16 Days of Activism: Socio-Cultural Norms Contribute to Intimate Partner Violence in Gambia
Tabu Njie-Sarr Country Director WFDShe was talking to this medium in an interview on Friday, 29th of November 2024 held at TANGO (the home of CSOs and NGOs).
The world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25th November 2024 beginning the 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence on the theme “every 10 minutes, a woman is killed, United to end violence against Women.”
“Intimate Partner Violence can be associated with our socio-cultural norms and values because most of the violence that happens is not only limited to man to woman, but also woman to woman, Woman to man, and a parent to a child,” She said.
She said violence cuts across all societies and individuals.
She said research revealed that some of the factors that contribute to violence against Women are related to socio-cultural Norms and values that whoever has the power and controls the power can use violence. She said violence is also used as a form of punishment to correct people.
She added that in the Gambian context if violence happens between a husband and wife and the case is reported to the police, it is resolved through dialogue as a domestic issue.
She said the mechanisms that are put in place if they are not functional, become a problem. She said there are laws in place but the security is not respecting the law to protect the victims of violence.
She said in the Gambia, due to the “masala” syndrome, it’s always a norm to keep it under the carpet. She said people don’t want to come out because they don't want to be labelled. She said when you are labelled by the community, it goes from generation to generation, and people will remember that you once reported your husband or family member to the police or took them to court.
She said society expects women to be quiet and submissive, keep marital secrets, including violence perpetrated against them, and not expose them. She said when they report it too, they will be stigmatized or disowned and, in some cases, they get divorced and find it difficult to get married in that particular community. She said the lack of confidentiality and trust issues hinder some women from coming out and reporting perpetrators of violence.
She said preventing and tackling violence is a matter of changing the mindsets of the people and long-term counselling to help survivors heal. She said there is a need for more education to look at Gender Violence issues as a Health Issue because once the survivors live with these scars they remain with them until they talk about it and find healing.
“We want the survivors to know that, when they are battered, they are not alone, they should talk about it so that people can help them. The way we are moulded by society, even the support systems that are in place,e, including mothers to the survivors, after listening to them, will ask them to go back that they have experienced the same in their marriages. They go back and pray that the violence stops and normally that happens when the children have grown up into adults,” she said.
She said when violence erupted between two people in society; it was always the woman that they called to counsel instead of bringing the two together for counselling. She said as the perpetrator of violence if no one talks to you, you will think that you are on the right path. She said traditional and opinion leaders can play a critical role by ensuring that both parties are present and they talk to them. She said these leaders can also be trained about what religion and the law say on violence against women and anybody within the society.
She said accessing the legal frameworks is a challenge and even when you access them, the way that matters are handled discourages the survivors. She said there is a backlog of cases of Gender-Based Violence in the courts, and that will make the survivors think about the point of reporting because some of the cases are two, three, and four years old, and eventually, they die a natural death. She said the challenges are systematic and the systems need to be proactive to respond to the needs of the people.
She said if you have the law, effective systems should be in place for it to work.
She said all the beautiful laws, such as the Women’s Act, Sexual Offenses Act, Domestic Violence Act, and regional and international conventions that are signed exist, but where are the right mechanisms for all these to work?
“We need to train our people on the laws and let them know that violence has no place in our society and that it only destroys including putting pressure on our health systems because it gives birth to emergencies that are never budgeted for,” she said.
She said it should be high on the agenda of the Government to make sure that there is a fund put aside just to address gender-based violence. She said the CSOs are doing a lot of work around GBV, and there are a lot of changes happening not only on GBV but also on Women’s empowerment, but more discussions need to take place to tackle violence against women.
“The theme calls for collective action on all stakeholders including the Government, International Organizations such as the UN, CSOs, NGOs, and Individuals to end Violence against Women and to have very proactive and supportive financially strong institutions in terms of the health sector and the court systems to address GBV. GBV does not only affect individuals but society as a whole,” she said.
Author: Halimatou Ceesay
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