How to end the violence.

Girls and women are continuing to get a rough deal the world over forced down the pecking order without equal access to education health care and income. Undoubtedly gender-based violence plays a significant part in this continued subjugation. Weapons of rape sexual harassment female foeticide and genital mutilation infanticide and honour killing are widely used to maintain this status quo. It has been suggested that this type of violence is wielded to perpetuate gender inequalities and sustain the established order. The roots go back to the rigid discourses of what constitutes the masculine and the feminine and the power relationships between men and women boys and girls. Even though most forms of gender discrimination affect girls and women international research has clearly demonstrated that dominant forms and perceptions of masculinities among young boys become the most compelling force for male risktaking behaviour. Examples of this in action include street violence unsafe sexual practices and misogyny. (excerpt)