November 25, 2020
This Week in Human Rights News
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Please note that this segment discusses issues surrounding gender-based violence and sexual violence in detail.
violence against women and girls
1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner.
Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care.
137 women are killed by a member of their family every day.
1 in 10 women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15.
Less than 40% of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort. Less than 10% of those seeking help appealed to the police.
In 2019, 1 in five women, aged 20–24 years, were married before the age of 18.
Calls to helplines have increased five-fold in some countries as rates of reported intimate partner violence increase because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified. Experts are calling this the 'Shadow Pandemic'.
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Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it. In general terms, it manifests itself in physical, sexual and psychological forms, encompassing:
Intimate partner violence (battering, psychological abuse, marital rape, femicide);
Sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber- harassment);
Human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation);
Female genital mutilation;
Child marriage.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women issued by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as:
“any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”
The adverse psychological, sexual and reproductive health consequences of VAWG affect women at all stages of their life. For example, early-set educational disadvantages not only represent the primary obstacle to universal schooling and the right to education for girls; down the line they are also to blame for restricting access to higher education and even translate into limited opportunities for women in the labour market.
While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, some women and girls are particularly vulnerable - for instance, young girls and older women, women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, migrants and refugees, indigenous women and ethnic minorities, or women and girls living with HIV and disabilities, and those living through humanitarian crises.
DEFINING KEY TERMS
Survivor of violence: the term refers to any person who has experienced sexual or gender-based violence. It is similar in meaning to “victim”, but is generally preferred because it implies resilience.
Consent is an agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity or enter into marriage. It must be freely and actively given and cannot be provided by someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol or by someone underage. Consent is specific, meaning that consent to one act does not imply consent to any others, and reversible, meaning that it may be revoked at any time.
Domestic violence (or intimate partner violence), is any pattern of behaviour (physical, sexual, emotional, economic and psychological) that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. This is one of the most common forms of violence experienced by women globally.
Femicide refers to the intentional murder of women because they are women, but may be defined more broadly to include any killings of women or girls.
Rape culture is the social environment that allows sexual violence to be normalised and justified. It is rooted in patriarchy and fuelled by persistent gender inequalities and biases about gender and sexuality.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
Child marriage refers to any marriage where one or both of the spouses are below the age of 18.
Online or digital violence against women refers to any act of violence that is committed, assisted or aggravated by the use of information and communication technology (mobile phones, the Internet, social media, computer games, text messaging, email, etc) against a woman because she is a woman. It includes:
Cyberbullying;
Non-consensual texting;
Doxxing.