The Link Between Gender-Based Violence and Political Unrest
The phenomenon of gender-based violence is incredibly globally pervasive, especially in the East Mediterranean region. The World Health Organization reports that 37 percent of women in this region have experienced sexual or physical violence. Due to lack of legal protections and resources, cultural norms, and various religious interpretations, violence against women is remarkably prevalent in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Morocco, Egypt, Syria, and Bahrain. Rates of political unrest show positive correlation with rates of gender-based violence in these patriarchal nations. This abuse can include intimate partner violence, forced marriages, psychological and emotional violence, female genital mutilation, gender-related killings, and sexual violence. The consequences for women and girls are devastating, detrimentally impacting physical safety, mental health, sexual wellness, and reproductive conditions.
Dr. Nihaya Daoud, an analyst at Ben-Gurion University, discussed the connection between violence against women and political turmoil in an interview with The Media Line. She stated, “Violence towards women has risen since the Arab Uprising…when you have political violence, you also get domestic violence.” Trude Falck, the Middle East and North Africa expert for the Norwegian People’s Aid, explains that rape and other forms of gender-based violence are commonly used as a means of gaining control during rough political climates. Vulnerable members of society, like refugees and women, are incredibly susceptible to facing violence.
Iraqi researchers uncovered that sexual violence increased substantially after ISIS seized control over Mosul in 2014. This rise is largely attributed to the fact that the terrorist organization abducted many minority women as sex slaves, Yezidi women being the main target. In an interview with Human Rights Watch, several women held in captivity described their experiences of being sold in slave bazaars, enduring sexual violence, being forcibly married to ISIS fighters, facing forced Islamic conversion, suffering abuse by multiple ISIS members, and witnessing violence inflicted on other women. The majority of victims experienced depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder, which led some women to attempt suicide. Reports included women detailing how their children were separated from them, physically harmed, and required to pray against their will.
Under Islamic State law and ISIS-controlled regions, women and girls faced persecution by strict restrictions on their freedom of movement and clothing. Sunni women were forbidden from leaving their homes without wearing a full niqab and a male relative. Enforced by physical abuse and hefty fines, these laws resulted in extreme exclusion in regard to public life, relatives, and any access to education or work for women residing in ISIS-governed areas. Girls and women were banned from attending school in rural regions, and those who disobeyed were tormented with metal prongs by ISIS fighters. The Islamic State also imposed severe regulations on access to health services, prohibiting male doctors from seeing or touching female patients. The threat of violence and sexual captivity was designed to keep women afraid and oppressed. Airstrikes on healthcare and educational institutions kept women in fear of accessing these resources as well. Women interviewed by Human Rights Watch cited incidents such as the bombing of a Hawija hospital by the Iraqi government in 2014. In June 2015, a Hawija market bombing resulted in dozens of fatalities, including several civilians. The United Nations and the Human Rights Watch have recognized that ISIS’s statements attempting to justify their acts of violence against women further reveals the systematic issues at hand.
According to the World Health Organization, there has been an increase in inquiries analyzing the effectiveness of various prevention and response programs to gender-based violence. In high-income nations, studies showed that advocacy interventions and counselling services have enhanced abilities for victims to obtain aid, which has effectively decreased violence. Economically and socially unshackling women in low-income areas, where resources are limited, has proven to have positive repercussions. The organization reported that these prevention strategies empower women “through a combination of microfinance and skills training related to gender equality; that promote communication and relationship skills within couples and communities; that reduce access to, and harmful use of alcohol; transform harmful gender and social norms through community mobilization and group-based participatory education with women and men to generate critical reflections about unequal gender and power relationships.” Furthermore, the World Health Organization stated that creating and implementing legislation that protects women’s rights is necessary for lasting change. The health sector’s responsibilities include advocating that violence against women is a public health issue, providing education, surveilling health information networks, and treating survivors with compassion.
