The first step to end the violence against women is to recognize the root causes of this menace. Gender-based discrimination, social norms, cultural practices and gender stereotypes perpetuate the violence against women. There are many ways to end violence such as prevent it before it happens, empowering women, educating society by promoting gender equality and changing norms and values, making strict laws, implementation and enforcement of the laws by giving appropriate punishment to the culprits and men engagement on different levels.
Prevent it before it happens
Preventing before it happens means educating our next generations regarding gender equality and gender discrimination which is a long term process. As we know that values and norms around gender equality are forged from childhood to adulthood. We should start educating children from early life and promote respectful relationships and gender equality among young boys and girls. Educating children to avoid gender stereotyping and false norms that promote gender inequality. Involvement of youth ensures the faster, sustained progress on preventing and eradicating gender-based violence.
Empowering women
We have to promote gender equality, women’s empowerment and the human rights of women. We will have to make public and private spaces safer for women, ensure their economic independence, security and increasing women’s participation and decision-making powers in all fields of life. Researches have proven that an educated and empowered woman is less likely to be the victim of abuse.
Making effective laws
An additional approach to reduce violence is to pass and implement effective laws and policies against the culprit. Legal systems and public policy frameworks have often overlooked the crisis of violence against women. Social bias and cultural norms protect the perpetrators from punishment and still a crime like domestic violence are considered a private matter in the eyes of common people. In Pakistan, many laws have been made to protect women against violence but many barriers and loopholes exist that are needed to be addressed.
Implementation and enforcement of the laws
While a historic number of laws and policies against violence are now in place, implementation is still lagging behind. Implementation of the laws strictly and across the board is crucial to put an end to the violence. Wrongdoers know the loopholes and cultural practices, they have no fear to get caught and punished which encourage them to keep doing violence. We cannot reduce the acts of violence until we give punishments to the perpetrators and make them a lesson for others.
Men engagement
There is a growing awareness that men, in partnership with women, can play a significant role in ending violence against women. Men engagement is proved to be the best practice to end the violence against women. Involvement of the men and boys accelerate the progress in ending GBV because most the time the men are the wrongdoers in this case. Men can have an important influence on reducing violence by changing their own attitudes and behavior and by intervening to prevent other men’s violence. A man can stop another man to end the violence by using authority, power and influence.
Men who have influence belonging to the different sectors like government, judiciary, and media can help in spreading awareness and mobilizing communities and they can take effective steps to curb the issue.