Consign violence against women and girls, ‘to the history books’: UN chief
New York, US (PANA) = Every 11 minutes, a woman or girl is killed by an intimate partner or family member, the UN chief has said ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Agianst Women, commemorated on 25 November, urging everyone to “consign violence against women and girls to the history books”.
From the COVID-19 pandemic to economic turmoil, a range of stresses intensify physical and verbal abuse.
Meanwhile, misogynistic hate speech and sexual harassment trigger rampant online exploitation against women and girls.
“This discrimination, violence and abuse targeting half of humanity comes at a steep cost,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored in his message for the day.
“It limits women’s and girls’ participation in all walks of life, denies their basic rights and freedoms, and blocks the equal economic recovery and sustainable growth our world needs.”
He upheld that it is time for “transformative action” that ends violence against women and girls – the most pervasive human rights violation in the world.
The top UN official outlined what needed to be done, including that governments design, fund and implement national action plans to tackle this scourge.
Moreover, grassroots and civil society groups must be involved at every stage of decision-making and all laws “implemented and respected”, so survivors can see their rights to justice and support upheld.
He also urged everyone to support public campaigns that challenge patriarchal norms and promote different forms of masculinities that reject misogyny and violence.
According to the UN chief, this year’s theme, “UNITE: Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls”, reminds everyone to stand with activists around the world demanding change and support survivors of violence.
“I call on governments to increase funding by 50 per cent to women’s rights organisations and movements by 2026,” he stated.
The Secretary-General advocated for the world to “take a stand and raise our voices in support of women’s rights…[and] proudly declare: We are all feminists”.
“Supporting and investing in strong, autonomous women’s rights organisations and feminist movements is key to ending violence against women and girls,” says the UN.
Five years ago, the #MeToo movement exploded, sparking global mobilisation in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls.
Since then, unprecedented awareness and momentum have been created.
At the same time however, there has been a rise in anti-feminist groups – resulting in shrinking space for civil society, a backlash against women’s rights organiations and a rise in attacks against women human rights defenders and activists.
Impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding violence against women and girls (VAWG) has kept the persistent and devastating human rights violation largely unreported.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women 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 life and can happen to anyone, anywhere.
VAWG take many forms, such as intimate partner violence, from battering to psychological abuse and marital rape to femicide and sexual violence and harassment that can involve rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances, stalking and cyber- harassment.
Others are human trafficking, which encompasses slavery and sexual exploitation; female genital mutilation and child marriage.
Additionally, this violence continues to hamper equality, development, peace and the fulfillment of women and girls’ human rights – preventing the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to leave no one behind.
-0- PANA MA 24Nov2022
