Is it Gender-based Violence?

Duration of activity: 60 min (or less depending on scenarios)

Learning objectives:

Young people to identify various manifestations of gender-based violence in different contexts
Understand how gender-based violence attitudes are often normalized and bypassed
Explore the subsequent effects of gender-based violence on young people

Materials needed:

Handout of the scenarios for all young people in the group
Pens/pencils
Flipchart, flipchart paper and markers

Recommended prior reading:

Step by step process of the activity: (50 min)

Explain that in this activity we will explore different manifestations of gender-based violence in different contexts. Include a ‘content warning’ in your introduction so that participants can be aware and prepare themselves in advance. This can be along the lines of “The manifestations in the scenarios we will discuss range in severity and some severe forms of GBV are also depicted in the stories such as physical attacks, FGM, physical harm, corrective rape and murder. Such cases can be emotionally challenging to engage withy. At the same time they represent the reality of what is taking place in some contexts and it is important that we also talk about these cases too. Please remember that this is a safe space where we can engage bravely, empathetically, thoughtfully and respectfully with sensitive content. I’m reminding everyone of their right to ‘pass’ if they feel that the material may be too challenging to work with. Feel free to take a break and take care of yourselves in any way you need. The facilitators are also available if you have the need to talk further”
Give out the handout of the different scenarios to each group. All groups will discuss all scenarios in the handout. As 24 scenarios may be too much to discuss in one go, you can decide beforehand which scenarios are the most relevant for your group or which would you like to focus on.
Once the groups have finished reading the scenarios, invite them to discuss whether or not they believe that each scenario represents a case of gender-based violence and to justify their answer.
Ask the groups to nominate a team ‘spokesperson’ to present their group’s response to plenary.
The groups present their findings which are documented in table like format- next to each scenario we write a yes or no according to each group’s response on whether the scenario represents an incidence of gender-based violence.
Once all groups have had their go, discuss each scenario separately and explore why some groups have different opinions on what constitutes a discriminatory/harmful incidence or not.

Facilitation questions for reflection and debriefing: (10 min)

How was this activity for you?
What made a particular impression on you?
Do you remember different forms of violence that we identified in the scenarios (intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, gender-based crimes, economic violence, psychological and physical abuse, homophobia/transphobia/interphobia etc.)
Were there forms of violence that were not so easy to identify?
Why do you think that is? Do you think that such behaviours are ‘normalized’?
What is the take-home message for you from this activity?

Take home messages and activity wrap up:

Explanations regarding each scenario:

All the above scenarios represent incidences of gender-based violence, some more serious forms than others.

Scenarios 3, 4, 5, 7, 17, 18, 19, 21 and 25 represent how gender-based violence is linked to normalized perceptions of gender, gender stereotypes and heteronormative expectations of women and men.
Marc expects his girlfriend to be thin and beautiful and diminishes her body image as embarrassing.
Dorelia experiences physical abuse because she didn’t comply to the gendered expectations of her mom (expecting her to be home early after an outing).  Restricting and controlling a woman’s range of activity and movement is also a form of gender-based violence as it violates women’s right of freedom of movement.
Antonio’s dad questions his son’s sexuality when Antonio expresses interest in ballet, which his dad doesn’t consider very ‘manly’. As a result, Antonio experiences both homophobic attitudes and economic violence when his dad refuses to pay for college.
Jina considers that her boyfriend should have been more sexually active, as per the hegemonic model of masculinity and attacks his sexual identity by calling him a faggot.
Zena is bullied both in school and online (i.e. experiences cyber-bullying) because she expresses her gender identity differently than the normalized femininity.
Mani is pressured by other boys to express his masculinity through his (heterosexual) sexuality. Even though Mani is not bullied,  the heteronormative expectations for his sexuality put pressure on him to conform to normalized gender roles, suggesting that if he doesn’t, he may experience violence in the future.
In scenario 19, both Gulia and Pablo experience GBV: Gulia for being considered a sexual object (and experiences sexual harassment), while Pablo’s masculinity is questioned again through his sexual orientation.
Similarly, even though well intended to protect Mac, Mac’s teacher in scenario 21, expresses transphobic attitudes because her whole stance expresses intolerance and lack of acceptance of Mac’s nonbinary identity. By asking Mac to ‘conform’ to gender norms, she is not trying to protect him; instead, she violates their right to freedom of expression and what’s more she engages in victim-blaming, by regarding Mac responsible for any harassment they may experience.
Laurelia experiences a very serious form of GBV, corrective rape. This is a form of a hate crime because of her sexual orientation. If you use this scenario, it is important that you put it into a context of explaining the pyramid of hate explained in section 3.4  (i.e. explaining  how violence escalates when all behaviours that lie in the ‘bottom’ of the pyramid remain un-addressed, reaching a very hurtful manifestation, that of rape).

In scenario 6 and 10 Jason and Jack experience homophobic abuse because they identify as gay, Jason through isolation and exclusion by his family and  Jack by experiencing physical violence and ridicule, humiliation, verbal and psychological abuse online.

In scenario 9 and 13 Janette and Zezo experience transphobic violence because people cannot accept their gender identity.
Janette’s gender identity is not acknowledged and is completely ignored; as a result, she is forced to use a bathroom that does not correspond to her gender, exposing her to the risk of being abused in the men’s bathrooms.
Zezo experiences a homophobic hate-crime by having his business vandalized in an effort to drive him away from the neighbourhood.

In scenario 20, Tom experiences interphobia at many levels. His right to full participation and inclusion in the school environment is violated when he is restricted to take part in sports and swimming. His identity as an intersex male person is not recognized at all and he is forced to use a bathroom that does not correspond to his gender, further stigmatizing him for his identity. Moreover, by trying to ‘protect’ him from exposure, his teachers are actually completely disempowering him, because they give the message that intersex identities should be hidden and excluded from school life.

Scenarios  1, 2, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15,16 , 22 and 23 represent the different ways in which violence can be exercised against women, enforcing male privilege and male power over women
In scenario 1, John tries to control his girlfriend through monitoring her social media account. The fact that he offers to give his password as well does not make his behaviour okay. This behaviour is called coercive control and is a form of intimate partner violence. It also gender-based violence, reflecting the power dynamics between women and men, where men have to be in control and have the upper hand.
In scenario 2: Alamina experiences economic violence. This is a form of GBV, where women are forced to have little access to financial resources as a means to kept in a subordinate position. If Alina wanted to willingly financially help her family, that would have been a different story. However, in the story she is forced to do it.
In scenario 8, Janine’s boyfriend shows he has the upper hand by treating her like a sexual object and sharing her intimate pictures. As a consequence, Janine is put in an extremely vulnerable position. This form of violence is called ‘non-consensual pornography’ and it also considered a criminal
Scenario 11 represents a case of a gender-based crime and more specifically of honour-based violence against women. Eldra is beaten up by her brother because she ‘disgraced’ the family for getting pregnant and what’s more she was in a relationship with a man the family didn’t approve
In scenario 12, Francesca experiences intimate partner violence which is a very common form of control over women. Internalized social messages about gender roles and the power dynamics between men and women justify Francesca’s romanticizing of violence (belittling the abuse under the belief that her partner loves her).  Moreover, she remains stuck in the abusive situation because her abuser keeps manipulating her sense of self-esteem by promising he’ll change
Marilia in scenario 14 is abused because she is a sex worker.  There is a lot of social stigma against sex workers which makes them very vulnerable to physical/psychological abuse, sexual exploitation, sexual violence and institutional violence (refusal of health services, difficulty to find housing, incarceration, limited access to justice, police brutality). The isolation, exclusion, negative comments that Marilia experiences are all forms of gender-based violence. The vandalization of her property is gender-hate-crime.
Scenario 15 represents another case of a gender-based crime both in relation to forced marriage and forced pregnancy (and most likely sexual violence as well).Scenario 16 reflects the ultimate form of violence against women, femicide. In this example, Marina was killed because she is trans (transphobic homicide) so ultimately this incidence represents a hate-crime.
Scenario 22 is about FGM (female genital mutilation) as form of harmful cultural practice that subordinates women. FGM has serious effects on women’s wellbeing, often endangering their lives. In this scenario Akinyi almost dies during delivery as a result of complications she experienced because of FGM.
In scenario 23, Aisha experiences a forced medical procedure (sterilization) as a form of gender-based violence which stems from patriarchal attitudes of oppression in controlling her body and her sexuality.
Marina in scenario 24 experiences domestic abuse by her husband (intimate partner violence) which seems to be escalating, putting her life at serious risk. The serious injuries suffered as a result of the physical violence she experienced were the first sign of the escalation of the violence and the risk involved. The last attack on her with a knife suggests that her risk is extremely high and needs to seek immediate protection by the police, judicial services and social services, so she can safely be moved to a shelter.

The above scenarios presented various forms of gender-based violence ranging from the ‘milder’ forms (expressing of heteronormative attitudes and pressure to conform to gender roles) to the most extreme forms (femicide).

Whether a specific scenario is classified as gender-based violence or not, it is important to emphasize that no matter how we “categorize” an incident, or how ‘low risk’ we consider them, it is always important to challenge these behavioursand find a way to take action against them. It is also often the case that we may bypass certain behaviours because that have been ‘normalized’ ; we have become so used to them that we hardly take a step back and question them. You can refer to the iceberg models and the pyramid of hate in section 3.4 to show this escalation.Taking action and standing up to negative, harmful and abusive behaviours is the only way to make such behaviours stop. Even in cases where heteronormative attitudes are expressed in the absence of discrimination/abuse. Heteronormative perceptions  still cultivate negative emotions against women and people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions and sexual characteristics.  These emotions most often escalate to prejudice, intolerance, marginalization, isolation and  increased social distance between different groups of young people. This results in women and LGBTIQ+ young people experiencing exclusion, verbal / psychological violence and bullying. In this respect, heteronormative and normative attitudes always need to be challenged.

In the school environment, it specifically important that we specifically talk about sexist, homophobic, transphobic and interphobic bullying by naming it as such and not letting such incidences get ‘lost’ in the wider ‘noise’ of school-based violence. Sexual and gender diversity is a highly controversial issue and a taboo subject. This is why it needs to be placed ‘on the table’ specifically so schools can take targeted action against it and constitute the school as an inclusive space of all diversity.

An important thing to note is the fact that young people may unintentionally develop perceptions that stigmatise survivors of GBV by feeling sorry for them, or considering that because of the difficulties they experience in relation to violence, they are unhappy or may not be able to be successful in their lives. To counteract these perceptions, discuss the resilience of survivors and the fact that people who have experienced SGBV do overcome it and can, and often do, have very fulfilling lives. Acknowledgement of people’s diverse experiences of violence does not mean that we need to feel sorry for them or consider them as disadvantaged; the aim of remaining mindful of  different experiences of violence is to be sensitized to react with respect, acceptance, inclusion and most importantly support so as to ensure that everyone’s human rights are safeguarded.

Similarly, certain communities may be stigmatized for cultural practices such as FGM or child marriage. Remind participants that these are very sensitive issues for certain groups and encourage them to avoid any characterizations as these may be hurtful for some people (‘under-developed’, ‘backward’ etc.). Equally, in all their ‘supremacy’,  the western world equally fosters similar practices that violate other people’s bodies, such as the mutilation of intersex babies, forcing women with disability to stop menstruating or to have forced abortions, femicides etc.

Tips for facilitators:

Young people may have difficulty understanding how certain forms of violence are gender-based. They may recognize an incidence as harassment or abuse but have difficulty to link the causes of this violence to gender norms, male privilege, power and social inequalities, homophobia, transphobia and interphobia. Help young people make this link by reminding them of the great inequalities that exist against women and people with diverse gender identity, expression, sexual orientation and sexual characteristics.

It is very important that when you conduct this activity that you follow it up with the next one, vote with your feet so as young people can be empowered to react on incidences of GBV.

Tips for adapting the activity and follow up:

Don’t feel the need to discuss all the scenarios above. Depending on the availability of time, you may decide to use a considerably fewer number of scenarios. Feel free to choose only the scenarios that are more relevant to your group and your local context. Also feel free to create additional scenarios, along the same lines, which may be more relevant to your local group.

Adapting the activity for online implementation

● Online adaptation of this activity can take place fairly straight-forwardly, substituting breakout rooms for face-to-face small groups.

● If the option of breakout rooms is not feasible, you can send the worksheet to participants via the chat, give them some time to go through the scenarios individually and then convene in plenary for a discussion and wrap up.

● You can also present each scenario on PowerPoint and ask participants to ‘vote’ on whether this is an incidence of GBV, using the thumbs up icon.

● Alternatively, similarly to the micro-aggressions activity above, the worksheet can be turned into a digital quiz with participants voting on each scenario, stating whether they consider it an incidence of GBV or not.

● The activity can also be turned into a voting competition, where pre-designated (rotating) ‘judges’ (volunteer participants) can vote on a specific scenario. So that participants don’t feel they are put ‘on the spot’, you can have 3-4 ‘judges’ voting on a particular scenario. Judges can vote either by a thumbsup, a coloured piece of paper that they raise up to the screen or by coloured side effects on their background.