Last update: October 02, 2017
Violence is one of those epidemics that knows few limits or borders. Unfortunately, we can find it anywhere on the planet and it has many faces, so much so that we can talk about different types of violence. Starting with the formulas with which we are reprimanded or reproached, up to the most violent wars which, even today, take hundreds of lives with them in many countries. Even if we do not participate directly in the latter, we still witness them and they end up harming us in different measures.
It seems that aggression, or at least a part of it, is written in our genetic heritage; however, violence, which is a form of manifestation of this aggression, is cultural. It is learned and reproduced (and, therefore, it is taught and validated). In the same way, however, you can also unlearn and stop fomenting it.
"Violence is the fear of the ideals of others"
-Mahatma Gandhi-
To do it, one of the most important steps is to identify the forms under which it manifests itself. Below we will make a small inventory of its most common representations.
7 types of violence
1. Economic violence
This type of violence has two sides. One of these is explicit, while the other is hidden. Explicit economic violence is that which is openly exercised against the property or patrimony of others. Robberies, scams, frauds and all those actions as a result of which our finances end up being damaged in an illegal and unfair way.
Hidden economic violence relies on the internal mechanisms of the economic system that undermine our interests. It happens when, for example, in the dynamics of the labor market, wages are lowered and we find ourselves forced to face unfair competition (those who keep prices low have a better chance of receiving work). And also, of course, when apparently equanimous measures are established which, in reality, respond to external interests.
2. Political and institutional violence
Political violence it includes all the practices that can be carried out by a particular political party against our interests, specifically to exploit us. For example, when taxpayers are, at the same time, victims of a corrupt political class.
Institutional violence has to do with mistreatment and abuse of the victims of some institution. This is the case of a poorly or only half-provided service, which causes damage to the user. Violence within health facilities is also part of this subspecies, where, many times, the patient's pain is ignored or minimized.
3. Sexual and / or gender-based violence
Although we are in the XNUMXst century, among the types of violence that exist, not only does that against women persist but, in some cases, has even increased. This form of aggression is based on gender motivations. This means that it is inflicted because the woman does or does not do what men, or other women, expect or demand of her.
Men are also victims of sexual and emotional violence by women and other men. Sometimes they are harmed or rejected just because they are men. Unfortunately, reports of sexual abuse of minors by women have also increased.
4. Cultural violence
Advertising largely proposes a lifestyle that many end up copying. It is considered a form of violence because it causes a sort of hegemony that ends up fueling intolerance and contempt for models of life or reality that do not fit this stereotype advertised.
Similarly, there are still many societies that approve and legitimize violence against certain segments of the population, whether collective or limited to minorities. This is where the persecution that is undertaken against ethnic groups, LGTB communities, etc. enters the scene.
5. Religious violence
There are many religious groups and sects operating in the world today and struggling to gain power and increase the number of their adherents. Although some of them are a genuine expression of faith, it is also true that many others act by actually pursuing the economic interests of the people who dictate and manage the precepts of that faith, without making too many scruples to play with the hopes of the people who follow them.
These sects exploit the fear and confusion of its supporters to make money, whether directly or indirectly (through their work or willingness to attract other followers). Generally they are emissaries of macabre messages about the end of the world and the destruction of the human race. Starting with these, and taking advantage of the fear that they can get to instill in believers, they annihilate their will, consequently managing to get whatever they want from them.
6. Cyberbullying
With the advent of social networks, a new form of violence began to proliferate. In one way or another, new technologies make the work of harassers easier, as they allow the most cowardly to remain anonymous. At the same time, the laws of the various countries are still not very clear in this area and, for this reason, many violent behaviors go unpunished.
The possibility of taking a photo and projecting it in real time is within everyone's reach; it is a possibility used by many, which has given rise to new forms of violence. A widespread example is that someone can make a video of us and then upload it to the net, using our image to make fun of us, or trying to reflect our person in that isolated behavior, as if that were what defines us. Before we find out and claim our rights, it is possible that thousands of people have already seen our images and drawn some distorted conclusions.
7. Media violence
The agenda of many media outlets includes a good deal of violent news. It would seem that the more gory the information, the stronger the impact it produces and the greater the number of viewers it attracts. Sometimes, watching a news bulletin or reading the newspaper is equivalent to receiving a stream of data which, due to their selection and dissemination, distort the image that actually reaches us.
The worst thing is that, if the media offers this kind of news, it means that there is an audience that consumes it and that, in some way, has become accustomed to the impact they produce. This is precisely why the media are always looking for this type of information that surpasses the previous one in terms of impact. Pain, death, torture and any kind of tragic event gradually became spectacle.
Those mentioned are just some types of violence, some forms in which it occurs. The full list is much longer. However, we have exposed the main types which, in importance and frequency, end up conditioning us all.
