Violence Against Women a Worldwide Problem Asserts Gospel for Asia

Wills Point, Texas – GFA (Gospel for Asia) – Discussing where violence against women occurs worldwide, including violence against the girl child.

Does life get any better for girls in Asia as they grow older? Let’s take a look.

Violence against women occurs worldwide, including violence against the girl child.

Violence Against Women, Including Young Women

Where Geeta lives, domestic violence against women is widespread. The World Bank’s study stated that “more than 60 percent of Indian women reported three or more episodes of physical or psychological violence in their lifetime.”

Three or more episodes of abuse, of violence, of shame.

Slapping, kicking, punching, choking. Rape, threats and insults. These—and many others—are all ways abuse manifests itself.

The excuses for abuse range widely. Some are as insignificant as a meal being cooked improperly, like what Geeta experienced.

Domestic violence invades the entire well-being of a woman. The body, the heart (emotions) and the soul (thoughts). Women tend to internalize physical and psychological trauma and rarely speak out about the violence done against them.

The reasons for this are unique to each individual, though there are some common threads, such as:
  • considering violence a “normal” or inevitable aspect of marriage
  • fearing reprisal and additional violence if their spouse finds out they disclosed the mistreatment
  • fearing the stigma and shame at being in a violent relationship
  • bringing shame to their families upon disclosure
  • feeling apathetic about their situation and believing that disclosure would resolve nothing
  • believing the abuse is justified
Frequent and severe abuse can even lead women to contemplate or commit suicide out of sheer desperation.

In 2015, Gospel for Asia published a story called “A Noose and a Miracle,” in which a young woman’s sickness and her family’s poverty wreaked havoc in her marriage, so much so that the young woman thought to take matters into her own hands. Here’s an excerpt:

“When expensive treatments performed by physicians and witch doctors gave Aamaal no relief [from her sickness], Gambheer’s heart broke, and he started to drink. He developed a violent temper and fought with his wife often. He blamed her for becoming sick and losing all his hard-earned money.

“One night, Gambheer came home drunk and beat Aamaal very badly without cause. At her wits end, the desperate woman found a rope and ran into the jungle to kill herself. Aamaal climbed a tree, secured the rope to a branch and wrapped it around her neck, intending to end it all…”

Aamaal’s story is not an isolated incident.

“Every six hours, somewhere in India, a young married woman is burned alive, beaten to death, or driven to commit suicide, ” reported Oxfam International.

Further research from Oxfam reports that 80 percent of Pakistani women endure domestic violence, and 47 percent of women in Bangladesh have experienced some kind of physical abuse at the hands of an intimate partner. The report states, “In Afghanistan, there is a significant incidence of rape, forced marriage, abductions, and assaults. … Statistics are scarce, but in 2003, an Amnesty International report indicated a high incidence of such violence.”


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