End Violence against Women and Girls - UNIFEM

UNIFEM : End Violence Against Women

Between 15 and 76 percent of women are targeted for physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the available country data. Most of this violence takes place within intimate relationships, with many women (ranging from 9 to 70 percent) reporting their husbands or partners as the perpetrator.

 Femicide: In Guatemala, two women are murdered, on average, each day.

In India, 8,093 cases of dowry-related death were reported in 2007; an unknown number of murders of women and young girls were falsely labeled ‘suicides’ or ‘accidents’.

In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, between 40 and 70 percent of female murder victims were killed by their intimate partners.

In the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, 66 percent of murders of women were committed by husbands, boyfriends or other family members.

Violence and Young Women: Worldwide, up to 50 percent of sexual assaults are committed against girls under 16. An estimated 150 million girls under the age of 18 suffered some form of sexual violence in 2002 alone.

The first sexual experience of some 30 percent of women was forced. The percentage is even higher among those who were under 15 at the time of their sexual initiation, with up to 45 percent reporting that the experience was forced.

Harmful Practices: Approximately 100 to 140 million girls and women in the world have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, with more than 3 million girls in Africa annually at risk of the practice.

Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18, primarily in South Asia (31.3 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (14.1 million). Violence and abuse characterize married life for many of these girls. Women who marry early are more likely to be beaten or threatened, and more likely to believe that a husband might sometimes be justified in beating his wife.

Trafficking: Women and girls are 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked across national borders annually, with the majority (79 percent) trafficked for sexual exploitation. Within countries, many more women and girls are trafficked, often for purposes of sexual exploitation or domestic servitude.

One study in Europe found that 60 percent of trafficked women had experienced physical and/or sexual violence before being trafficked, pointing to gender-based violence as a push factor in the trafficking of women.

Sexual Harassment: Between 40 and 50 percent of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at work.

Across Asia, studies in Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea show that 30 to 40 percent of women suffer workplace sexual harassment.

In Nairobi, 20 percent of women have been sexually harassed at work or school.

In the United States, 83 percent of girls aged 12 to 16 experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools.

Rape in the context of Conflict: Conservative estimates suggest that 20,000 to 50,000 women were raped during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while approximately 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were targeted in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Between 50,000 and 64,000 women in camps for internally displaced people in Sierra Leone were sexually assaulted by combatants between 1991 and 2001.

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence, mostly involving women and girls, have been documented since 1996: the actual numbers are believed to be far higher.

Causes, Protective & Risk Factors

Gender inequality and discrimination are root causes of violence against women, influenced by the historical and structural power imbalances between women and men which exist in varying degrees across all communities in the world.

Violence against women and girls is related to their lack of power and control, as well as to the social norms that prescribe men and women’s roles in society and condone abuse. Inequalities between men and women cut across public and private spheres of life, and across social, economic, cultural, and political rights; and are manifested in restrictions and limitations on women’s freedoms, choices and opportunities. These inequalities can increase women’s and girls’ risks of abuse, violent relationships and exploitation, for example, due to economic dependency and limited survival and income-earning options, or discrimination under the law as it relates to marriage, divorce, and child custody rights.

Violence against women and girls is not only a consequence of gender inequality, but reinforces women’s low status in society and the multiple disparities between women and men. (UN General Assembly, 2006)

Risk Factors

A variety of factors at the individual, relationship, community and society (including the institutional/state) levels intersect to increase the risk of violence for women and girls. These factors, represented in the ecological model, include:

witnessing or experiencing abuse as a child (associated with future perpetration of violence for  boys and experiencing violence for girls);

substance (including alcohol) abuse (associated with increased incidences of violence);

women’s membership in marginalized or excluded groups;

low levels of education (for boys associated with perpetrating violence in the future and for girls, experiencing violence);

limited economic opportunities (an aggravating factor for unemployed or underemployed men associated with perpetrating violence; and as a risk factor for women and girls, including of domestic abuse, child and forced marriage, and sexual exploitation and trafficking);

the presence of economic, educational and employment disparities between men and women in an intimate relationship;

conflict and tension within an intimate partner relationship or marriage;

women’s insecure access to and control over property and land rights;

male control over decision-making and assets;

attitudes and practices that reinforce female subordination and tolerate male violence (e.g. dowry,  bride price, child marriage);

lack of safe spaces for women and girls, which can be physical or virtual meeting spaces that allow free expression and communication; a place to develop friendships and social networks, engage with mentors and seek advice from a supportive  environment.

normalized use of violence within the family or society to address conflict;

a limited legislative and policy framework for preventing and responding to violence;

lack of punishment (impunity) for perpetrators of violence; and,

low levels of awareness among service providers, law enforcement and judicial actors. (Bott, et al., 2005; UN General Assembly, 2006)

Additional risk factors related to intimate partner violence that have been identified in the context of the United States include: young age; poor mental health levels related to low self-esteem, anger, depression, emotional insecurity or dependence, antisocial or borderline personality traits and social isolation; history of physical discipline as a child; marital instability and separation or divorce; history of perpetrating psychological abuse; unhealthy family relationships; poverty-related issues such as overcrowding or economic stress; and low levels of community intervention or sanctions against domestic violence. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008)

Protective Factors

On the other hand, there are protective factors that can reduce women and girls’ risk of violence, including:

 Completion of secondary education for girls (and boys);

Delaying age of marriage to 18;

Women’s economic autonomy and access to skills training, credit and employment;

Social norms that promote gender equality;

quality response services (judicial, security/protection, social and medical) staffed with knowledgeable, skilled and trained personnel;

availability of safe spaces or shelters; and,

access to support groups.

Other factors that require further research and analysis, but may be associated with risk of and protection from domestic violence include: women’s prior experience as a survivor of violence (any form) at any age; men’s communication levels with their female intimate partners; men’s use of physical aggression against other men; as well as women and girl’s restricted mobility. (WHO, 2005)

It is important to remember that risk and protective factors are not direct causal links, but rather correlated – that is to say, for example, that a boy who witnesses abuse of his mother by his father as a child will not necessarily become a perpetrator later in life; nor is a women of high socio-economic status and highly educated immune to domestic violence. Violence against women is a complex social, economic and cultural phenomenon.

Decades of advocacy efforts led by the women’s movement and grassroots organizations across all regions have led to the recognition that violence against women and girls is a manifestation of systematic gender discrimination and inequality, a violation of human rights and detrimental to development. The historical developments below highlight the building momentum and increasing attention to violence against women on international and regional agendas:

Early 20^th century: Trafficking and sexual exploitation identified as a concern within international conventions.

1975-1985: Advocacy during the United Nations Decade of Women leads to increased prominence of the issue on the international agenda, with an initial focus on domestic violence, later expanding to cover various forms of violence against women (domestic violence, trafficking and sexual exploitation, women in detention and during armed conflict), and their linkages with development, peace and gender equality.

• Resolution on violence in the family adopted at the 1980 Second World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women (Copenhagen), calling for programming to end violence and protect women and children from physical and mental abuse.
• Forward-Looking Strategies from the 1985 Third World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women (Nairobi) called for comprehensive national prevention and response efforts through legislation, policies, support to survivors and public awareness.

1979: the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women or CEDAW was adopted (entered into force in 1981) and its Optional Protocol (2000). It is a legally binding instrument that defines discrimination against women, identifies several forms of such discrimination, and establishes an agenda for national action to end all forms of discrimination against women. States parties to this international treaty are obligated to undertake all measures necessary to protect and maintain women’s human rights and end all forms of discrimination against them (due diligence standard), as well as submit national reports periodically on measures taken to comply with their treaty obligations. Though the original Convention did not explicitly mention violence against women and girls, General Recommendations 12 and 19 clarified that the Convention includes violence against women and makes detailed recommendations to States parties.

1989: The Convention on the Rights of the Child or CRC was adopted (entered into force in 1990). The Convention is legally binding and obligates States parties to recognize and uphold children’s basic human rights and protections, without discrimination, including with respect to abuse - protection from all forms of violence by parents or other caretakers (Article 19), sexual exploitation (Article 34) and trafficking (Article 35).

1993: Coordinated advocacy by women’s movement and governments at the World Conference on Human Rights led to recognition of violence against women as a human rights violation and called for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on violence against women in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; and contributed to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

1993: The landmark Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993) was adopted, providing a framework for analysis and action at the national and international levels.

1993: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was established, which included prosecution of sexual violence within its mandate and advanced international legal responses to sexual violence in conflict, such as specific rules of procedure for submitting evidence in sexual violence cases.

1994: The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was established, which included sexual violence in its statute and made the first conviction of rape as a crime of genocide. The Criminal Tribunal has also developed a manual on best practices in investigating and prosecuting sexual violence in conflict.

1994: The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences was appointed to seek and receive information on violence against women, its causes and consequences from governments, treaty bodies, specialized agencies, other special rapporteurs and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and recommend measures, ways and means, at the national, regional and international levels, to eliminate violence against women and its causes, and to remedy its consequences.  The Special Rapporteur produces both country visit reports and annual thematic reports on the issue.

1994: International Conference on Population and Development resulted in recognition of the linkages between violence against women and reproductive health and rights, from the health consequences of domestic violence and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/ cutting, to women’s increased risk of HIV and AIDS as a result of violence. The Program of Action called upon governments to take legal and policy measures to respond and prevent violence against women and girls.

 1994: Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará) was adopted. It is the first and only legally binding instrument at the regional level on violence against women.

 1995: Beijing Platform for Action identified specific areas of action for governments to take in prevention and response to violence against women and girls. The issue of violence against women features as a chapter, and one of the twelve areas for priority action, with an expansive definition of forms of violence.

1996: The United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women) was established by General Assembly resolution 50/166 in 1996 as the only multilateral grant-making mechanism that supports local, national and regional efforts to end violence against women and girls.  The Fund is managed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) on behalf of the UN system.

1998: The International Criminal Court (entered into force in 2002) was established, which prosecutes sexual violence and gender crimes within the context of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and has established a Gender and Children’s Unit to improve investigation and prosecution of crimes related to gender inequality, including rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against women and children.

1999: 25^th November was designated United Nations International Day for the elimination of violence against women (which also marked United Nations formally joining the ’16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence’ proclaimed and commemorated by the international women’s movement since 1991).

 2000: Security Council Resolution 1325 was passed, calling for special protective measures for women and girls in armed conflict and emphasized the responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity for perpetrators.

2002: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, a legally binding instrument was adopted.

2003: Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted, with a dedicated article on violence against women (4) in addition to references throughout the Protocol.

 2004: The Commission on Human Rights appointed a Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children.

 2006: The Secretary-General’s In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women was released, the first comprehensive report on the issue. Annual General Assembly Resolutions have been adopted annually since on the Intensification of efforts to end violence against women.

 2008: The United Nations Secretary-General launches an unprecedented global campaign, UNiTE to End Violence against Women calling on governments, civil society, women’s organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system  to: 1) Adopt and enforce national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls; 2) Adopt and implement multi-sectoral national action plans; 3) Strengthen data collection on the prevalence of violence against women and girls; 4) Increase public awareness and social mobilization; and 5) Address sexual violence in conflict by 2015.

2008: The Security Council adopted the landmark Resolution 1820, the first devoted to addressing sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.

 2009: The Security Council adopted Resolution 1888 on the issue of sexual violence in armed conflict situations, providing concrete actions such as calling for the designation of a special representative to the Secretary-General on the issue, deploying international legal experts and women peace advisers to strengthen responses to sexual violence in conflict, and requesting annual reports on the resolution’s implementation.

 2009: The Security Council adopted Resolution 1889, which aims to strengthen implementation of Resolution 1325, and specifically addresses women’s low participation and limited funding for women’s needs (including physical safety and access to services) in the post-conflict and peacebuilding periods.

For an overview of the Security Council Resolutions, see the power points on 1325 and 1820 and on 1888 developed by UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict.

To update information in the database of violence against women, email vawdatabase@un.org