Eulalee Thompson

Many of us, men and women, have completely internalised this system that prescribes behaviour, thoughts and feelings along the lines of gender and nothing else. It allocates relationships of power, control and subordination based on gender.

Of course, once the term 'patriarchy' is mentioned, those afraid of change can only see an angry, man-hating, bra-burning feminist screaming at the top of her lungs about the wickedness of a system that tells women that they are 'less than' and have little value outside of the size of their protruding body parts and facial beauty, but, that ridiculous imagery too, is a strategy of patriarchy, just to keep things in place. Another strategy is to say that women are always pulling 'the victim card' or taking on the victim role. All of this is designed to make us keep our big mouths shut and continue as per usual; it's the way that entrenched systems that victimise and marginalise work. The truth, however, is that enlightened men and women know that patriarchy has served its time and now that we know better, we see that it is no good for either of us.

System of subordination

As Dr. Wendel Abel illustrated in the voices of women who have survived abuse, in the part one article to this series, 'Violence against women: Lift the veil of silence and shame', published November 21, violence against women takes the form of physical, sexual, emotional, economic and spiritual abuse.

A useful document that explores this issue has been published by the United Nations General Assembly; it is the In-depth Study on all Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary General (2006) sourced for me by Donna Fraser, the research officer at the Bureau of Women's Affairs. The report takes a human rights approach to understanding violence against women and charter solutions. It states, for example, that:

"The central premise of the analysis of violence against women within the human rights framework is that the specific causes of such violence and the factors that increase the risk of its occurrence are grounded in the broader context of systemic gender-based discrimination against women and other forms of subordination. Such violence is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between women and men reflected in both public and private life".

Social norms

The UN report notes the integral role that violence against women plays in maintaining male authority:

"When a woman is subjected to violence for transgressing social norms governing female sexuality and family roles, for example, the violence is not only individual but, through its punitive and controlling functions, also reinforces prevailing gender norms."

Violence against women, as the report clearly points out, is, therefore, both a means to perpetuate women's subordination and a consequence of their subordination. It points to key means for the maintenance of male dominance and women's subordination. These include:

Exploitation of women's productive and reproductive work.

Control over women's sexuality and reproductive capacity.

Cultural norms and practices that entrench women's unequal status.

State structures and processes that legitimise and institutionalise gender inequalities.

Violence against women.

Prevent violence

While some men and even women will shrug off discussions on patriarchy, attempts to prevent and manage gender-based violence should be grounded in this broader system within which the violence is taking place and thriving.

" In order to prevent violence against women, the underlying root causes of such violence and the effects of the intersection of the subordination of women and other forms of social, cultural, economic and political subordination, need to be identified and addressed," according to the UN report.

eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com