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Worldwide action needed to address hidden
crisis of violence against women and girls
WHO
Current efforts to prevent violence against women and girls are
inadequate, according to a new series published in The Lancet. Estimates
suggest that globally, 1 in 3 women has experienced either physical or
sexual violence from their partner, and that 7% of women will experience
sexual assault by a non-partner at some point in their lives.
Yet, despite increased global attention to violence perpetrated against
women and girls, and recent advances in knowledge about how to tackle these
abuses, levels of violence against women - including intimate partner
violence, rape, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and forced marriages
- remain unacceptably high, with serious consequences for victims’ physical
and mental health. Conflict and other humanitarian crises may exacerbate
ongoing violence.
Between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide have undergone female
genital mutilation (FGM), with more than 3 million girls at risk of the
practice every year in Africa alone. Some 70 million girls worldwide have
been married before their eighteenth birthday, many against their will.
Although many countries have made substantial progress towards criminalizing
violence against women and promoting gender equality, the Series’ authors
argue that governments and donors need to commit sufficient financial
resources to ensure their verbal commitments translate into real change.
Even where laws are progressive, many women and girls still suffer
discrimination, experience violence, and lack access to vital health and
legal services.
Importantly, reviewing the latest evidence, the authors show that not enough
is being done to prevent violence against women and girls from occurring in
the first place. Although resources have grown to support women and girls in
the aftermath of violence (e.g., access to justice and emergency care),
research suggests that actions to tackle gender inequity and other root
causes of violence are needed to prevent all forms of abuse, and thereby
reduce violence overall.
“Globally, one in three women will experience intimate partner and/or sexual
violence by non-partners in their lifetime, which shows that more investment
needs to be made in prevention. We definitely need to strengthen services
for women experiencing violence, but to make a real difference in the lives
of women and girls, we must work towards achieving gender equality and
preventing violence before it even starts,” explains Series co-lead
Professor Charlotte Watts, founding director of the Gender Violence and
Health Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London,
UK. “No magic wand will eliminate violence against women and girls. But
evidence tells us that changes in attitudes and behaviors are possible, and
can be achieved within less than a generation.”
Ultimately, say the authors, working with both the perpetrators of violence
(men and boys) and women and girls will be essential to achieve lasting
change, by transforming deeply entrenched societal norms on gender relations
and the insidious belief that women are inferior.
Violence is often seen as a social and criminal justice problem, and not as
a clinical or public health issue, but the health system has a crucial part
to play both in treating the consequences of violence, and in preventing it.
“Health-care providers are often the first point of contact for women and
girls experiencing violence,” says Series co-lead Dr Claudia Garcia-Moreno,
a physician at WHO, Geneva, who coordinates research and policy on violence
against women.
“Health-care providers are often the first point of contact for women and
girls experiencing violence,” adds Dr Garcia-Moreno. “Early identification
of women and children subjected to violence and a supportive and effective
response can improve women’s lives and wellbeing, and help them to access
vital services. Health-care providers can send a powerful message - that
violence is not only a social problem, but a dangerous, unhealthy, and
harmful practice - and they can champion prevention efforts in the
community. The health community is missing important opportunities to
integrate violence programming meaningfully into public health initiatives
on HIV/AIDS, adolescent health, maternal health, and mental health.”
The Series urges policy makers, health practitioners and donors worldwide to
accelerate efforts to address violence against women and girls by taking
five key actions. First, governments must allocate necessary resources to
address violence against women as a priority, recognizing it as a barrier to
health and development.
Second, they must change discriminatory structures (laws, policies,
institutions) that perpetuate inequality between women and men and foster
violence.
Third, they must invest in promoting equality, non-violent behaviors and
non-stigmatizing support for survivors.
Fourth, they must strengthen the role of health, security, education,
justice, and other relevant sectors by creating and implementing policies
for prevention and response across these sectors, and integrating violence
prevention and response into training efforts.
Finally, they must support research and programming to learn what
interventions are effective and how to turn evidence into action.
According to Series coordinator, Dr Cathy Zimmerman, from the London School
of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, “We now have some promising findings to
show what works to prevent violence. Our upcoming challenge is to expand
this evidence on prevention and support responses to many more settings and
forms of violence. Most importantly, we urgently need to turn this evidence
into genuine action so that women and girls can live violence-free lives.”
In a Comment accompanying the Series, former US President Jimmy Carter,
founder of the Carter Center says, “It is my hope that political and
religious leaders will step forward and use their influence to communicate
clearly that violence against women and girls must stop, that we are failing
our societies, and that the time for leadership is now.”
The Series was published ahead of the 16 days of Activism against Gender
Violence (Nov 25–Dec 10, 2014).
For the full Series of papers, see:
http://www.thelancet.com/series/violence-against-women-and-girls.
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