Women Are More Likely to Be Victims of Domestic Violence
Why must she be a commodity that can be sold….?
Why must she be a token that can be exchanged for dowry and gold…?
Women experience gender-based violence which they tolerate as part of the patriarchal society in which they live. A woman’s autonomy is circumscribed by social standards created by culture and tradition. Some women are economically dependent on men who are providers of security in material form such as shelter, food or money and feel that they cannot risk losing this support’. Abusers deliberately prevent their partners from having financial independence resulting in its victims feeling insecure and fearful about their ability to support themselves and their children should they ever attempt to leave their abuser. However, it can be argued that women who are economically empowered or financially independent, have more power to break this cycle of abuse and survive. Despite the attainment of modernity, social mobility, and the fact that women around the world are given relatively equal opportunities to men, women still find themselves imprisoned within the confines of traditional cultural norms which women continue pursuing as a preservation of their “culture”.
There is a genuine concern for us all to challenge the ‘cultural politics’ within our communities by deconstructing the norms that sanction gender inequalities which exacerbate domestic violence and by doing so possibly end all violence against women!
By Dr. Rekha Mahadev
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