Dear Editor
As another anniversary of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25) approaches I cannot help but reflect on the past 26 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 – a document negotiated through unprecedented consensus among stakeholders across territorial borders, institutions, class, ethnicity, culture, occupation and profession. Over 5,000 representatives of governments and non-governmental bodies deliberated without fear or favour to arrive at a concrete plan to, inter alia, overcome violence against women. As I sat down to write this letter, I decided to do some research on the subject to see how far we have come. Has the battle against violence against women been yielding results? What do the statistics say?
Soon after, in 1996, the United Nations established a Trust Fund “to end violence against women” (UNGA Resolution 50/166). Admin-istered by UNWomen, the Fund provides grants to NGOs/CSOs that work towards preventing violence against women and girls, improving access by victims to a variety of services and support systems, and strengthening related policies and institutions. Since its inception, the Trust Fund “has awarded USD 198 million to 609 initiatives in 140 countries and territories. In 2020, it managed a grants portfolio of 150 projects aimed at preventing and addressing violence against women and girls in 71 countries and territories.” In 1997, the WHO initiated a Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence. The findings (2005) of each of the 10 countries covered varied significantly but were informative. However, the following excerpt caught my attention: “A review of studies from 35 countries carried out prior to 1999 indicated that between 10% and 52% of women reported being physically abused by an intimate partner at some point in their lives, and between 10% and 30% reported they had experienced sexual violence by an intimate partner. Between 10% and 27% of women and girls reported having been sexually abused, either as children or adults (2, 3). Data from developing countries was, however, generally lacking.”
In 2018, the UN Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence against Women reported that “As many as 852 million women and girls over the age of 14 in 2018 (almost one in three) experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime”. This figure varies from country to country. Data reveal-ed that in some countries, up to 70% of women and girls have experienced intimate partner and/or sexual violence. The Report further states that “intimate partner violence and sexual violence” are more pervasive worldwide. The following was extracted from the said Inter-Agency Working Group Report by another UN agency: “Globally, an estimated 736 million women—almost one in three—have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). A World Bank Brief of 2019 declared violence against women a “global pandemic”, stating that 35% of all women globally have experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime; 7% experienced sexual assault by a non-partner; of all murdered women, 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners; and 200 million women have been subjected to genital mutilation. Against this backdrop, the World Bank “supports over $300 million in development projects aimed at addressing GBV [gender-based violence]”.
The European Union and the UN are collaborating on the novel “Spotlight Initiative” – “a new, global, multi-year initiative focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). This goal is to be achieved by 2030 according to the new SDGs. There are numerous other initiatives globally, regionally, nationally and locally (at community levels) that probably incurred billions of dollars. I have no doubt that they have yielded many positive results and have contributed significantly to the battle to end violence against women. The World Bank, for example, reported that “at least 155 countries have passed laws on domestic violence, and 140 have legislation on sexual harassment in the workplace (World Bank 2020)”. Editor, I am back to my original question? Have we advanced in our fight against violence against women? I submitted the information above to show that there does not seem to be any consistency in research and reporting in order to be able to identify a trend or compare findings over time. What baseline data do we use to measure progress if any has been made? After all, it is not about how many laws were passed or how many institutions were strengthened, but about how many women and girls are battered, raped, and/or killed on a daily basis.
I take this opportunity to urge the authorities, both global and national, to rapidly scale up and strengthen their data systems such that we may have a clear picture about the state of GBV globally and in every country. The data collection and reporting system should be simple and standard for all. With information collected, we can better target our allocation of resources for meaningful and results-oriented interventions. We need to be clear on what is, so that we can be sure that we are not just pandering superficial statements; so that we can have evidence to show for our efforts. Otherwise, we risk leaving the vulnerable further behind, as the economic transformation widens societal inequities. GBV data collection, analysis and reporting should be an annual feature and accompanied by thorough public discussion and consultation. Failure to have done so in the immediate years after 1995 is an indictment on us as a human society; failure to correct our shortcomings going forward would be downright inhumane. So, how far have we come? Help me understand…anyone?
Sincerely
Name and Address Provided
