Violence Against Women a Manifestation of Gender Inequality
Women’s rights have come a long way in the last century. Still, glaring injustices remain a reality for women internationally. The recent murder of Sarah Everard in London brings into focus how prevalent violence against women still is. The fact that she was murdered by a law enforcement official highlights how unsafe society can be for women, as well as the institutionalized nature of this targeted violence. The World Health Organization classifies violence against women as a public health crisis, reporting that 1 in 3 women globally experience gender-based physical or sexual violence. In countries where gender roles are more strictly enforced, rates of violence against women only increase.
Protestors gather in London on March 13, 2021. (Dan Kitwood | Getty Images)
The U.S., though it prides itself on gender equality, is not immune to gender-based violence — a 2003 study by G. Erlick Robinson found that as many as 51% of American women experience some form of violence in their lives, and rates of violence only increase among women from underserved racial groups. The American justice system has shown repeatedly that it does not take instances of gender-based violence seriously. In 2015, Brock Turner of Stanford University was infamously sentenced to just six months of jail time for his brutal assault on a fellow student. Unfortunately, lenient sentences like Turner’s are very common for similar crimes and set the precedent that brutality and violence against women are not serious issues that warrant a severe punitive response. Misogyny is so deeply rooted in American culture and politics that it is easy to overlook on a day-to-day basis, but doing so allows gender-based violence to continue unabated. The failure of American institutions to give appropriate weight to violence against women is evidence that underlying pervasive misogyny normalizes such crimes.
Sarah Everard’s case, although it is unfortunately just a drop in the bucket of millions of similar stories, has drawn widespread attention and protest because the perpetrator was a member of London’s Metropolitan Police. Most cases of gender-based violence, according to the WHO, are committed by a partner or a close contact of the victim. Murder by a law enforcement official is unsettling because it teaches women that they must be suspicious even of those tasked with preventing violence against them. It tells women that they can follow all the safety precautions they are taught and still become a victim. Across the world, women are taught to adjust their behavior to avoid objectification and attack by men. Perhaps, since women like Sarah Everard can do everything right and still lose their lives, the problem of violence against women has nothing to do with their behavior at all. Alternatively, the WHO recommends the promotion of gender equality through campaigns in schools, communities and media as a means of preventing violence against women. To finally address gender-based violence effectively, societies must face the underlying issue of systemic, culturally ingrained misogyny and take steps to combat it.
