Gender-based Violence and Human Rights in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Nigeria
Gender-based violence refers to violence that inflicts pain or suffering on women and deprives them of their liberty. Violence against women has become common place in our society. All over the world, women from all walks of life, educational background and religion are violated every
day. It is on record that five out of ten women are violated daily and at least one in five women is violated in her life time. While gender-based violence takes place in both developed and developing countries, in the former such cases are often reported and recorded but owing to the culture
of silence in the latter for instance Nigeria, many of such cases are either not reported or under-reported thereby leading to unreliable statistics. This study was carried out to ascertain the impact of gender-based violence on development. Data were drawn from primary and secondary sources.
The paper identifies categories of gender-based violence namely physical, psychological, sexual and socio-economic violence. The stages of violence against women such as pre-birth, infancy, girlhood, adolescence/womanhood and elderly are discussed as well as their effects such as injury, pains,
infections, mental torture and death. The paper also examines the human rights situation of women in Nigeria, various forms of discrimination against women and argues that gender-based violence violates the rights of women.
Keywords: aggression; gender; gender-based violence; human rights; violence
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 January 2015
- Political Crossroads is a bi-annual, international, refereed journal which, since 1990, publishes critical and empirical scholarship in political science and international relations. Its areas of focus include global security, terrorism, national identity, migration and citizenship, and the politics of resources and trade.
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