Gender violence (A29-EN)

This activity focuses on the prevention and fights against gender violence, and for the need to establish discourses through the media in which sexist roles related to inequality between men and women are not perpetuated.

Gender violence, stereotypes, media

1) To define the concept of gender as an underlying factor of violence against women.

2) To define the concept of violence against women and its different manifestations, beyond the physical ones

3) To recognize how the perpetuation of gender roles in the media occurs and how this makes it difficult for the presence of women in prestigious social fields

Volunteers in NGOs, adults from different social and cultural backgrounds, teachers, and social educators and NGOs

This activity focuses on the prevention and fights against gender violence. This is carried out in three phases:

First phase (activity 1) The concept of gender: An attempt will be made to understand gender as a cultural construction, thus deriving from society's expectations of the role of men and women. For this purpose, the participants will make an initial analysis of the perceptions regarding the behavioural differences in people of both sexes and the expectations that society has of them, differentiating different environments such as family, friendships…

Second phase (activity 2) The concept of violence: violence against women is not only physical violence. The aim is to bring to light the different types of violence that are exercised against women. We adopt the definition of violence against women and girls proposed by Law 13/2007 of November 26, on Prevention and Integral Protection Measures against Gender Violence: "Any behaviour that threatens the dignity and physical and moral integrity of women for the fact of being so, as a manifestation of discrimination, the situation of inequality and power relations of men over women." “Includes any act of gender-based violence that has as a consequence, or that has the potential to result in harm or suffering of the physical, sexual or psychological health of women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of their freedom, whether they occur in public or private life. "

Third phase (activity 3) The perpetuation of these roles and invisibility of women by media discourses: this focuses on the analysis of how the concept of gender prevails and therefore favours the maintenance of violence through the repetition of roles in the media. It also seeks to show how, after the social depth of these narratives, the voice of women ceases to matter, which makes it difficult for women to access any relevant areas.

Paper, whiteboard, suggested videos and audio-visual projector

Description of the first activity:Analysis of the perceptions of the participants regarding the differences of a) behaviour in people; b) expectations of men and women in the context; Each participant will begin by presenting a first reflection to the group. The facilitator will write down all the ideas that are contributed on a blackboard as they arise and as they are being expressed. Once finished, the debate is guided to focus on aspects such as:Do we observe differences between women and men?How do we interpret those differences?How do we name them?All women are the same? And all men are equal?Do we give equal value to some people more than others?Finally, the results are summarized, specified in conclusions of no more than three lines each and written on the board. After that, proposals for action are created to minimize stereotypes in our immediate environment. Description of the second activity: The analysis of the concept of gender violence and understanding it is not only limited to physical aggression. We will talk about physical violence, psychic violence, sexual violence and economic violence seeking to raise awareness about everyday situations of violence related to inequality between women and men and that usually go unnoticed or become invisible.The topic will be introduced with a short video from the European Institute for Gender Equality available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrZ21nD9I-0, which displays gender stereotypes in different moments throughout life and gives context and an initial idea to what is discussed next.  Secondly, the group will watch the trailer of the movie “I am not an easy man”  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bFHdkzqSZA in French with English subtitles; or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPcFAklpV3k in Spanish) that shows different situations in which a man suffers the comments and actions of women from a reversed gender-role perspective, which will help to reflect on everyday situations of violence.

After the visualisation, the group will be asked to raise non-extreme situations of violence which they have experienced or have witnessed. The large group is divided into smaller groups that will work on a specific situation of one of its members and they will try to answer questions such as who exercises violence, who exercises it, what could motivate it, what is the reaction to it from the surrounding environment and from the rest of the environment, what are the mechanisms that would help it not occur, and what we have discovered from the analysis.Then, each group will share the situation that has been discussed and the analysis performed, allowing discussion among all participants.

Description of the third activity: The goal is to show how gender stereotypes, as well as the violence derived from them, are perpetuated through their repetition in the media. For this purpose, the video of Miss Escaparate, a documentary made in the USA will be shown. This video shows the reification of women in the media, and how when society integrates this concept, the voice of women ceases to be taken into account or seen as less relevant. It is available at https://vimeo.com/61656514 in Spanish and https://vimeo.com/72015293 in English.After watching it, a debate led by the facilitator will be established on the consequences of the projected image of women in the media on their personal and work development. Each of the aspects that arise in the debate will be written on the board. Subsequently, possible actions will be proposed in order to mitigate or minimize them.

There are three sessions of no more than two hours each. This should be carried out by leaving at least two days between each one to settle the contents. Thus, one session per week is recommended. Groups will be between 20 and 30 people.

Feminicidio.net

UMA, Inmaculada Postigo

Yes