Remedies for structural violence (women and children)

Children

Most of the violence prevention and mitigation strategies identified by Forum participants are
consistent with the evidence-based strategies recently endorsed by the WHO (2014) for the
violence prevention and response efforts. These include: (1) developing safe, stable and
nurturing relationships between children and their parents and caregivers. (2) developing life
skills and relationship skills in children and adolescents; for example, programs designed to help
children and adolescents manage anger, resolve conflicts in a non-violent way and develop social
problem-solving skills and comprehensive intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention
interventions to reduce IPV perpetration and victimization among adolescents (3) promoting
gender equality to prevent and reduce (4) changing cultural and social norms that normalize and
support violence and (5) victim identification, care and support programs.

Women

There is abundant empirical evidence to illustrate the perpetuating cycle of social norms and
violence: values and beliefs that condone violence are shaped and reinforced by patriarchal
ideologies; they, in turn, contribute to and perpetuate violent behaviours at the micro-
(individual), meso- (community) and macro- (societal) levels and promote a greater tolerance of
men’s violent behaviors . Notions of male honor, male dominance, female subordination, female
modesty and female chastity are exemplars of how patriarchal beliefs and fundamentalist
religious doctrines intersect to perpetuate and sanction VAW. Research evidence also suggests
that children who witness violence or are victims of violence are more likely to adopt violent
behaviors [27].

What is Social Justice?

Social justice refers to a political and philosophical theory that focuses on the concept of fairness
in relations between individuals in society and equal access to wealth, opportunities, and social
privileges.
Five Principles of Social Justice

There are five main principles of social justice that are paramount to understanding the concept
better. Namely, these are access to resources, equity, participation, diversity, and human rights.

Access to Resources

Access to resources is an important principle of social justice and refers to the extent to which
different socioeconomic groups receive equal access to give everyone an equal start in life

Equity

Equity refers to how individuals are given tools specific to their needs and socioeconomic status
in order to move towards similar outcomes.

Participation

Participation refers to how everyone in society is given a voice and opportunity to verbalize their
opinions and concerns and have a role in any decision-making that affects their livelihood and
standard of living.

Diversity

Understanding diversity and appreciating the value of cultural differences are especially
important because policymakers are often better able to construct policies that take into
consideration differences that exist among different societal groups.

Discrimination in employment on the basis of factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, sex, age,
and other characteristics are constant issues in society,

Human Rights

Human rights are one of the most important principles of social justice and form a foundational
part of the concept. Human rights and social justice are certainly interrelated, and it is impossible
for one to exist without the other.
Negative versus Positive Peace
Johan Galtung, the father of peace studies often refers to the distinction between ‘negative peace’
and ‘positive peace’ (e.g. Galtung 1996)

Negative peace

Negative peace refers to the absence of violence. When, for example, a ceasefire is enacted, a
negative peace will ensue. It is negative because something undesirable stopped happening (e.g.
the violence stopped, the oppression ended).

Positive peace

Positive peace is filled with positive content such as restoration of relationships, the creation of
social systems that serve the needs of the whole population and the constructive resolution of
conflict.

Peace does not mean the total absence of any conflict. It means the absence of violence in all
forms and the unfolding of conflict in a constructive way.

Peace therefore exists where people are interacting non-violently and are managing their conflict
positively – with respectful attention to the legitimate needs and interest of all concerned.

What Is Conflict Resolution?

Conflict resolution is the process by which two or more parties reach a peaceful resolution to a
dispute.1

In the workplace, there can be a variety of types of conflict:

 Conflict may occur between co-workers, between supervisors and subordinates, or

between service providers and their clients or customers.
 Conflict can also occur between groups, such as management and the labor force, or
between entire departments.

The Conflict Resolution Process

The resolution of conflicts in the workplace typically involves some or all of the following
processes:

1. Recognition by the parties involved that a problem exists.

2. Mutual agreement to address the issue and find some resolution.
3. An effort to understand the perspective and concerns of the opposing individual or group.
4. Identifying changes in attitude, behavior, and approaches to work by both sides that will
lessen negative feelings.
5. Recognizing triggers to episodes of conflict.
6. Interventions by third parties such as human resources representatives or higher-level
managers to mediate.
7. A willingness by one or both parties to compromise.
8. Agreement on a plan to address differences.
9. Monitoring the impact of any agreements for change.
10. Disciplining or terminating employees who resist efforts to defuse conflicts.

Types of conflict

Task Conflict

The first of the three types of conflict in the workplace, task conflict, often involves concrete
issues related to employees’ work assignments and can include disputes about how to divide up
resources, differences of opinion on procedures and policies, managing expectations at work, and
judgments and interpretation of facts.

Of the three types of conflict discussed here, task conflict may appear to be the simplest to
resolve. But task conflict often turns out to have deeper roots and more complexity that it
appears to have at first glance. For example, coworkers who are arguing about which one of
them should go to an out-of-town conference may have a deeper conflict based on a sense of
rivalry.
Relationship Conflict

The second of our three types of conflict, relationship conflict, arises from differences in
personality, style, matters of taste, and even conflict styles. In organizations, people who would
not ordinarily meet in real life are often thrown together and must try to get along. It’s no
surprise, then, that relationship conflict can be common in organizations.

Suppose you’ve felt a long-simmering tension with a colleague, whether over work assignments,
personality differences, or some other issue. Before turning to a manager, you might invite the
colleague out to lunch and try to get to know him or her better. Discovering things you have in
common—whether a tie to the same city, children the same age, or shared concerns about
problems in your organization—may help bring you together.

Value Conflict

The last of our three types of conflict, value conflict, can arise from fundamental differences in
identities and values, which can include differences in politics, religion, ethics, norms, and other
deeply held beliefs. Although discussion of politics and religion is often taboo in organizations,
disputes about values can arise in the context of work decisions and policies, such as whether to
implement an affirmative action program or whether to take on a client with ties to a corrupt
government.

Conflict Resolution

Conflicts can be resolved in a variety of ways, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and
litigation.

• Negotiation. In conflict resolution, you can and should draw on the same principles of
collaborative negotiation that you use in dealmaking. For example, you should aim to explore the
interests underlying parties’ positions, such as a desire to resolve a dispute without attracting
negative publicity or to repair a damaged business relationship. In addition, determine your best
alternative to a negotiated agreement, or BATNA—what you will do if you fail to reach an
agreement, such as finding a new partner or filing a lawsuit. By brainstorming options and
looking for tradeoffs across issues, you may be able to negotiate a satisfactory outcome to your
dispute without the aid of outside parties.
• Mediation. In mediation, disputants enlist a trained, neutral third party to help them come to a
consensus. Rather than imposing a solution, a professional mediator encourages disputants to
explore the interests underlying their positions. Working with parties both together and
separately, mediators seek to help them discover a resolution that is sustainable, voluntary, and
nonbinding.

• Arbitration. In arbitration, which can resemble a court trial, a neutral third party serves as a
judge who makes decisions to end the dispute. The arbitrator listens to the arguments and
evidence presented by each side, then renders a binding and often confidential decision.
Although disputants typically cannot appeal an arbitrator’s decision, they can negotiate most
aspects of the arbitration process, including whether lawyers will be present and which standards
of evidence will be used.

• Litigation. In civil litigation, a defendant and a plaintiff face off before either a judge or a
judge and jury, who weigh the evidence and make a ruling. Information presented in hearings
and trials usually enters the public record. Lawyers typically dominate litigation, which often
ends in a negotiated settlement during the pretrial period.

Interpersonal psychological strategies for peace making and building

5 strategies

Collaboration

A win-win resolution, this is collaborative , mutual acceptable and agreed upon by participants.
Issues are faced by the participants in such a way that they are fully satisfactory to both of them

Withdrawal/ avoidance

A lose-lose resolution is where there is a lack of concerns outcome. Both parties avoid the issues
and fail to confront the reality, the outcome is least desireable that both parties isolate.

Forcing

A win-lose resolution only one party is going to get the benefit by imposing it on the other one.
The other person is doing something not by choice but by the direction of an ordinate
Smoothing

A Lose-win resolution, the concern for the relationship is very high for a good relationship, the
user is willing to give a favorable outcome to advisory.

Compromise

In this strategy there is a concern for outcome as well as for the relationship, both parties atleast
get some of what they want and is considered as lose-lose resolution.

Definition of Forgiveness

forgiveness as a "willingness to abandon one's right to resentment, negative judgment and

indifferent behavior toward one who unjustly hurt us, while fostering the undeserved qualities of
compassion, generosity, and even love towards him or her"

Reconciliation

the act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or
disagreement

Peace Building/Making In Asia

Here Are Key Takeaways:

1. Given the scale of Asian-led economic cooperation, particularly in infrastructure, Asian

providers should apply conflict-sensitivity frameworks to their
investments. Economic growth can often create tensions due to land acquisition,
resource extraction, or poor community consultation. Long-term investments in
governance and the rule of law are also needed to ensure that economic development
leads to peace and does not make fragile situations worse. This is particularly relevant to
China, India, and Japan as they expand their connectivity and infrastructure initiatives
across Asia.
2. Asian experiences of the transition from conflict to peace can be more relevant to
neighboring countries than global expertise. For example, Indonesia prioritizes
peacebuilding in its South-South activities and draws on its own experience of managing
 conflict and building peace in Aceh, Poso, Ambon, and Borneo to advise and support
countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, and Afghanistan.
3. In countries like Afghanistan where there is a high level of violence, conflict prevention
and peacebuilding may need to wait until the security situation is under
control. Constant terrorist attacks thwart efforts to build institutions of peace and divert
resources from development.
Future Of Peace In Asia

contextualized psychology of peace in Asia that considers features of direct and structural
violence in the region. In Asia, direct violence takes the form of intrastate intermediate-sized
armed conflicts. Structural violence, on the other hand, is associated with foreign invasions and
authoritarian regimes, chronic poverty, and cultural heterogeneity of nonmigrant groups marked
by asymmetric power relations. Because of the nature of social conflict in Asia, peace
psychologists working in this region should focus on active nonviolent political transformation,
healing protracted-war traumas, beliefs supporting economic democratization, social voice and
identity, culture-sensitive political peacemaking, and psychopolitical aspects of federalizing to
address a territorial conflict.