The professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Marcela Jabazz, reflects on the paradox that resulted from the Covid-19 confinement and the need to break the isolation for the female victims of gender violence.
One of the elements that generate the vicious cycle of gender violence is the absent link of women with their immediate environment like family and friends. In the words of the professor Marcela Jabbazz, the issue that most bothers the feminists in these times of confinement is the urgency to break the isolation for women who suffer from gender violence.
According to the professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences, one of the actions that can be taken now is feminist solidarity or sorority, with femisists keeping in touch with women, maintaining relationships with them, and not leaving them alone. “This is a good moment to take a phone and be there for the victims. There are many women who need to know that we are here and we will break the silence and isolation.”
It is proven that when women’s livelihoods experience significant tolls when women are made to stay at home longer periods of time, like during vacations. For this, the current situation of confinement gives so many reasons for concern. As professor Jabbaz explains, these moments lead to other situations, like “women taking the decision to separate from their abuser and sign up for therapy interventions. Women should continue participating in this process even if it means participating in counselling sessions via a video camera.” Another delicate issue is the case of visits and joint custody when a couple is divorced. According to Marcela Jabbaz, “we have the evidence from a recently published study that the conflict is rather serious as the children are manipulated by one parent which leads to harassment and gender violation of women.”
Marcela Jabbaz Churba, an associate professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, is a co-author of the recent publication Menores en Disputa. Custodia. Visitas y Patria Potestad en la Comunidad Valenciana https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/libro?codigo=743910. This book was commissioned by the Valencian government (Generalitat Valenciana) within the framework of the Valencian pact against gender violence. The book discusses the lack of child protection during the acts of gender violence as well as the need to include the gender perspective in lawsuits.
The professor Jabbaz reminds that the public resources helped to react to the situation adequately and prevent gender violence so that women can turn to the parmacists, ask for “Mascarilla-19”, and, thus, report the case of gender violence and contact Centros Mujer open 24/7. Other social services remain active and available to the public. In case of the university community, you can use the phone (+34 96 162 55 55) and email (espaivioleta@uv.es) of the Violet Space to report an issue.
