07. March 2007
International Women´s Day – Stop Violence against Women!
From Mauritania to Ghana, Columbia, Turkey to Rumania – domestic violence, sex slaves, rapes, sex work as a strategy of survival, female genital mutilation … these are only some forms of violence against women and girls.
“No matter where a girl is born, she should live free of discrimination and violence. Every girl and woman should enjoy equal opportunity and equal rights”, says Thoraya Obaid, the Executive Director of UNFPA in her statement on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.
Violence against women and girls is increasing on a worldwide level. Domestic violence is still a taboo and incidents go unreported, confined to the private domain. Rape as a weapon of war is increasingly the tool of choice for the warring parties.
A WHO study published in 2005 shows that in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Peru and Tanzania more than 50 percent of the women were at least once in their lives victims of domestic violence. A UNFPA report revealed that one out of five women was at least once in her life target of rape.
Even today sexual violence is unpunished in many cases. To combat violence against women the focus has to be on the prosecution and penalisation of violent crimes. This common lack of penalisation not only leads to even more abuse and suffering, but also signals that violence against women is acceptable and tolerated. And it is not!
“If you grew up here, you would know that it is normal to beat up a woman and no one would question you. It’s only recently that people are beginning to talk about wife battering as an offence”, tells an officer of the Ministry of Development and Economic Planning in Sierra Leone.
“By ending impunity for violence against women, we will make greater progress in achieving peace, development and human rights for all” continues Thoraya Obaid.
„People believe that when you beat your wife you love her, and when you do not, then you have lost interest in her. Taking your husband to court is taboo. You would be an outcast,“ claims another parliamentarian in Sierra Leone.
During war women and girls suffered from unbelievable crimes, especially gang rapes and sexual slavery. Many of those who could escape had to use sex as a strategy for survival; some still have to work for their “clients”.
Mexico is one of those three countries of Latin America where a high number of people live under extreme poverty. About 12% of women were pregnant already as teenagers and statistics from 2003 say that about 160.000 people are infected with the HI virus. In the recent years, Mexico gained notoriety – since 1993 more than 400 women in Ciudad Juarez disappeared and were killed. The authorities did not properly investigate and so most of the homicides are still unsolved.
In their newly published report “Program to address violence against women. 10 cases“ UNFPA presents 10 countries and successful projects and initiatives to combat violence against women and girls.
Please follow this link to walk through the online multimedia exhibit on violence against women and girls: www.unfpa.org/endingviolence/index.html
Sources: UNFPA, Amnesty international, dieStandard