What is it? 

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a type of violence directed at a person due to gender. This includes physical, sexual, and psychological harm in public or private. GBV is typically interchanged with Violence Against Women because most GBVs are directed against women by men. However, GBV is inclusive of crimes against both genders based on stereotypes and inequalities created & reinforced by tradition and the community. 

It can happen anywhere. At home, places of employment, public places like restaurants, and streets. The common denominator for both men and women victims is forcing power and control over another person. It shows the inferiority of the victim and the superiority of the attacker/harasser. Women are subjected to harmful & degrading traditions that deprive them of their basic fundamental rights. Because of this and more, GBV is one of the world’s most prominent human rights violations. 

Forms of GBV

Many forms of GBV cannot be fully categorized or exact due to their complexity. Violence consists of physical and non-physical forms. The most common ones include: 

Physical

Physical violence includes any action that causes bodily harm, such as punching, kicking, burning, cutting and more. 

Sexual

Sexual violence includes any sexual activity forced on a person without their consent, such as unwanted touching, rape, sexual assault & harassment, forced abortion & sterilization, female genital mutilation, forced prostitution/trafficking, and more. 

Psychological

Psychological violence refers to emotional and mental harm, such as coercion, verbal harassment (like slander, insults, manipulation), threatening, degrading, sharing intimate photo/video without consent, and more. 

Socioeconomic

Socio-economic violence refers to situations that cause financial dependence and economic issues such as property damage, financial & education restriction like withholding money & spending without consent, and not fulfilling monetary obligations like child support and alimony. This also refers to one person intimidating and depriving another of financial dependence. 

Eliminating GBV

The prevalence of GBV holds back a significant portion of our society and reduces chances of growth & development. In addition, a lack of education or awareness of rights prevents the victims from speaking up and getting the justice & freedom they deserve. There are a few key aspects that can help reduce GBV worldwide. They are: 

• Education: School systems should include sex education, counseling programs, and courses that help kids understand that violence is wrong, emotional intelligence, masculinity, and more. Teaching kids from a young age that everyone has equal rights can help prevent GBV altogether.

• Healthcare: Healthcare professionals should get the proper training to recognize signs of GBV in situations where victims are afraid to speak up. This way, victims have assistance and can leave their abusive situations.

• Legal Measures: Governments need to reinforce laws on violence (physical and psychological), rape, harassment, etc., and take action against those who break the law. 

• Support Group: Victims of GBV need to feel heard and supported. Most of them will get traumatized and constantly live in a state of fear. In addition, communities need to be aware of the devastating effects of violence on the victims and the people around them. Sending a clear message on GBV, its types, results, and prevention allow people to realize its adverse effects and how it holds them back as a society. 

• Intervention: While helping victims is essential, it is necessary to put a system in place for perpetrators as well. This way helps prevent the situation and avoids the need for victim support. By having perpetrators understand how their actions affect victims and what could cause them to be violent in the first place, they can take proper steps to avoid GBV.

Safe Sex

Safe sex refers to measures taken (barrier contraception methods) during sexual contact to protect against STIs and prevent unplanned pregnancies. Sexual contact refers to intercourse but also semen & vaginal fluids exchange, wounds or open sores through oral sex & genital touching. Unsafe sex increases the risk of contracting STIs mainly due to not using the proper protection during sexual activity, not choosing partners carefully, and a lack of regular medical check-ups. 

Since only some STIs have noticeable symptoms, it is essential to use protection. Hormonal contraceptives (pill, injection, vaginal ring, implants, and IUDs) only prevent pregnancy if used efficiently but not against STIs. The best method for STI prevention are barrier methods (condom, cervical cup, diaphragm, and dental dam)

All STIs infect genitals, but some can infect the mouth and throat. Condoms prevent STIs through penis-vagina sexual activity, such as herpes, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. STIs such as herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, HPV, and hepatitis B can spread through the mouth during oral sex. Therefore, condoms and dental dams are necessary. However, STIs such as herpes, HPV, genital warts, syphilis, pubic lice, and scabies can also spread through skin-to-skin contact or genital touching. 

Practice safe sex by:

• Always use new condoms, diaphragms, cervical cups, and dental dams. Do not use it if it is past the expiry date, damaged when opening the packet, and do not reuse it. Condoms should be used from start to end, including foreplay, as pre-cum or genital fluids can also spread STIs.
• Limit the number of sexual partners or have a monogamous partner. 
• Have regular medical check-ups for you and your partner/s.
• Avoid sex if you or your partner has rashes, sores, open wounds around the genitals, anus, and mouth, and if you or your partner has a throat infection.
• Avoid sex if intoxicated, as it can impair sound judgment and increase risky behavior.

Sex Pressures

Sex is among the most talked about topics, especially in teenage or adolescent circles. Young adults are increasingly facing pressure to have sex sooner. Many can feel more pressure if their friends already had sex and fear judgment or being outcasted for not practicing sexual activities. This leads some to participate in sexual activities to feel accepted by their peers but might regret their choices later in life. In addition, there are several movies where teens having sex is normalized, regardless of feeling ready or comfortable. 

For young men, having sex is seen as a necessity, while for young women, it has contradictory views. On one end, losing your virginity early on might have your peers thinking you’re “grown-up or cool.” On another end, you’d also be considered “unclean or have low self-respect.” Young adults who don’t prioritize their health are at a higher risk of pregnancy and STIs. 

Adults can also face sex pressure, such as coercion into sex, wanting to please their partner, and stress from expecting actual sex to be the same as in movies or porn. In addition, due to a lack of experience or raised expectations due to movies/porn, some people expect sex to be more than it is.

Whether you are an adult or teenager, you might be worried about what people think of you. This could impair your judgment and push you to risky behavior. You must listen to yourself and do what you feel most comfortable with. Putting yourself at risk of STIs or pregnancy will not increase your social status. It can worsen your mental, physical, and societal state. People gossip about anything and everything, so you might as well stick to your truth and a few trusted peers. The more confident you are with your identity, the less likely you will succumb to negative peer pressure. 

Consent 

Many of us understand what it means to consent to a particular activity, but not everyone knows what kinds of conditions invalidate it. For consent to be valid, the person giving the consent has to meet certain requirements like age, psychiatric, coerced, and sexual.

Age

Age of consent refers to the legal age (usually 18) a person is considered capable of deciding or consenting on their own. This ranges from simple legal issues such as contracts or sexual activity. A minor cannot consent to legal issues but can have their parents or guardians approve on their behalf.

Psychiatric 

A person’s ability to consent depends on whether they are NOT mentally incapacitated, ill, or intellectually disabled. If someone can’t completely comprehend what’s required when signing a contract or consenting, then s/he cannot be legally capable of consent.

Coerced

If a person consents but was coerced/intimidated into agreeing, it’s not consent. Coercion refers to threatening someone to perform an act even if the person doesn’t want to. Some examples of coercion include threatening to terminate employment, pressure with consequences, spreading rumors, guilting, and more. 

Sexual 

Sex is something that should always and only be performed/done between two consensual, willing adults. Getting consent during sexual interactions is a MUST! You must stop immediately if the person initially agrees but changes their mind. For sexual consent, if an adult participates in sexual activity with a minor (younger than the legal age of consent), it cannot be considered consensual, and the adult can be charged with sexual abuse or statutory rape (sex with a minor). In some countries/cities, charges might not be filed if the age difference is close.

Consent is about setting & respecting boundaries and clarifying preferences to avoid misunderstandings. A person consenting one day does not mean they’ve consented for another day. People can change their minds after agreeing; the other person must respect this. Anyone can say no at any moment. It doesn’t matter if the other person isn’t happy with your answer. Silence doesn’t always mean acceptance. There needs to be an eager “yes” to move forward. Be clear with your answer, and don’t leave room for misinterpretation. Open communication is essential for a healthy relationship, while continuous medical testing ensures you & your partner/s safety.

As we grow older, we experience several physical and emotional changes. These changes are more apparent and difficult for people who aren’t healthy and active in caring for their bodies and mind. Women and men undergo similar changes with a few different ones as well. 

Physical Changes 

• Bone, Muscle, and Joints: when a person ages, their bones shrink and become less dense & brittle. This can cause some people’s height to decrease as they get older. In addition, muscle development slows down and causes. Muscles can become less toned and have a reduced ability to contract. Joints can lose cartilage, flexibility, and strength.

• Weight: for women, metabolism decreases and can cause more fat around the hips and stomach. If a woman doesn’t keep an active lifestyle, excessive fat can increase the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. For men, large amounts of fat stop accumulating around their mid-50s. However, their weight can increase since hormonal shifts, metabolism decreases, and lower stamina. 

• Cardiovascular System: the older you are, the stiffer your blood vessels and arteries, causing your heart to pump harder. This can cause hypertension (high blood pressure) and other cardiovascular issues. In addition, estrogen (a hormone responsible for a woman’s sexual & reproductive health) decreases after menopause, making women more susceptible to heart disease. 

• Kidney, Urinary, and Pelvic Organ: Older men and women will begin to experience urinary incontinence, which is losing the ability to control their bladder fully. This causes leaking urine while you laugh, sneeze, or cough. For women, this can be caused by pelvic organ prolapse, a condition where the pelvic muscles & ligaments responsible for holding pelvic organs, such as the bladder & kidney, loosen. This causes the kidney to be less efficient when removing waste from the bloodstream.

• Brain and Nervous System: we begin to lose cells the older we get. When our brain cells decrease, it causes memory loss, slower reflex action, lesser coordination, and distraction. The brain increases the number of cell connections to conserve brain function. 

• Digestive System: Digestive reflexes and swallowing decrease due to the esophagus’ reduced force of contraction. In addition, secretion flow that aids digestion in the stomach, liver, pancreas, and small intestine decreases. 

• Skin and Hair: Skin can lose its elasticity & skin moisture and becomes dry & thinner. This causes wrinkles and less sweating, increasing the risk of heat stroke and exhaustion during hot weather. Hair falls out more, thins, greys, and grows slower. 

• Eyes and Ears: Eyes will lose their total capacity to see in low-light conditions. In addition, we may recognize colors differently, lose our peripheral vision, reduced ability to produce tears, and have cloudier lenses. Several older people find it hard to hear high-pitched sounds or in noisy places. This can be due to the person having been exposed to loud noises throughout their lifetime. 

Sexual and Reproductive Health Changes

Women

• Menopause: 

Menopause is a natural process where a woman’s menstrual cycle ends permanently, marking the end of her reproductive years. This is when the ovaries stop producing reproductive hormones, and a woman no longer gets monthly menstruation. Estrogen levels drop during menopause, leading to breast change, pelvic floor prolapse, and so on. 

For more information on Menopause, click on Menopause – Letena Ethiopia 

• Breast: Breasts begin to lose their elasticity, causing sagging. In addition, the older a woman gets, the greater her chances of developing breast cancer due to the changes in estrogen levels. 

• Hormones: Blood levels can increase, decrease, or stay the same for some hormones. Hormones can also be metabolized slower, causing changes in the reproductive system. Some of the ways changes in hormone production affect women include: 

• Vaginal walls lose elasticity, discharge, and thickness, causing during sexual intercourse.
• Increased risk of developing a vaginal yeast infection.
• External tissue of the genitals reduces and thins, increasing the risk of irritation. 

• In addition, a woman is less likely to be fertile or give birth to a healthy baby as she ages and has an increased risk of developing gynecological conditions. 

Men

• Erectile Dysfunction: ED is the inability to get and maintain an erection long enough to finish intercourse. It can cause psychological effects on both the man and his partner. 

For more information on Erectile Dysfunction, please click on Erectile Dysfunction – Letena Ethiopia.

• Testosterone: Testosterone is a hormone responsible for male maturation, such as developing muscles, deepening the voice, and growing body hair. As a man ages, his testosterone levels decrease, resulting in changes in sexual desire, lower energy, erectile function, and more. 

• Prostate: Benign protatic enlargement is common for men once they turn 50. In addition, older men have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. 

For more information on Prostate Cancer and other men’s health conditions, click on Malignancies in Men and Women – Letena Ethiopia and  Men and Old Age – Letena Ethiopia.

Mental & Emotional Health:

Older people are more likely to experience more anxiety, stress, fear, irritability, and depression, sometimes due to the “Empty nest syndrome.” This is when kids, if there are, have moved out, and now the woman feels nostalgic or misses having them around. In addition, cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias are more likely to occur. 

Taking care of your overall well-being:

Keep Active: It is essential to have an active lifestyle to boost your energy, improve mood, strengthen muscles, and prevent more issues from developing. 

Diet: Always have a nutritious diet with plenty of water and fluids. This can decrease your chances of acquiring heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and the like. 

Mental health: Taking care of your mental health is essential to having a good life. You must be aware of your triggers and emotional responses in different situations. The less aware you are, the more distressed you will be. Constantly assess your emotions and determine why you feel like you are.