Health Policy Brief: Violence Against Women
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Health Policy Brief: Violence Against Women
Gender-based violence affects women mainly in Guatemala; one of the world’s three leading killers of women is faced with an outbreak of violence towards women. Almost 20 out of 100,000 women are murdered” in Guatemala. The bulk of the people who have the highest ‘femicide’ rates in the universe are murdered by ‘husbands, male relatives, foreigners, and brothers.’ As a consequence of the cultural-based stigma of Guatemala females, no woman is excluded from sexual harassment or is exempted from it. Guatemalan women have a second-class citizenship role in their own country and are frequently mutilated by men who see them less (John et al., 2020). This thought’s root cause is the 36-year-old war, in which women were being used as war weapons.
The measures to consolidate the country’s legal system, including the removal of women parliamentarians with a derogatory perception of women, must be undertaken to lower the amount of women victims of abuse. To help young girls and women give them a chance to tell their own stories, learn about their rights, and boost their self-esteem, the number of organizations such as opening chances/opportunities increases. The objective of this policy is to formulate ways that reduce violence against women.
Magnitude and Nature of the Problem
The majority of Guatemala individuals fall between the ages of 24-54 and have a population of around 15,189,959. At least 33.55% of the total population is between those ages. In support of economic development, Guatemala falls in between medium and low scales. Guatemala is a primarily developing nation that struggles with maternal and child mortality, literacy, malnutrition, contraceptive literacy, and growth and awareness in many developments and health areas. Factors like these represent women in Guatemala’s care. At least three women are murdered each day in Guatemala. Femicide, meanwhile, has a 98% alarming rate.
Affected Populations
Gender-based violence impacts women of all social and economic backgrounds in Guatemala explicitly. About 759 women died of abuse, for example, in the year 2013. Although females are the primary recipients of such crimes, men in the country are often influenced by thinking that causes injustice and adversely impairs the community (Cosgrove & Lee, 2015). Guatemala is a non-progressive country with misogynistic ideas that affects them negatively. Past policies existed but had little or no impact on violence subjected to women.
Determinant and Risk Factors
The community in Guatemala struggles to accept women’s human rights. As a result, women are mistreated and considered less important than men. In statistics, 81% of men claim that women need permission to leave their houses, and 70 % surveyed women accept this claim. In light of this opinion, women might not recognize the need to defend their right (s) to be respected community members. The disrespecting viewpoint of women comes from the Civil War in Guatemala, in which women got victimized as war tactics. This kind of instilled fear and strengthened the prevailing belief that ladies were inferior and helpless against men. Notably, young women are now at greatest risk. Lack of preparation and incapacity to feel secure in areas such as home or office increases.
Prioritized Action Steps
Education is the most successful way of minimizing violence against women. Because such crimes originate from profound cultural perceptions, education/learning is the only variable that can change this view. Although Opened Opportunities are adequate and are working hard to educate girls, initiatives that empower young men must also get supported. Such programs would slowly shift societal perspectives and reduce the number of violent crimes toward women. Therefore, while these services cost a lot, the overall cost alluded to in the preceding paragraph would be reduced. Educating Guatemala’s youth to resist the prevailing misogynist would develop another nation devoted to human rights and prove that education/knowledge is crucial in creating positive change.
Reference
Cosgrove, S., & Lee, K. (2015). Persistence and Resistance: Women’s Leadership and Ending Gender-Based Violence in Guatemala. Seattle J. Soc. Just., 14, 309.
John, N., Casey, S. E., Carino, G., & McGovern, T. (2020). Lessons Never Learned: Crisis and gender‐based violence. Developing world bioethics.