Gender Violence between Couples & Mediation
Gender violence is a sociocultural and historical phenomenon that affects millions of people in the world and the victims can be women or men, although women prevail. Gender-based violence between couples is one of the types most studied due to the impact they have on the family and on the development of children. The cycle of gender violence suggests that mediation is not an effective tool in the secondary prevention of gender violence between couples through the resolution of their conflicts. The nature of gender-based violence demonstrates that behaviors and behaviors are learned, as well as gender roles and stereotypes. In the process of deconstruction of these learnings and in the construction of others, the mediation process is of vital utility.
Introduction
Gender-based violence is a phenomenon that has attracted attention in most of the countries of the world, which is expressed in their politics and through the mass media. It has become such a hackneyed topic that most people feel knowledgeable about the subject, confuse terms and meanings, thinning out the nature and essence of gender- based violence. This reality favors the misunderstanding of the phenomenon, erroneous judgments and the lack of creative solutions for its prevention.
It is evident that gender violence constitutes a serious problem for humanity, from which no country escapes and that affects millions of people, especially women and girls, although no one is exempt from suffering it [1].
The expression of gender-based violence can be physical, sexual, economic, and psychological, by way of restricted freedoms, coercion, and threats [2]. Gender violence can occur in various settings, such as work, school, community spaces and family and partner coexistence, being more frequent in the latter two. It can manifest itself in various ways, which gives rise to different types of gender violence, among which physical, psychological (more subtle form of violence), sexual, economic violence, among others [3]. Gender violence often derives from behaviors learned by parenting guidelines established in the family context in which each individual develops and is reproduced [4]. Thus, an inherited and reproduced cycle of violence is generated where the person who exercises violence is often not aware that her behavior is violent because her behavior has been naturalized, family and socially.
The prevention of gender violence has been approached by scientists from various branches of knowledge, including lawyers, sociologists, psychologists, doctors, educators. The subject has been dealt with from the policies and laws of several countries, by the mass media and social networks. However, it is seldom approached as a treatable phenomenon through mediation. It is almost always presented as a confrontation between two parties where the perpetrator deliberately and consciously subordinates the victim and the victim submits or rebels, thus generating an inequity of power that the perpetrator wants to maintain, which prevents mediation. This reasoning is valid depending on the state of consciousness that people have about what is understood by gender violence, the genuine interest of the parties in breaking the situation of violence and the educational role of mediation.
Body of Paper
Theoretical approaches to gender violence between couples
Various concepts of gender violence have been offered throughout history, it is assumed that gender violence: “concerns all acts or omissions through which another person is harmed, discriminated, ignored, subjected and subordinated in the different aspects of their existence for reasons related to gender, for transgressing the hegemonic models of the masculine and feminine [5]. Consequently, gender violence between couples is that which, framed within the general concept of gender violence, occurs in the scenario of couple relationships.
There are various classifications of gender violence; these can be organized into two groups: micro-violence and macro-violence. In the first, there are those manifestations that are minimized, invisible or naturalized and that are also recognized as “subtle forms of gender violence or indirect forms of violence” [6]: verbal, psychological, economic violence, social, symbolic.
“It takes shape in defamations or lies, gossip that denigrate or harm; prevents or hinders a person from joining a group, reveals secrets to the detriment of the other, manipulates emotions to achieve their goals, etc. [5].
The recurrence and naturalness in daily life of the manifestations of these types of violence makes them almost always go unnoticed. In the second, there are mainly expressions of physical and sexual gender violence. These are the most perceptible or visible manifestations that contain a high load of emotions and sensitivity that make them more “spectacular” than micro-violence and whose consequences generally allow the commission of crimes to be proven even without the victim’s testimony [6].
The effects of gender violence between couples can be verified through signs or symptoms suffered by the victims and can manifest themselves in different areas [7].
Affect area: Depression, Irritability, Anxiety, Fear, Dysphoria (feelings of bad humor, verbal or physical aggressiveness without stimulus that triggers it, especially towards children), and feeling that nothing moves or affects them. Psychological area: sleep disturbance, enuresis, anorexia, bulimia, tachycardia, and menstrual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction in men, frigidity and impotence. Cognitive area: alterations in memory, amnesia, attention deficit, and alterations in consciousness. Physical area: Blows, burns, bruises, wounds, fractures, tears.
The aforementioned effects are expressed at various levels of people’s development. Personal Level: low self-esteem, confusion in thoughts and feelings, gradual weakness of their physical defenses, dependence, disinterest, devaluation as a person, gynecological, gastrointestinal, dermatological and respiratory disorders, psychosomatic illnesses, lack of strength and energy, suicide attempts, fears and anxiety, cardiac disturbances, psychiatric disorders. Family Level: Children and adolescents who live in a home where there is intimate partner violence have a tendency to present learning, behavior and health disorders. The pattern of violence is taken as an example and they reproduce it almost immediately with their friends, colleagues and siblings. Many will carry this behavior to courtship, marriage and parenthood, maintaining the problem and continuing a generational chain of violence. Social Level: Loss of friendships due to isolation, insecurity and all other personal repercussions that are manifested in the way of proceeding of the individual who suffers from domestic violence. And finally the estrangement from one’s own family, since it seeks to separate from that space or individual that generates the anguish, a result of violence.
Several authors agree that the ultimate purpose of gender violence between couples is to eliminate obstacles to the exercise of power. This logic of thought, together with the analysis of the cycle of violence, has led to the conclusion that mediation is not a valid tool for the prevention of gender violence. In an effort to achieve a different vision, some issues must be addressed:
- What does the cycle of violence consist of?
- What is mediation?
- Is it possible to prevent gender violence through mediation?
Cycles of Intimate Partner Violence
Phase of the accumulation of tension: there is a succession of small episodes that leads to permanent friction between the members of the couple, with a constant increase in anxiety and hostility. Aggression phase: called “acute episode”, it is characterized in that the tension that had been accumulating gives rise to an explosion of violence, which can vary in severity, from a shove to death. Calm phase: It is characterized by a period of calm, non-violent and shows of love and affection, there is hope for a change in the situation. Repentance or “honeymoon” phase: repentance occurs, on the part of the aggressor, surviving a period of apologies and the promise that it will never happen again. At the same time, the episodes of accumulation of tension are repeated, and the cycle is completed again [7].
From the analysis of the cycle of gender violence between couples and its nature, several conclusions can be derived:
- There is a contradiction between two people who are a couple.
- The aggressor behaves violently in order to control the victim and exercise power.
- When the situation is intolerable by the victim, the aggressor shows interest in the change to regain the victim’s trust and control of the relationship.
After this approach, it is very easy to visualize, generally, a man who mentally or physically abuses a woman in a conscious and voluntary way in order to exercise control over her, for which he uses anipulative resources. However, there are manifestations of gender violence between couples that are socioculturally accepted and naturalized. In these cases, mediation becomes an ideal tool for the secondary prevention of gender violence between couples [8].
Mediation and Secondary Prevention of Gender Violence between Couples
“Mediation is the stabilizing process of the” contest “in the private and social sphere; the family relationship (of first priority for society), conjugal, community, labor, commercial, international, among others, find in it the peaceful solution of their contradictions” [9].
Through mediation, from its educational function, it can be achieved that the parties are aware of the various types of gender violence between couples. By identifying such behaviors, people can correct them. In this way, a way would be found towards the peaceful solution of the contradictions between couples.
“The parties must really want to resolve their dispute. Sometimes the party formally agrees to this, but in reality one of them is interested in the situation remaining - for a certain reason as it is” [9].
A fundamental premise, in order to determine if mediation can have effects in the resolution of conflicts between couples where manifestations of gender violence are evident, in addition to the interest of the parties in solving the conflict, is to establish whether the person exercising it is aware of it. In this way, it will be possible to determine whether mediation runs the risk of becoming an instrument within the cycle of gender violence. If the interest in solving the conflict is genuine and the parties, in equality of power (roles), manage to identify violent behaviors and break gender stereotypes; mediation becomes an ideal tool for secondary prevention of gender violence.
Conclusion
Gender-based violence between couples is a sociocultural phenomenon that affects the normal functioning of the family and the development of children who live in this violent environment, frequently replicating the behaviors learned in their future relationships. There are various types of gender- based violence and each one causes negative consequences on the health of the victims. The cycle of violence suggests that mediation should not be used for the prevention of gender-based violence between couples. Many violent behaviors are reprinted by the perpetrators as part of gender stereotypes, so they are naturalized and unnoticed; for this reason, mediation, from its educational function, is useful in the secondary prevention of gender violence.
References
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Jiménez VY, Tenorio DM, Pérez PM, Hernández CAM, Alvarez RN, et al. (2012) Gender violence in families. Crossroads for change. Havana, Cuba: Aquarium.
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Águila Gutiérrez Y, Pino Rosa M (2016) Mediation as an effective tool in the prevention of criminal legal conflicts derived from gender violence. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Colombia 37(103).
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