Violence against women remains one of humanity’s most pervasive human rights violations. There is never any excuse for such violence, which is a stain on humanity—across cultures, economic strata, and generations.
The various forms of violence against women, eg, physical, sexual, emotional/psychological, and economic violence, suppress female potential, harming not only individual women but impeding the progress of entire societies.
Such violence is an affront to the inherent dignity of each woman and diminishes/dehumanises all of us. It represents a fundamental barrier to gender equality and social development. Many cases are unreported due, eg, to the stigma and shame surrounding it, fear of retaliation, and economic dependency.
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Monday, November 25) will mark the launch of the UNiTE campaign (Nov 25-Dec 10)—“an initiative of 16 days of activism concluding on the day that commemorates the International Human Rights Day (10 December).
“This 2024 campaign Every 10 Minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse. UNiTE to End Violence against Women, will draw attention to the alarming escalation of violence against women to revitalise commitments, call for accountability and action from decision-makers.”
Data collected by UN Women shows that “An estimated 736 million women—almost one in three—have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older).”
This figure does not include sexual harassment. Women who have experienced violence are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, with long-lasting consequences ... Most violence against women is committed by current or former husbands or intimate partners.
More than 640 million women aged 15 and older (26 per cent) have been subjected to intimate partner violence. “A regional analysis of Women’s Health Surveys conducted in five Caricom member states—Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and T&T—from 2016 to 2019 found that ever-partnered women (women who have been in a romantic relationship, been married or had sex), aged 15-64 who were in relationships with men who had beliefs that reinforce male dominance and gender inequality were more likely to have experienced lifetime and current domestic violence.”
The report is worth reading. See: https://caribbean.unwomen.org/en/materials/publications/2021/7/research-brief---intimate-partner-violence-in-five-caricom-countries
Do we have a National Strategic Framework to Combat Violence Against Women? If so, how effective is it?
Such a framework should be based on a clear understanding of the root causes and drivers of violence against women, particularly as it relates to our context. Prevention requires addressing both immediate triggers and underlying causes, such as deep societal structures and norms.
Gender-responsive budgeting, an important tool to combat violence against women, ensures that financial planning and resource allocation effectively address both prevention and response mechanisms.
Solutions must be comprehensive and multi-level, targeting individual, community, and societal factors, eg, we must address the need for values/conscience formation and citizenship programmes—at home, in our educational institutions, in our faith communities, in our workplaces etc.
Community-wide transformation is necessary for lasting impact. Attitudinal and behavioural changes require serious work at all levels. There is an urgent need to address enforcement weaknesses and protection system failures.
Solutions include re-socialising both sexes, addressing the unequal power relations between women, and promoting a whole-of-society approach to building a culture of life, love, and mutual respect: from an early age.
Community ownership and engagement are critical in combatting violence against women. Too often family members, neighbours, friends, and co-workers know of or suspect abuse and do nothing about the situation.
Multi-agency cooperation, resource coordination, support networks, and personal empowerment are some of the other essential elements of comprehensive risk reduction strategies.
UN Women rightly states that “the media can play a significant role in either perpetuating or challenging social norms and behaviours that condone violence against women.”
The media can be a platform for change, eg, via education/awareness raising, investigative reporting—moving beyond incident-based reporting to systemic analysis, by establishing ethical guidelines for reporting on violence against women—avoiding sensationalism, addressing online harassment and cyber violence, documenting survivor experiences and perpetrator patterns, and promoting positive role models and evidence-based solutions.
The business community can also contribute to this cause, eg, through their internal policies and programmes—anti-harassment policies, reporting procedures with protection from retaliation, and corporate social responsibility—providing funding for domestic violence shelters and public-private partnerships. We need all hands on deck to address this scourge.
