A call to action for collective activism against gender-based violence

[Trigger warning: mentions of sexual violence]

Gender-based violence against anyone who identifies as a woman is one of the key drivers behind the increasing number of women living with HIV today. Gender-based violence can be both a risk factor for HIV, and a consequence of HIV.

Gender-based violence is violence perpetrated against an individual because of their gender or gender identity and it can be physical, sexual, economic, emotional/ psychological in nature. Physical violence includes the intentional use of physical force with the potential to cause death, disability, injury, or harm. Examples of physical violence include punching, kicking, whipping, beating with an object, strangling, suffocating, attempted drowning, burning intentionally, and using or threatening with a weapon. Sexual violence includes abusive sexual touching, attempted forced or pressured sex, non-consensual vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and physically forced sex. Emotional or psychological violence refers to a pattern of behaviours characterized by insults, humiliation, and instillation of fear in an individual to control them. With reference to HIV healthcare settings, emotional violence has several effects, including fear of approaching healthcare providers for services, poor treatment adherence, poor mental health, limited take-up of HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis services, delays in receiving appropriate HIV healthcare, being denied healthcare services and shunning healthcare facilities.

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicked off on 25^th November, with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It runs until 10^th  December, Human Rights Day. This of course does not mean that we should stop campaigning to halt gender-based violence once the 16 days are over. This, as I see it, it’s the beginning of our mobilization to challenge the mechanisms that support gender-based violence in our society. The experience of violence inflicted upon women and girls is an intolerable human rights abuse and constitutes a serious violation of a woman’s right to security, liberty, health, bodily integrity, and sexual autonomy.

Gender-based violence is a crime that often results in death or permanent disability, emotional trauma, chronic medical issues, and economic deprivation.

As HIV activists and peer advocates, we are a group of people who work in concert to challenge inequality, exclusion, and injustice to improve the quality of life of those who are living with or at risk of HIV. Consequently, I issue a call to action for collective activism as a mechanism for transforming 16 days of action against violence against women into a collective of HIV activists who reject violence as the status quo. Maintaining our mindfulness around gender-affirming and inclusive language when we interact with each other is already a small but important step towards dismantling the terminology of patriarchy-enhancing and patriarchy-facilitated violence which frames for example any conversation about women, violence and HIV, as an issue that affects only women. Men too, experience violence and abuse, but this is not a competition. Rather this is a plea to highlight how structural change can happen from within. I know that the fallacious equation of ‘gender violence = violence against women’ may reify one of the very causes of gender violence, namely that transphobic violence and discrimination often centre on defending the borders between “men” and “women.” Definitions of gender-based violence minimize how gender itself is constructed and determined by violence, rendering violence committed against transgender and nonbinary individuals less visible. This is not what I am saying and indeed I do not want to obscure the violence that occurs as a means of policing normative gender. What I am asking is for us, HIV activists, to embed into our practice, into our actions, non-violent language and non-violent ideas and ideologies.

We must remember the power of collective action. I do want us to remain cognizant of the fact that our power to bring about change and to dismantle the oppressive structures in society which still denies equal access to HIV care to all, can only be manifested when we unite to address violence. As I said at the beginning, this is because violence against women and girls is one of the key drivers behind the increasing number of women and girls living with HIV today.

Nicoletta Policek

EATG member | UK CAB Chair | Sophia Forum Chair