Timo Schneider
Ending Gender Based violence against women, is key to achieve the SDGs target to eliminate all forms of violence against women by the year 2030. Gender Based violence not only affects the health of women and their children, but more so, it is a direct violation of human rights that takes place all over the world.
According to the United Nations (UN), Gender Based Violence (GBV) is defined as “any act of gender based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life “. GBV can be classified differently by its occurrence, either intimate partner violence (IPV) or non-IPV and if the type of GBV is sexual, physical or emotional violence. What makes the matter even worse, is that many women who suffer from violent abuse are not reporting the incident due to fear of stigma and shame, lack of awareness of available services, fear of revenge, financial barriers, lack of law enforcement and attitudes considering violence as a port of a normal life3. Therefor assessing the prevalence of GBV is very challenging and most likely includes a considerably high dark figure. A multi-country study by the World Health Organisation states that 30% of women have experienced at least one form of GBV in their life. It is reported that in Sub Saharan Africa countries the prevalence of GBV in for example Ethiopia reaches up to 71%. In this blog, I want to explain and therefor highlight the importance of targeting GBV against women in the context of the SDGs, by the case of a study done in Sub Saharan Africa.
Most available studies on the prevalence of GBV so far, were conducted in developed countries. Research shows that using the data of developed countries to set priority prevention and mitigation measures for developing countries can lead to substantial drawbacks. The lack of largescale studies in SSA countries results in very few policy applications to target and eliminate GBV as a serious human rights violation. In February 2020 a meta-analysis study focusing on the prevalence of GBV against women in SSA countries was published with the aim to systematically determine the pooled prevalence of GBV including IPV and non-IPV in SSA countries to provide vital evidence to inform policy and guide health investments to respond and prevent violence in alignment with the SDGs target by 2030. The study combines a search on six electronic databases with the goal to systematically review studies for Sub Saharan Africa countries. The study concludes, that 44% of women aged between 15 and 49 in SSA countries experienced some sort of IPV and 14% experienced non-IPV, with emotional violence being the most prevalent. Further it is stated that all forms of IPV (sexual, physical and emotional violence) are common experiences for women living in SSA countries6. If you consider the possibility of a high dark figure due to non-reporting, almost half of all women in SSA countries suffer from GBV and experience violence throughout their lives. To eradicate GBV in SSA countries by 2030 a timely intervention is needed with policies focusing on prevention of GBV supported by a legal framework to accommodate social support that includes educational and economic growth and provision of health information and services. The authors of the study state:
“All SSA countries need to develop an immediate action plan to support the challenges that women are facing with GBV”
Highlighting the importance of facing GBV in order to reach a more sustainable future. The UNDP research concludes that women subjected to sexual or physical IPV are 1.5 times as likely to be infected with HIV. Further the health consequences of violence against women and girls can extend to their children. Children may witness the abuse and end up suffering long term traum that will ultimately affect their physical, emotional and social development. Gender based violence can lead to societal impoverishment, where research indicates that the total cost of gender based violence sould amount annually to 1.5 trillion US Dollar. Eliminating violence against women and girls will have a positive economical effect on the national and international scale, as women won,t be restricted to contribute to the society.
The UNDP states that if we want to prevent violence against women in girls, we have to address the risk factors and underlying harmful social norms and hold perpetrators accountable. Inequality in job, education or even in the own family present serious risk factors for GBV against women. More women than men live in poverty, with women and girls are four percent more likely to live in extreme poverty. Women from 25 to 34 are even 25% more likely to live in extreme poverty. Living in poverty poses serious risks in unsafe living conditions, increasing the chance of experiencing violence or abuse. Gender inequality leads to further discrimination against women in terms of lack of land, property and inheritance, credit, technology and banking, and the lack of decent work is a direct violation of human rights and many women are left vulnerable to extreme poverty and gender based violence in all countries. The Spotlight Initative is is a partnership program between the European Union and the United Nations focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls. The initiative provides resources to support interventions in order to take action particularly focused on domestic and family violence, sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices, femicide, trafficking in human beings and sexual and economic exploitation. The Spotlight Initiative demonstrate that investments in gender equality and fighting violence can make a transformative difference in the lives of women and girls. The interventions are focused on six pillars that include, one the laws and policies in advocating at all levels of government, in providing technical assistance and capacity building and ensuring meaningful participation of women. The second pillar is based around institutions and interventions aim to strengthen national government and regional institutions in for example developing fully financed national action plans on ending violence against women and girls. In order to prevent violence, the spotlight initiative promotes gender-equitable social norms, attitudes and behaviours through community-based prevention strategies, programming in formal and informal education settings and mobilizing and engaging of men and women at community level. Further they set the goal to support services for survivors of violence by ensuring global standards, capacity, coordination and coverage. In addition to services the Spotlight initiative aims to improve the quality and availability of data on violence against women and girls and to promote strong and empowered civil society movements.
#WithHer is a digital engagement campaign designed to raise awareness of and challenge the harmful gender norms and stereotypes which perpetuate violence against women and girls worldwide. With investments in more than 25 countries across the globe, the Spotlight Initiative is the world’s largest targeted effort to end all forms of violence and improve the lives of women and girls. Personally i think that there is an urgent need to take action against gender based violation because it is a direct violation to the human right and every single human being should be able to live a life without fear and abuse. Raising awareness and improving educational pathways to ensure a capable reporting system is a necessity to impose measure against GBV. But to me that is more of an end of pipe solution and there should simultaneously be action to change harmful societal norms and inequality on every level. In the end, gender equality is the key to fight gender based violence. The spotlight initiative is a step in the right direction and hopefully creates a path to a more sustainable and equal future for everyone. The #metoo campaign spotlighted the abuse and violence against women up to the highest rank of society. The movement still maintains great value for women as a platform to share their experiences and to be able to reach help services. In Sub Saharan Africa and other developing countries, the lack of services and education surrounding GBV enhances the problematic. Many women in SSA countries have no access to phones or media which limits the ability to find needed services to report such horrible incidents. As was displayed by the #metoo movement, the violence against women is widespread and has long been kept silent because societal norms still based on inequality between men and women, but it was clear to see that there is a strong motivation to fight against it and many women came forward to fight the perpetrators and finally get a chance to live a normal violence free life. Personally i still and will always believe in a world in which every woman and girl is safe and free.
References
Gender Based Violence against Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional Studies, 2020, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(3), 903, Muluneh et al.
UNDP No Development without Safety for All, https://medium.com/@UNDP/no-development-without-safety-for-all-aefe2d74a653
The Spotlight Initiative, https://www.un.org/en/spotlight-initiative/index.shtml
#withHer Movement: http://www.spotlightinitiative.org/withher
Program http://www.spotlightinitiative.org/what-we-do
Media: http://www.spotlightinitiative.org/withher
Media: https://medium.com/@UNDP/no-development-without-safety-for-all-aefe2d74a653