception that people were staring at me, thinking dirty thoughts. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. Being a female made me feel unsafe in my environment.

There was this one particular incident that scared me the most. It was when I was walking my dog alone, I was standing on the roadside while my dog was taking a pee. While I was waiting for my dog to move, I suddenly noticed this unknown car slowing down and calling me out asking for my name. My initial reaction was to just ignore the person. When I continued to ignore his advances he suddenly stopped his car near where I was standing. This scared me because I thought the driver was going to get out of his car and approach me. At that time, several scenarios played in my head and I thought he was going to do a bad thing to me so I started to pull my dog’s leash and ran back to my house. From then on, I was afraid to walk alone and would often ask my sister to accompany me or we would walk our dogs together. These experiences, made me feel how women can feel powerless, dominated, and fearful just by the presence of males around them. There is this fear that females can be attacked, harassed, and abused and we would not have the chance to win because they are stronger and bigger. These beliefs have been established in our society causing more fear for women. This shows the power struggles between genders that have long been integrated into our culture and social norms. Moreover, even if I have not experienced any type of GBV, I still think that being a woman, I am still affected by this issue. This is not just a personal problem but a global issue. Abusers' actions towards women, men, LGBTQ, and children will also be reflected in the next generations and if not stopped this has the potential to be a socially accepted behavior. The social perception will not change and people, men, and boys will think that abusing women and girls is their right as the dominant figure. Women are just to be controlled, baby-makers, sex slaves, vulnerable and weak beings.

From this topic of gender-based violence, one topic that comes to mind that fully portrays the power struggle between men and women is the scandal of Harvey Weinstein, a household name in Hollywood, and sexual abuse allegations against him reported by numerous women in Hollywood. This long battle case started in October of 2017 when the New York Times published a detailed article reporting his decades of abuse of power against multiple women — among his victims are actresses, Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan (BBC, 2019b). McGowan accused Weinstein of raping her and forcing her to perform oral sex in a hotel when she was 23 and Judd said that he set up a fake business meeting in his hotel room and asked her to massage him and look at him while he showers. When she refuses, he damages her career in retaliation. From 2017 to 2019, over 60 cases of sexual assault, sexual coercion, bribery, and threat were filed against Mr. Weinstein by numerous victims including A-listers like Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, who have also spoken out, with Jolie said she had a 'bad experience' with him as a young actress, and Paltrow reporting that he had placed his hands on her and asked for a massages in his bedroom. Italian actress and director Asia Argento described the assault as 'It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare.”,' He terrified me, he was so big. British actress Lysette Anthony recalled feeling 'disgusted and embarrassed' after his sexual attack. Uma Thurman said Weinstein pushed her down and 'tried to expose himself and shove himself on me' (BBC, 2019a).

These are only a few statements from the victims and more reports detailing how the film director used his position and power to manipulate and act his sexual fantasies to all these vulnerable women who are just starting and wanting to reach their dreams. This connects to the essence of gender-based violence as their experiences shared the commonality of being young women starting in the film industry, the powerlessness they felt throughout the assault due to him being “bigger” and “stronger” and the position they have in the society on how women are treated that time. This shows how these factors had given Weinstein control over the women he assaulted and the victims were run by fear of not being heard, being destroyed, ending their careers, and the humiliation of being a victim (BBC, 2019a). The lack of support of the people in the industry because of the hierarchy of power. There is also the stigmatization that it’s a common occurrence for young stars to exchange sexual favors for fame and the shame the news will bring to them as a woman. This issue connects to this week's reading on why women choose to stay silent and the lack of support against women contributes to this phenomenon.

References

1. Ando, M. M. (2011). Definitions. ARROW For Change, 17(2), 14. Retrieved from https://arrow.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AFC-Vol.17-No.2-2011_Gender-based-Violence-and-Health-Sector.pdf
2. BBC. (2019a). Harvey Weinstein scandal: Who has accused him of what? Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41580010
3. BBC. (2019b). Harvey Weinstein timeline: How the scandal unfolded. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41594672?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c1yeg15qw27t/hollywood-sexual-harassment-scandal&link_location=live-reporting-story
4. Pittaway, E. (2007). Silenced by euphemism: Sexual torture in conflict and refugee situation. ARROW For Change, 13(3), 4-5. Retrieved from https://arrow.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AFC-Vol.13-No.3-2007_Conflict.pdf
5. Senanayake, L. (2011). Gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health and rights. ARROW For Change, 17(2), 1-2. Retrieved from https://arrow.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AFC-Vol.17-No.2-2011_Gender-based-Violence-and-Health-Sector.pdf