Silencing women: An empirical exploration of denial, intimidation, gaslighting, performativity, and corporate human rights abuses

Today, information is emerging at alarming rates about the numerous ways that businesses and governments silence women, prevent them from speaking out, and/or invalidate their claims with respect to human rights violations (Davila & Molina, 2017; Fernando & Prasad, 2018). Some methods for silencing women include repression through violence, intimidation, marginalization, invisibilization, or exclusion from negotiations, decision-making, and leadership roles (Fernando & Prasad, 2018; Herzog, 2018; Torrado, 2022). In this chapter, we set the stage with an overview of empirical data to identify and discuss some of the gendered effects of human rights abuse and remedy. We find that women in developing countries face far more barriers than women in developed countries when they try to report human rights abuses. In the next section, to shed light on the types of barriers emerging, we use qualitative cases to illustrate some of the specific challenges that women in developing countries encounter. Next, we use our case analyses to develop a framework that illustrates the levels of silencing that women experience when they need to voice a claim and report human rights abuses. Finally, we conclude with questions that this inquiry raises and suggest ideas for future research.