Gender-based Violence is a global health concern that affects most age groups across the globe. A significantly vulnerable section of population being both victims and potential changemakers for the same is the Adolescent population. Adolescence, as defined by the American Psychological Association and accepted by most nations across the globe is “the period of human development that starts with puberty (approximately 10 to 12 years of age) and ends with physiological and neurobiological maturity, shown in neuroscientific research to extend to at least age 20, with significant brain development in the late adolescent stage of 18 to 20 yrs”.

During this raw age, Adolescents are subjected to both internal and external factors of distress. Significant external factors include preferential treatment, Gendered socialization, hegemonic masculinity reinforcing rigid patterns of behaviour often co-functioning with gender policing and gendered language.

The social foundations of Gender-Based Violence
The sociological roots of GBV can be traced in and examined through the phenomenon of hegemonic masculinity, gender policing, gendered language, and gender socialization. These factors do not act independently, rather work as multifaceted variables to the same problem. They act as the mediums to converge, reinforce, and institutionalize the power dynamics that keep the adolescents stuck in a cycle of fear, shame, and distress.

Gender Policing simply refers to the process that facilitates social enforcement of normative gender expressions and behaviours. Gender policing is common for adolescents who deviate from the expected gender performance. This may be done in terms of dress, speech, interests, or emotional expression and often turning them subject of ridicule, ostracization, or direct violence. Gender policing among this age is not confined to peer interactions; it is often deeply embedded in the social practices of schools and Adult-teen interaction patterns, disguising itself as gender socialization. Gender policing and bullying have a thin line between them as practices by adolescent peers can adversely impact the fragile minds of children.

What is Gendered Language and its role in GBV?
Language is an essential instrument leveraging the construction and execution of gender norms. Gendered language plays a critical role in shaping perceptions and legitimizing violence among adolescents. Words, jokes, slurs, and phrases that demean, sexualize, or infantilize others based on gender are, both, offensive and serve to reinforce existing power structures. Linguistic structures and gendered language together shape and reinforce gender hierarchies in society on a day-to-day basis. Thus, making it a concrete aspect.

Research shows that gendered language affects social perception, with masculine-coded terms often linked to leadership and competence, while feminine-coded terms are associated with care and emotional labour (Lakoff, 1975; Cameron, 2005). Connell’s (2005) theory of hegemonic masculinity, precisely describes how social expectations rigidly define gender roles, even in mundane activities such as walking, gestures and other behavioural attributes. This, combined with gendered language often targeted towards non-conforming adolescents through sexist, misogynistic and homophobic slurs create gaps in the adolescents’ understanding of healthy gender norms and toxic behaviour patterns.

Source: Growing Up Unsafe: Gender-based Violence And Adolescents - IMPRI Impact And Policy Research Institute