violence against women and children

sexual abuse

Machine translation

A high number of unreported cases of violence against children can also be assumed. For fear of further acts of violence, they usually do not oppose the perpetrator.

!One in four girls and one in seven boys are sexually abused before they are 18!

Definition:
Sexual abuse is when a person uses their position of power or another person's ignorance, trust, or dependence to satisfy their own sexual needs.

This includes, for example, when an adult...

... touches or allows a child to be touched for sexual arousal.

... forcing or persuading a child to look at him naked or to watch sexual activity.

... uses children for pornographic purposes or shows them pornography.

... touches the child's genitals or forces or persuades them to have oral, anal or vaginal intercourse - i.e. rapes them.

Many people understand sexual abuse to mean a violent attack by strangers.

However, this is wrong!

In 90 percent of all cases, the perpetrator is very familiar to the child (e.g. father, grandpa, neighbor,...).

Sexual abuse tends to develop slowly and over a long period of time. It is very rare that it "only" happens once. As a rule, the abuse is repeated until the children's silent cries for help are recognized.

Sexual abuse is a painful psychological and physical experience for the victim.

Facts about sexual abuse:

Recent studies clearly show that  sexual abuse takes place primarily in the family.

• Children of all social classes and all age groups are affected by sexual abuse, including small children and infants.
• Sexual abuse is mostly (over 90%) committed by men who are well acquainted with the children (father, stepfather, brother, uncle, grandfather, cousins).
• Sexual abuse tends to develop slowly and over a period of time.
• Sexual abuse is not just physical abuse. The child or young person also develops severe psychological impairments. The fear, the feeling of abandonment, a disturbed feeling about one's own body, the broken trust, guilt and shame can last a lifetime.
• Sexual abuse affects not only the life of the affected child, but also those closest to him.

• Responsibility for sexual abuse always lies with the perpetrator, regardless of the age and behavior of the girl or boy.

• When children talk about sexual abuse, they are telling the truth. They must overcome strong feelings of shame and guilt before they confide in anyone.

Sources:

• beauftragter-missbrauch.de:  Definition von sexuellem Missbrauch, https://beauftragter-missbrauch.de/praevention/was-ist-sexueller-missbrauch/definition-von-sexuellem-missbrauch (Letzter Zugriff: 27.11.2021)
• baerenstark-im-Leben.com: Kinder und Jugendliche wirksam schützen und stärken
  https://baerenstark-im-leben.com/2018/05/10/w-im-interview-mit-dem-verein-selbstbewusst  (Letzter Zugriff: 27.11.2021)

Emotional/mental abuse

Machine translation

This form of abuse is often very subtle and not recognized as such. However, the consequences are no less devastating than other forms of abuse...usually even worse.Emotional violence is, for example, humiliation, mockery, insults, etc. Giving someone the feeling that they are worthless, that they are not loved, is emotional violence. Denying affection and tenderness or making them subject to certain conditions is emotional abuse. E.g. when a child has a wish and a parent says, "If you do XYZ and don't complain, then maybe if you do well and I'm so nice, you'll get something"Being left alone, neglected or locked up is also mental cruelty. threat as well! A child in particular takes this very seriously, is afraid of it and will probably never be able to forget it.Another form of psychological abuse is when the child is used as a partner in case of problems, is supposed to settle disputes or has to be used as a plaything in the case of adult problems. In short, any role a person is forced into is mental abuse. In children who are absolutely overwhelmed with it, it destroys all trust and hinders personality development.

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Machine translation

If a woman is sexually harassed at work, the humiliation consists in the fact that she is not addressed as a specialist in her competence as a professional woman, but as an object. There are supervisors who already make the object status that they give their employees clear through their dress code. The harassment can begin with the fact that the working atmosphere is sexualized, for example, that comments are repeatedly made about the woman's appearance. The woman notices clearly whether a "compliment" expresses appreciation and recognition or whether it humiliates and devalues ​​her. If she resists, she is often ridiculed, for example by the man dismissing the sexualization as a fantasy on her part. This insidious mechanism works particularly well when if several work colleagues support each other in the harassment. In the course of time, verbal abuse is often accompanied by physical abuse. These can also look random at the beginning and may then escalate to the point of rape, which is enforced through blackmail or brutal physical violence.

Follow:

The specific thing about sexual harassment in the workplace is that the woman affected finds it difficult to avoid it. She is in the best situation when she shows solidarity with other work colleagues and can fight back against the harasser together. If this is not possible because she is the only woman whose colleagues do not support her, she cannot defend herself or because defending herself is simply of no use, massive feelings of powerlessness, helplessness and being at the mercy can arise. The workplace is where we spend most of the day, and when that place turns into hell, the consequences can be massive. Psychosomatic stress symptoms such as nervousness and difficulty concentrating, insomnia, eating disorders, physical pain such as headaches,

Sources:

• frauenberatung.ch: Formen von sexueller Gewalt,  https://www.frauenberatung.ch/was-ist-sexuelle-gewalt/formen/index.html  (Letzter Zugriff: 27.11.2021)

Sexual exploitation in dependency relationships, eg in psychotherapy

Machine translation

Assaults and abuse also often occur at the hands of men who use their professional positions to sexually exploit female clients who depend on them. Such a dependency exists, for example, in professions in the psychosocial, medical, pedagogical, pastoral, legal and educational sectors. In short, sexual exploitation is possible wherever men work with women. There are also women who abuse clients. A therapeutic relationship stands out among the dependency relationships mentioned above. Since this is very much about working with feelings, there is usually a great deal of emotional closeness, which is important for the success of the therapy. If this emotional closeness is abused by the therapist sexualizing the relationship, this has massive damaging consequences for the woman. The abuse often begins when the therapist talks more and more about himself, his needs and problems, and it is not uncommon for him to do everything to make a woman fall in love with him. Every woman has the right to fall in love with her therapist. It is the therapist's responsibility to prevent these feelings from becoming real. If he actively creates a sexualized atmosphere himself or allows sexualized actions to take place, regardless of whether he legitimizes this with his own infatuation or with apparent therapeutic benefits, then he is exploiting the woman. Exploitation in all of these dependency relationships can also range from verbal assaults to almost accidental or so-called "friendly" touches to massive,

Follow:

It is particularly humiliating to be abused by a man whom one seeks counseling, healing, professional support, or instruction. Often women are very confused and can hardly believe themselves that they have been exploited under the guise of help and healing. Not being able to trust your own perception is massively unsettling. In the case of abuse in therapy in particular, women are often very ambivalent towards the abuser, because over a period of time he may have supported her in a real sense. Most women experience feelings of shame and guilt about not recognizing the abuse earlier as an adult, about not having resisted it or not defending it sufficiently.

Sources:

• stiftung-gegen-gewalt.ch: https://stiftung-gegen-gewalt.ch/wsp/site/assets/files/1127/infoblatt_sexuelle_ausbeutung_in_abhangigkeitsvbeziehungen_fachpersonen.pdf  (Letzter Zugriff: 27.11.2021)

genital mutilation

Machine translation

Around 150 million girls and women worldwide have had their genitals mutilated. And every year another two million girls fall victim to these practices.

Genital mutilation is practiced on 5-99% of girls/women in the following countries:

Africa:  Egypt, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, various East African ethnic groups, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, various ethnic groups in Sudan, Tanzania, Ugandan, Zaire.

South Arabian Peninsula:  Oman, Yemen, Bahrain (Pers. Gulf), United Arab Emirates.

Asia:  Indonesia (Muslim groups in Java), India, Malaysia.

Australia:  partly among the Aborigines.

Justifications:

• The natural vagina is dirty and ugly.
• Only with the removal of the clitoris should the sex of the woman become clearly female.
• The chastity or virginity of the woman should be guaranteed.
• The fertility of women should be increased.

With these justifications, the inclusion of this form of violence in the respective cultures was justified.

In fact, it is always about the suppression and control of female sexuality and fertility within the framework of male claims to power.

Women who want to avoid mutilation themselves or their daughters are treated as outsiders and have to reckon with massive reprisals up to and including deprivation of their livelihood.

The practice of genital mutilation is sometimes consciously continued and supported by authorities such as community leaders or religious leaders.

Follow:

• Many children do not survive the extremely risky act of mutilation. They die immediately as a result of massive organ damage, high blood loss or a short time later as a result of infections caused by all kinds of pathogens. The risk of AIDS transmission is very high.
• The survivors usually suffer lifelong from the catastrophic health consequences, e.g. chronic pain and infections, immense discomfort with menstruation and urination, infertility, incontinence, hardened scars, cysts, etc...
• The enormously high maternal mortality rate in Africa is, among other things, directly attributable to the mutilation practices.

 Sources:

• Wikipedia.org:  weibliche Genitalverstümmelung, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weibliche_Genitalverstuemmelung

forced prostitution

Machine translation

In connection with human trafficking, forced prostitution is the illegal practice of forcing people to work as prostitutes.

Compulsion to prostitution can be exercised either through physical or psychological violence, deception, extortion, exploitation of a predicament or exploitation of  a victim's helplessness. Forced prostitution mainly affects young women from Eastern Europe and Africa, who are lured to Western Europe with false promises.

facts

The offense of forced prostitution provides for various acts  . According to Section 232a Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, anyone who injures another person is liable to prosecution

• taking advantage of their personal or economic predicament or
• taking advantage of their helplessness associated with being in a foreign country

or who

• caused a person under the age of 21 to either
  • to take up prostitution or
  • to engage in, or have engaged in, sexual acts that exploit the person.

Since October 15, 2016, the customers of forced prostitutes have also been prosecuted under Section 232a Paragraph 6 of the Criminal Code. Since October 1, 2021, customers can be punished if they carelessly fail to recognize that they are forced into prostitution.

Sources: