Session 7: Understanding the Impact of violence against women and girls
Session Objective and Material Needed
Objectives
By the end of the session participants will be able to,
- Provide examples of the physical, emotional, and financial impact of violence on survivors.
- Describe how consequences of men’s use of violence impact women, children, and men themselves.
- Reflect on the role men
Materials Needed
- Flipchart pape
- Markers
- Handouts of the scenarios (Miriam and Jean-Paul and Hawa and Abdul)
Key Messages
Survivors will have different needs related to the health, emotional, social, and financial consequences from the violence they suffered.
Children are impacted by witnessing violence even if they themselves are not abused.
Men have a key role to play in supporting survivors.
Activities
Activity 1
Welcome and Review (15 minutes)
1. Welcome the participants on the next step of the journey to non-violence and survivors support, with today's discussion focusing on understanding the impact and consequences of violence against women and girls.
2. Ask for volunteers to recall the key messages or ideas from the previous session. Invite participants to sit.
3. Ask participants to share if there is anything that they’ve been thinking about or reflecting on related to what we discussed last session?
Activity 2
Group work and facilitated discussion
1. Facilitator recaps that the last session was spent understanding violence as a human rights violation. Explain that this session we are going to take a deep look at other consequences or impacts that IPV, CEFMU and rape have for survivors, their family, and their community.
2. The Facilitator should emphasise that consequences can by physical, emotional, financial, or social. Some consequences, especially emotional and social ones can often be hard to see.
3. Group Work: Use the scenario below that best fit your context. Break participants into 2 groups. Ask each group to discuss the questions below as they relate to their scenario.
Scenario 1
Scenario Miriam and Jean-Paul
Miriam and Jean-Paul had been married for five years before they were forced to leave their country and seek safety in Colombia. They had three children with the oldest child being five years old. Before leaving their country, Jean-Paul was the one who worked outside of the home. They had argued at times and Jean-Paul was easily jealous, but he had never hit or physically abused Miriam. Once they reached Columbia both Miriam and Jean-Paul had to work outside the home. Neither had yet received refugee status in Columbia. Even with both working they had very little money for food. Jean-Paul didn’t like Miriam working outside the home and would yell at her often, accusing her of talking to other men. He started to slap her and push her in front of the children. He noticed the children, especially the oldest avoided him when he came home. One day Jean-Paul came home from work after his boss had paid him only half of what he was owed. Jean-Paul started to argue with Miriam and punched her with his fist breaking two of her teeth and her nose. The children were crying and hid under the table.
Miriam
a. What are the consequences for Miriam in this scenario? (Facilitator ensures participants identify consequences such as stress, injury, hopelessness, isolation etc. Participants may also identify consequences for Miriam if she left Jean-Paul, such as homelessness, no longer belonging to the family/tribe/clan, increased risk of rape and sexual assault by other men if she is seen as no longer married, leaving her children (who are seen as belonging to the husband), no resources
b. How do you think it made Miriam feel about herself?
c. How did it make Miriam feel about Jean-Paul?
d. How could it affect their relationship? (Facilitator ensures participants identify consequences for families, such as resources spent on health care for injuries, lack of harmony and happiness, tension, family breakups, etc.)
e. What help do you think Miriam needed?
Children
a. What are the consequences or impact for the children witnessing this between Miriam and Jean-Paul?
b. What do you notice about the children’s behaviour towards Jean-Paul?
Jean-Paul
a. What are the consequences of Jean-Paul’s in this scenario?
(Facilitator ensures participants identify negative consequences such as sadness, shame and remorse, poor relationships with children, unhappiness, imprisonment, lack of intimacy with wife/girlfriend, ill health, ostracism, etc. Make sure to emphasize that there are positive consequences for Jean as well: Access to money, all home tasks taken care of, power, control.)
b. How did it make him about himself?
c. How does it affect Jean’s relationship with his children?
(Facilitator ensures participants identify consequences for children such as depression, poor performance in school, fear, distrust of adults, bullying, violence, substance abuse, absenteeism, disruptive behaviour at school and in the community, etc. Emphasize that children’s responses to abuse are not predictable and many children who grow up in violent households are determined to not repeat their past, while others may act out a learned behaviour. Not all children who witnessed or experienced violence become perpetrators or victims in adulthood but witnessing or experience violence can be considered a possible risk factor for the future. Witnessing violence will have some effect on children whether it is increased stress levels, self-blame, fear of parental injury/death, and/or isolation.
Facilitated Group Discussion
• Facilitator should emphasise that IPV is not only physical but can be emotional and financial and that IPV prevalence differs between region, but women everywhere experience IPV. The WHO estimates that globally 1 in 3 women experience some form of IPV during their lifetime. In comparison, the global estimates of non-partner sexual violence is 7.2%.
• Facilitator asks participants to consider how emergency setting increase the likelihood of CEMFU? IPV? Rape?
If time permits, Facilitator can continue to discuss with the questions below:
• Facilitator asks participants if they think early marriage is linked with other forms of violence? How? (Facilitator ensures participants know girls married as children are at higher risk of violence in their families than their unmarried peers.)
• Girls married early are more likely to be and remain in poverty. How do you think this affects their families and communities?
Scenario 2
(If Facilitator uses Scenario 2, use the guidance above to help participants get to the level of specificity needed to understand the consequences of violence against women and girls.)
Hawa and Abdul
Before fleeing Somalia, Hawa lived with her husband, Abdul, and her three children in a small house near the market. When they got married, Abdul paid a dowry (or bride price) to her family and from the beginning expected Hawa to work hard to make up for it. He would often tell her that he had paid a good price for her so she better work and be a good wife, or else he would send her back and demand the money back from her family. Hawa worked from early in the morning until late in the evening selling vegetables in the market. When she got home, she would be tired, but she had to cook dinner, fetch water, wash clothes, and look after her young children as well. Abdul would often take the money that Hawa had earned at the market and go out in the evening. He would not come home until late, and often, he would be drunk and start shouting at Hawa. He would beat her in front of the children. Sometimes he would make her sleep outside to punish her if the food was cold or not cooked to his liking and to show the neighbours that he was the boss in his house.
Hawa
a. What are the consequences for Hawa in this scenario?
b. How do you think it make Hawa feel about herself?
c. How did it make Hawa feel about Abdul?
d. How could it affect their relationship?
e. What help do you think Miriam needed?
Children 2
a. What are the potential consequences or impact for the children witnessing this between Hawa and Abdul?
b. How might Abdul’s behaviour impact how the child reacts to him or think of him?
Abdul
a. What are the consequences of Abdul’s actions in this scenario?
b. How did it make Abdul feel about himself?
c. How does it affect Abdul’s relationship with his children?
4. After sufficient time, bring the groups back together. Get a person from each group to highlight points from their discussion. Allow other members to provide input. Facilitate a discussion on the impacts in each scenario.
5. After discussing the questions above ask participants to reflect on how they feel when they read these scenarios.
Activity 3
Closing (15 minutes)
1. Facilitator closes the discussion by asking participants to share any reflection on the group work looking at the impact and consequences of violence against women and girls.
2. Ask for volunteers to share what parts of the conversation about impact and consequences felt most difficult to think about or reflect on?
- Survivors will have different needs related to the health, emotional, social, and financial consequences from the violence they suffered.
- Children are impacted by witnessing violence even if they themselves are not abused.
- Men have a key role to play in supporting survivors.
3. Thank the participants for their active participation and for starting the journey and remind them when and where the next session will take place