gender based violence essay grade 12

The Problem of Gender-Based Violence Essay

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Introduction

Global context of the problem, gender-based violence among adolescents, gender-based violence towards the lgbtq community, ways to mitigate the problem.

With the development of humanity, the problems of gender interaction in society have become less acute compared to the situation in past eras. Nevertheless, despite the success of the struggle for equality and established moral values​, the issue of gender-based violence continues to exist. Women, in this case, are a vulnerable side, although there are cases of violence against men.

According to the World Health Organization, the most common causes are domestic disagreements that account for 38% to 50% of women murdered by their intimate partners (5). The situation is aggravated by the fact that gender-based violence occurs not only among adults but also among young people, which creates additional difficulties and is a good reason to draw various stakeholders’ attention.

Despite widespread access to information and opportunities to receive help, victims of physical abuse often seek to cope with their challenges individually, and this does not contribute to solving the issue effectively. Gender-based violence is an urgent problem that affects people of different ages, countries, and sexual orientations and requires addressing through the creation of an adequate preventive environment and strengthening measures to persecute aggressive citizens successfully.

As people move towards democratic freedoms and human rights, along with the values ​​of equality and mutual respect, gender-based violence remains a problem in a global context. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, in some world regions, the existing patriarchal foundations do not contribute to creating a favorable environment for dealing with the issue in question.

Wood et al. examine the rural region of Tajikistan, the country in Central Asia, and note the distinctive perceptions of violence between men and women, particularly the empowerment of the male population (1). In such archaic conditions, women are not endowed with an opportunity to fight for their rights, and any manifestations of violence against them are permissible at the level of traditional perception and people’s cultural background.

Another factor proving the global context of the problem under consideration is the economic crisis in many world regions. As Dowd argues, gender-based violence develops where the authorities are more concerned about financial problems than social ones (42). Violence between intimate partners is a consequence of social and economic challenges that impede normal life and are a catalyst for aggression (World Health Organization 5). As a result, women often experience physical abuse while living in poverty because low social status is one of the concomitant factors of violence.

Today, a number of agencies work to strengthen the regulatory framework and publicize the problem at the international level. Simister cites the examples of UNECE, the World Health Organization, and some other organizations that aim to disseminate information about the inadmissibility of gender-based violence (190). As Gerlach notes, with the emergence of the United Nations, the first attempts to reduce pressure on women were undertaken globally and across different social spheres (86).

However, given the aforementioned challenges, particularly economic difficulties and patriarchal canons, the problem has not been resolved until now. Therefore, in an international context, conducting targeted work to help vulnerable populations and prevent physical abuse has weight as an activity to emphasize the importance of this issue and its urgency in modern society. Notably, the manifestation of violence among young people is an acute problem within the stated topic.

Gender-based violence in adolescence is a particularly dangerous phenomenon since the psyche of young people is not formed comprehensively, and physical abuse based on gender can be a stimulus for the development of severe disorders. According to Mathews and Gould, adolescents who have experienced gender-based violence are prone to intellectual disabilities and even chronic illnesses (61). However, despite these threatening prospects, this form of social conflict exists, and individual social constraints exacerbate it.

For instance, Chandra-Mouli et al. state that “the percentage of countries with gender gaps in school attendance increases from 37% for primary education to 54% and 77% for lower and upper secondary education, respectively” (239). Teenage girls become objects of health-harming acts, and the current social regulations cannot address this issue adequately due to the lack of proper control and sustainable policies to protect vulnerable adolescents.

The existing social norms of some groups can also be a negative driver of gender-based violence in relation to vulnerable adolescents. Sommer et al. remark that gender-based stigma may arise, and what is contrary to modern values ​​in a civilized society may be acceptable in individual communities (155). As an example, the authors cite the concept of victim-blaming, according to which a girl is initially guilty of committing violence against her due to her overly defiant behavior, appearance, and other controversial factors (Sommer et al. 155).

This practice does not fit into modern social norms, which, nevertheless, does not affect the episodic nature of cases of violence. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization, young boys can also be targets of violence from older girls, and precedents exist (21). As a result, stigmatization manifests itself against both genders, albeit unequally.

The need to ensure the protection of vulnerable adolescents from gender-based violence is felt acutely during military conflicts. Etienne gives dire cases of young females’ abuse by soldiers and notes that such incidents should be regarded as a war crime against humanity and punished to the fullest extent of the law (139).

However, even if victims of violence are assisted, they are at risk of developing dangerous mental disorders caused by acute shocks. Ensuring the safety of adolescents from gender-based abuse should be a mandatory practice in a modern democratic world, and this category of the population should be given no less attention than adults. Thus, discussing the ways to mitigate these issues from different perspectives is critical.

Issues related to gender-based violence arising from the topic of sexual orientation are the problems that concern both adults and young people. In particular, the LGBTQ community is vulnerable, and many of its members are forced to face stigma and bias from the sexual majority. Crooks et al. state that schoolchildren who identify themselves as belonging to the LGBTQ community are often harassed and pressured by peers (45). This, in turn, affects their morale negatively and is a favorable factor for the development of concomitant mental disorders. Therefore, countering such a form of bullying is an important aspect of creating a normal environment in which people with equal opportunities can defend their interests.

To provide vulnerable categories of the population with protection from gender-based violence, targeted work should be carried out from an early age. Crooks et al. propose to create special youth programs for primary and secondary school children, which include teaching social interaction skills (31). This practice can be useful as a tool to educate children and adolescents about the dangerous consequences of gender-based abuse, and building healthy behaviors is a valuable outcome of such work.

Maintaining an adequate preventive environment at the international level should be supported by responsible organizations and agencies dealing with social regulations. The World Health Organization offers a special algorithm that includes several stages of targeted work, in particular, joining the efforts of different committees, investing in maintaining a stable regulatory framework, and developing individual community practices (19).

The aforementioned problem of the perception of gender-based violence within outdated cultural values ​​can be addressed through the involvement of local representatives to implement corresponding security programs at the regional level. These initiatives may contribute to addressing the issue as effectively as possible while taking into account the characteristics of each population group.

With regard to gender-based violence in the LGBTQ community, special measures can be taken. In particular, Crooks et al. pay attention to the program of assistance to schoolchildren with non-traditional sexual orientation as one of the tools to address the problem (45). Such a program aims to give students an opportunity to share experiences and create a communication environment in which bullying gives way to positive interaction.

Addressing this form of gender-based violence at an early age is an important aspect of the formation of appropriate social values ​​and norms. As a result, in adulthood, the likelihood of facing open aggression can be minimized due to timely work with the population.

In addition, educating the adult population as a tool for strengthening preventive work is no less important aspect than corresponding regulatory decisions. According to Simister, education is an effective form of combating gender-based violence since, despite distinctive deviant features in different communities, the background of the problem is the same – abuse allowance by the gender factor (70).

The more often people hear about the inadmissibility of humiliating others’ honor and dignity, the higher are the chances of reducing the incidence of physical abuse against vulnerable groups. Moreover, through education, stakeholders can not only build but also assess the sustainability of specific measures taken to reduce risks (World Health Organization 21). Therefore, outreach work, complemented by appropriate regulatory constraints, is a valuable practice.

Addressing the issue of gender-based violence by introducing both relevant legal practices and educational projects at different levels is a crucial task due to the dangerous implications of this social problem. Particular attention should be paid to the topic of physical abuse by the gender factor among children and adolescents since their psyche is the most vulnerable, and a number of health problems can develop. The representatives of the LGBTQ community are also under the threat of social pressure and may need support and protection to defend their interests and social rights.

The reasons for gender-based violence can be distinctive, but the main prerequisites for the issue are economic constraints and impaired cultural norms promoted in individual communities. According to Etienne, local groups can educate the population successfully and build an adequate preventive environment (139). At the same time, international organizations’ activities are also valuable due to the popularization of the issue globally and an opportunity to attract public attention.

Chandra-Mouli, Venkatraman, et al. “Addressing Harmful and Unequal Gender Norms in Early Adolescence.” Nature Human Behaviour , vol. 2, no. 4, 2018, pp. 239-240.

Crooks, Claire V., et al. “Preventing Gender-Based Violence Among Adolescents and Young Adults: Lessons from 25 Years of Program Development and Evaluation.” Violence Against Women , vol. 25, no. 1, 2019, pp. 29-55.

Dowd, Douglas. Inequality and the Global Economic Crisis: Douglas Dowd . Pluto Press, 2009.

Etienne, Margareth. “Addressing Gender-Based Violence in an International Context.” Harvard Women’s Law Journal , vol. 18, 1995, p. 139.

Gerlach, Christian. Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World . Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Mathews, Shanaaz, and Chandré Gould. “Preventing Violence: From Evidence to Implementation.” ChildGauge , edited by Lucy Jamieson, Lizette Berry, and Lori Lake, University of Cape Town, 2017, pp. 61-67.

Simister, John. Gender Based Violence: Causes and Remedies . Nova Science Publishers, 2012.

Sommer, Marni, et al. “How Gender Norms Are Reinforced Through Violence Against Adolescent Girls in Two Conflict-Affected Populations.” Child Abuse & Neglect , vol. 79, 2018, pp. 154-163.

Wood, Elizabeth A., et al. “Exploring the Differences Between Men’s and Women’s Perceptions of Gender-Based Violence in Rural Tajikistan: A Qualitative Study.” BMC Women’s Health , vol. 21, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-15.

World Health Organization. RESPECT Women: Preventing Violence Against Women . World Health Organization, 2019.

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IvyPanda. (2022, October 23). The Problem of Gender-Based Violence. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/

"The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." IvyPanda , 23 Oct. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'The Problem of Gender-Based Violence'. 23 October.

IvyPanda . 2022. "The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." October 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." October 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Problem of Gender-Based Violence." October 23, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-problem-of-gender-based-violence/.

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Five causes of gender-based violence

Gender-based violence (GBV) has been recognized as an international public health crisis and human rights issue. Here are five reasons why it persists.

Violence against women and girls was first recognized as a violation of human rights in 1992. Even before then, however,  activists, policy-makers, and humanitarians were working tirelessly to end GBV. Statistically, 35% of women around the world have experienced either physical or sexual violence, and often it’s because certain conditions make it easy for GBV to go unnoticed—or even be encouraged. Here are five key causes of gender-based violence. 

1. Harmful gender stereotypes and patriarchal cultures

Gender stereotypes and cultural norms are often used to justify violence against women: Men are aggressive, controlling, and dominant, while women are docile, meek, and subservient . Or, men are providers and women are their property. These norms can become culturally ingrained attitudes that lead to high rates of abusive relationships, and abusive impulses when a crisis hits (more on that below).

Some of these cultural traditions are backed by religious practices, which codify physical punishment of women or the idea of girls as the property of their fathers and women of their husbands. This also leads to endemic cultural practices like forced marriage or female genital mutilation, which maintain control over women’s sexuality. For men, many of these acts are part of maintaining their position and sense of “honor” in society. Honor killings and dowry deaths are forms of gender-based violence that are a result of this mentality. 

2. Conflicts, crises, and displacement

An increasing number of conflicts around the world have led to an increasing number of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) incidents. At this year’s General Assembly of the United Nations, Ana Peláez Narváez, Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) noted that “sexual violence continues to be used as means of warfare in armed conflicts worldwide.” 

Many women are left as heads of their families and are therefore more vulnerable. Prolonged violence often leads to a collapse in social protections, leaving a vacuum for GBV without any accountability. Even women who live with their partners may face increased risk. The stress and lack of control over their circumstances often leaves men feeling powerless, their masculinity challenged. 

“Sexual violence continues to be used as means of warfare in armed conflicts worldwide.”

“Perpetrators [of GBV] are largely victims of their circumstances and they need support to change,” says Concern Protection Program Director Samantha Hutt, who launched a program in Lebanon to help Syrian refugee men confront feelings of powerlessness. Addressing these hidden but harmful stereotypes can help reduce the risk of violence at home. 

During a crisis, women and girls face the risk of other forms of GBV. According to Girls Not Brides, child marriage rates in Syria have increased since the start of the country’s civil war in 2011. For families, it’s seen as a desperate response to a desperate situation, ensuring safety and financial security for their daughters. Older women may also turn to or be forced into negative coping mechanisms like sexual exploitation in order to survive. These risks are all compounded by intersecting inequalities and vulnerabilities.

3. Poverty and other economic challenges

Even outside of conflict zones, girls ages 15 to 18 (and often younger) are forced into marriages. Families in need of funds will turn to this in order to reduce their bills and earn financial support from their new sons-in-law. This can lead to additional forms of gendered violence for the young brides, many of whom face sexual violence and assault from their new husbands. 

As the Council of Europe points out , the relationship between poverty and gender-based violence “creates patterns of violence and poverty that become self-perpetuating, making it extremely difficult for the victims to extricate themselves.” The COE adds that, in line with how men are affected by conflict and a loss of normalcy, unemployment and poverty may also lead them to “assert their masculinity through violent means.”

4. Lack of legal protections

In many cases, the reason that so many types of GBV are allowed to continue in some countries is because there aren’t laws in place to criminalize them, as well as legally codify other rights that would stem gender inequality . According to UN Women , of the 195 nations represented in the UN, roughly 33 have no laws against domestic violence and 48 do not have laws on sexual harassment in the workplace. But even among the majority of countries that have passed laws, this does not mean that they are always compliant with international standards, have been implemented, or are adequately enforced. 

These aren’t the only laws that need to be in place either. When the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015, 112 countries had not criminalized marital rape. More broadly, according to the UN, 50 countries in 2023 continue to have nationality laws that contain gender-discriminatory provisions, meaning that women don’t even count as citizens of a country in the same way as men. This often leads to many women being stateless, even in the countries where they were born. Reem Alsalem , Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls for the UN, even went so far at the 2023 General Assembly as to say that these discriminatory laws in and of themselves “are tantamount to violence against women, as they constitute severe forms of discrimination against women and girls.”

5. Inadequate political representation

Ending gender-based violence will be impossible without having equitable female representation at the policymaking level — including women who also represent marginalized identities that often intersect with higher risks and incidents of GBV. At the 2023 General Assembly, Rwanda ’s Flavia Vmulisa cited the “limited inclusion of women in decision-making” as a persistent issue around the world. Globally, women only account for 26% of parliamentary bodies, which means that laws are being set without getting critical feedback from the people these laws may affect the most. 

One of the challenges of increasing representation is that women serving in parliamentary and congressional roles are also targets of gender-based violence. According to UN Women, 82% reported some form of psychological violence during their terms, including acts of sexism, sexual harassment, and threats of death, rape, assault, and abduction. Social media has made this situation worse, and accounts for nearly half (44%) of all incidents. Offline, 65% of female representatives have reported receiving sexist and sexual comments at work, often by male colleagues. 

Gender equality at Concern: How we address the causes of gender-based violence

No one should suffer because of their gender. Concern integrates a gender-transformative framework into each of its programmes, regardless of that programme’s main focus. Our task is to help communities build resilience and economic empowerment while also recognising that harmful gender practices, including implicit and explicit forms of gender-based violence, hinder sustainable progress.

Additionally, many of our emergency responses include some form of psychosocial support, with a particular sensitivity to the experiences and needs of women and girls in these situations. Learn more about our work to end GBV below. 

More on the causes of gender-based violence

Women and conflict: An uphill battle

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Gender-Based Violence

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Gender-Based Violence Essays

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Gender-based Violence in South Africa Essay Example

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a deeply concerning issue that continues to affect societies across the globe, and South Africa is no exception. As a Grade 9 learner, tackling an essay on such a profound topic can feel daunting, but it’s a valuable opportunity to explore and engage with important social issues that shape the world around us.

To begin your exploration of this topic, it’s vital to understand what GBV entails – these are actions that cause physical, mental, or sexual harm based on one’s gender. In South Africa, such acts unfortunately happen frequently and can range from intimate partner violence to harmful cultural practices.

Approaching an essay on GBV in South Africa, it’s beneficial to structure your writing into a few key sections. Start with an introduction that defines GBV and gives an overview of its prevalence in South Africa. This will set the stage for a deeper analysis in the following sections.

The main body of your essay should delve into the specifics of GBV in South Africa. Discuss its nature, prevalence, consequences, and possible solutions. Use reliable sources to support your points and don’t shy away from presenting both the harsh realities and the hopeful initiatives aimed at addressing this issue.

Finally, conclude your essay by summarizing your main points and reflecting on the importance of addressing GBV for the future of South Africa.

Remember, an essay isn’t just about presenting facts – it’s about demonstrating your understanding and perspectives on a topic. So, express your thoughts, share your ideas, and let your voice be heard. Good luck with your essay-writing journey!

Title: An Insight into Gender-Based Violence in South Africa

Introduction

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a pervasive issue in South Africa, deeply rooted in societal norms and perpetuated through silence, stigma, and systemic failures. It’s a grave violation of human rights that impedes social progress and threatens the fabric of the society. This essay will delve into the nature, prevalence, and consequences of GBV in South Africa, as well as consider potential solutions.

Understanding the Nature of Gender-Based Violence

GBV encompasses acts that inflict physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering based on gender differences. In South Africa, this violence is alarmingly widespread and often brutal, affecting individuals across all social strata. These acts range from intimate partner violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, to harmful cultural practices. Gender-based power imbalances, patriarchal societal norms, and economic inequalities are fundamental contributors to GBV.

Prevalence of GBV in South Africa

According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), GBV cases have reached alarmingly high levels, with thousands of murders and sexual offenses reported annually. The actual prevalence is likely much higher, considering many victims don’t report due to fear of reprisal, stigma, or lack of faith in the justice system. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have further exacerbated the situation, with a marked increase in cases, painting a grim picture of the state of GBV in South Africa.

The Consequences of GBV

The effects of GBV are profound, extending beyond the immediate physical harm. Survivors often grapple with psychological trauma, social stigmatization, and economic instability. GBV also contributes to public health crises, such as the spread of HIV/AIDS. Additionally, it inhibits societal growth and development by keeping a significant proportion of the population – women and girls – in fear, suppressing their potential contribution to social and economic progress.

Potential Solutions to GBV in South Africa

Addressing GBV requires a multi-faceted approach, starting with strengthening legal frameworks and improving their implementation to ensure justice for victims. This could involve enhancing police training, streamlining judicial processes, and strengthening victim support systems. Moreover, it’s essential to tackle the societal norms that perpetuate GBV through education, community dialogues, and public awareness campaigns. Economic empowerment initiatives for women can also help break the cycle of violence by providing financial independence and security.

In summary, gender-based violence is a critical challenge facing South Africa, deeply embedded within societal norms and structures. It demands urgent action from all sectors – government, civil society, and individuals alike – to ensure a safe, equitable society. Through a combination of strong legislative action, social awareness, and economic empowerment, South Africa can start to dismantle the structures that enable GBV, ensuring a safer future for all its inhabitants.

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Looking for something specific?

What is gender-based violence?

Gender-based violence is a phenomenon deeply rooted in gender inequality, and continues to be one of the most notable human rights violations within all societies. Gender-based violence is violence directed against a person because of their gender. Both women and men experience gender-based violence but the majority of victims are women and girls.

Gender-based violence and violence against women are terms that are often used interchangeably as it has been widely acknowledged that most gender-based violence is inflicted on women and girls, by men. However, using the ‘gender-based’ aspect is important as it highlights the fact that many forms of violence against women are rooted in power inequalities between women and men. The terms are used interchangeably throughout EIGE’s work,  reflecting the disproportionate number of these particular crimes against women.

What forms of gender-based violence are there?

The Istanbul Convention (Council of Europe, Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence ), as the benchmark for international legislation on tackling gender-based violence, frames gender-based violence and violence against women as a gendered act which is ‘a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women’. Under the Istanbul Convention acts of gender-based violence are emphasised as resulting in ‘physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coerican or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occuring in public or in private life.’

EIGE's work on gender-based violence

Female genital mutilation in the EU

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Speech: Two sides of the same coin: gender inequality and violence against women

Date: Monday, 2 October 2017

[As delivered]

My thanks to Sonke Gender Justice, MenEngage, Men for Gender Equality, FEMNET, Mosaic, Soul City, We Will Speak Out, and of course to my own colleagues from UN Women—thank you all very much for this event. I also want to thank the eminent presenters, panellists, South Africans and all those from other parts of the world, who are going to be here this week to help enlighten us and help us recharge.

These are really hard times. We need the strength to take on the challenges as they re-emerge. The statistics [on increased prevalence] that we have just heard are quite frightening, because the prevalence was already very high.

I’m glad that we are giving these discussions five days, because as Bafana Khumalo said, we will be able to take full advantage of the expertise that we have in a gathering like this. When we leave here we will truly feel that we have quenched our thirst from the wisdom of the other colleagues that are here.

The issue of gender-based violence is at the heart of human rights. It is in fact in many ways a determining factor as to whether we can ever have a just society. The level of tolerance for all aspects of gender inequality, including violence against women, sustains a narrative that almost accepts that you can oppress half of society and life goes on, as if nothing has happened. Our ability to change that narrative, along with many other people who are not with us and who might even disagree with us, is something that we have to find a way of addressing significantly.

We are now for the first time in a world with such a high proportion of young people. Fifty per cent of the world’s population are under 30: there are 1.1 billion girls in the world, and a quarter of them call Africa their home. The capacity of girls to change the world for the best would be missed if we are unable to address the issue of violence against women and girls, because they are facing all of the risks that are associated with violence against women.

Their life trajectories are a major factor in the world’s future stability and prosperity. Their lives and those of millions of women and girls around the world, are being stunted or halted by the violence that prevails in their everyday life. And because so much of this violence happens at home, for many of them there is nowhere to escape, nowhere to run to. A place where you call home, your refuge, is actually where you are most vulnerable. And if you are a young girl, and a child, where else do you go, if home is not safe?

Even though domestic violence has always been a big area of focus, I don’t think that we have developed interventions proportionate to the size of the challenge that address this violence that can be so private. I hope the discussions today, especially in the context of southern Africa, where we do not have the violence that we see in conflict areas, will address this issue of the violence that happens in the home, as truly something for which we need to find far reaching methods.

We are dealing also with the violence that is driven by some of the new challenges that we face in society. For those that are in conflict-affected areas, we now see that these conflicts are driven by non-state actors, whose cruelty and violence against women is something that the world has never seen before. Because ISIS and Boko Haram are non-state actors, it is difficult to bring them to account for what they have done to women and girls.

But at the same time, in many parts of the world, the violence that is perpetrated by states against women, in terms of numbers, can be higher than that which is perpetrated by non-state actors.

In Latin America, for instance, violence against women human rights defenders has reached a level that—if the State were focused on addressing this—would cause many governments to see this as a critical priority.

Another new challenge that we face is how technology is fuelling the trafficking of women, cyber bullying and many other forms of violence that we don’t even understand yet. When you add that to the traditional forms of violence that we know, like domestic violence, the norms, culture and stereotypes that oppress women perpetuate gender inequality, which expresses itself in violence.

We also have access to justice as a major challenge such that even in countries like South Africa where you have laws that are supposed to protect women and to prosecute any crimes against women, women just do not receive the justice they deserve.

Women and girls face far greater levels of vulnerability, marginalization and resulting violence, especially for those who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, like widows, elderly people, as well as women whose sexual orientation someone decides is not acceptable. Both men and women who face homophobia, all over the world, are also among the most vulnerable in our society. Add to them women with disabilities, indigenous women, and women who live with HIV and AIDS.

We have seen an increase in cruelty against women who are caught up in very difficult humanitarian crises. Right now, the Rohingya women fleeing to Bangladesh exemplify the trend of sexual violence against refugees. According to UNFPA, what we have seen in Bangladesh, in terms of sexual assault, is an ‘exceptionally high proportion’ of gender-based violence. This is another trend that is quite worrying, perpetrated against people who are already facing such a big challenge in Myanmar.

We are also challenged in many parts of the world by harmful practices like child marriage and FGM (female genital mutilation) that still continue. Africa is a major area of concern. On the one hand, we have been encouraged by the number of laws and governments that are forging forward, and addressing these cultural practices. However, the numbers affected are still staggering.

In the Declaration that was adopted in Beijing in 1995, you will remember that violence against women was highlighted. In the Millennium Development Goals, unfortunately violence against women was not addressed. We lost momentum, unfortunately, in that space. We are happy now that in the Sustainable Development Goals , violence is addressed in a comprehensive way. That should give us an opportunity to work across the world, because the Sustainable Development Goals have been adopted by all governments of the world. No matter where we are, we have a common platform and a common agenda to address violence against women.

However, we know that agreements, conventions, laws alone do not do the job. They help us to have recourse, they give us an organizing tool, but by themselves these will not address the challenges that we face. Yet we have seen progress in the fight to end violence against women, and we regard the Sustainable Development Goals as a platform through which to focus on how we actually end some of these practices, doing this at scale, and across the board.

In the last 20 – 25 years, we have seen the passing of legislation that addresses violence against women. In the last five years this has been quite intense. Some of the laws have been difficult to pass, such as laws that address honour killings. In some countries, they have been rejecting criminalizing domestic violence, introducing laws that address harassment at the workplace, and laws that protect minors from sexual violence. In a significant number of countries, where the perpetrators previously got an easy ride out of the crime that was enshrined in legislation, this has been addressed. But we still have a long way to go, because there are still countries where these laws exist. But nevertheless, it is important to recognize that there is momentum.

Development and progress has been uneven; as we have seen greater political will to address violent crimes against women, we have also seen pushback and the growth of right wing populism, which has eroded the gains made.

In 2015, we convened a forum of Heads of State and Government . Our feeling as UN Women was that issues of gender equality should not be left to ministers of women and gender, who in many countries have small budgets and limited capacity, and are not always given the support that they need. We said that the issue is so serious that the heads of state themselves need to be the ones leading from the front. In total 72 Heads of State attended that forum. What emerged was that the majority identified violence against women as the biggest challenge that they face in their countries, and that there was a need for them to lead from the front in addressing these issues. So, there is a level of recognition, but there has not been action taken that reflects the awareness that we thought we were seeing there.

When reviewing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration, we have also saw that the biggest elephant in the room in that agreement’s 20 years of implementation was gender norms and stereotypes. All the countries that wrote their report highlighted that as the biggest threat to the progress that they were making. I want to leave this with you as one of the areas that we need to address. We need strategies for this that we can scale and that respond to the specific conditions in different countries.

We have seen progress in countries like Kenya, Egypt and Liberia with FGM, where a broad array of public figures, of politicians, of civil society, of the feminist movement, have made sure that countries take concrete action to address the issue. In Kenya, for instance, there was a reduction from 40 per cent of women in 1984 to 10 per cent in 2016. In Egypt, the decrease was from 97 per cent to 70 per cent in the same period. In Liberia, there was a decrease from 72 per cent in 1983, to 31 per cent in 2013.

There are forms of violence where we have seen change, but because the different types of violence against women has such a big profile, it becomes a drop in the ocean. Nevertheless, this is something that we have to encourage to the extent that it begins to change the pattern of behaviour that will impact and have a positive knock-on effect on other forms of violence against women.

Globally, we have seen rates of child marriage slowly declining. But it is a problem that the pace is so slow. There are just too many girls who are at risk of being married to men they’ve never met, old enough to be their fathers, maybe they become mothers when they’re still children themselves. If the pace of decline is not quicker, we will not reach the levels of decline that we anticipate and need by 2030. So, it’s a mixed picture. We do have some encouraging signals, but overwhelmingly, I would say we face challenges.

In Latin America, we have seen trends where countries are able to organize themselves as a region to address the acts of violence that are most prevalent in that area. Femicide in Latin America is a serious challenge. Now 80 per cent of countries in that region have adopted a protocol, through which they are developing and designing common programmes so that they can create peer pressure and enhance learning between and amongst themselves.

Coming back to our own country and to our own region, we need to organize ourselves, as SADC, as the region, so that we can also strengthen our capacity to fight together. We do have common forms of violence against women. The violence that we have seen is a challenge in South Africa, is a challenge in Lesotho, and is a challenge also in the region in general. The level of cruelty that we see there, and the inability of law enforcement to take the kinds of corrective and responses that we expect, the un-sustained outrage of society over crimes like that, means that we truly have to go back to the drawing board to see what we need to do.

The mobilization of men and boys is an important component of our response. It is important to engage men in changing their own behaviour more than protecting women and girls. Because there’s nothing wrong with women and girls. If men’s behaviour changes, there would be no need to protect girls. We need this dialogue between men to be much stronger than it is today, so thank you to all of you here today to fuel that narrative.

We have also seen that in some countries, where leaders begin to lead from the front, they determine the values and the narrative that will prevail in society. You also need the voices of local counsellors, of provincial leaders, and of heads of state. And in countries where you do not have that zero tolerance amongst leaders, it means that the role of civil society is even more critical. Yet we know that right now also civil society in many countries has its back against the wall. Part of what we need to be discussing also is, how do we strengthen civil society? What should the United Nations do more to strengthen civil societies, in countries where clearly civil society, the women’s movement, and young people, do not get the kind of support that they should be getting from their leadership and from their government?

Gender inequality and violence against women are two sides of the same coin. So, we should fight this equally and in the same way. We cannot fight for focus on one and neglect the other, because, again, we will not get sustainable and life-changing results.

We have seen some examples of countries, of civil society, of stakeholders, who have tried different ways to address gender inequality with some promising results. Maybe it’s too early to regard them as trends, but nevertheless they are important to mention.

Statistical evidence has shown that in Uganda and in some parts of South Africa, intimate partner violence more than halved when gender norms were tackled. A school study showed that the attitudes of boys and girls towards violence changed because of the sustained level of engagement that was directed to them. In Uganda, we learned that violence was reduced by 52 per cent through a community mobilization programme that engaged women and men, religious and community leaders, to change related social norms. That programme has also been adopted by other countries as far from Uganda as the Pacific region.

We also know that in India, girls and boys aged 11 to 14, who participated in a school-based curriculum and campaign activities to address gender equality and violence against women, were more likely to develop gender equitable attitudes towards gender roles and norms and to challenge the use of violence as well as to challenge their peers.

We have a programme in UN Women called ‘ Safe Cities ’ with 27 participating cities that address gender-based violence in public spaces. Through that programme we have seen municipalities changing by-laws, addressing simple things like lights in the streets where attacks on women are prevalent, increasing the capacity of the security officials to patrol areas that were identified as hotspots for violence against women, and addressing violence in public transport. Again, this is about protecting women in a situation where you actually want this violence not to happen in the first place. This is important, but our focus should be about ensuring that the violence does not occur in the first place, and that of course there is zero tolerance amongst authorities. There must also be community and peer pressure at home and in the communities where this violence takes place.

We have seen in Brazil ‘One Stop Centers’, where the different services have been brought together that women require when they have been attacked, so women can be served when they are in need. The success of these initiatives, obviously, still needs to be reviewed and evidence still needs to be collected so that we can see what exactly is working in these One Stop Centers. We have seen similar initiatives in Rwanda, the Isange Centers, which also provide one-stop centres that are now being rolled out in 26 locations. We do not yet have enough data and evidence whether women’s increased ability for women to go somewhere as a survivor of violence translates into the reduction of prevalence. It is the reduction of prevalence that is probably the biggest goal that we have.

Having said all of this, and looking at this mixed picture, we face a big challenge when it comes to the implementation of the good laws that we have passed. This is something that we need to address: the accountability of authorities, the lack of justice or poor access to it; the poor investment in gender equality programmes of all sorts; the difficulty of scaling up good interventions; the importance of addressing social norms starting at a very early age; and the importance of focusing on ending some of the forms of violence against women through working in a targeted and consolidated way, in specific geographic areas.

Recently you may have heard that the EU has promised to fund specific regions of the world to address certain forms of violence against women in collaboration with the UN and in collaboration with broader actors, civil society and government. In Asia, they have committed to address trafficking. In Latin America, they have committed to address femicide. In the Caribbean, they have committed to address domestic violence. And in Africa, they have committed to address cultural practices and sexual assault. This Fund, which is 500 million euros, is significant in itself because we have never seen this level of investment. We hope this money will crowd in more resources so that all of the stakeholders, many of them in this room, will be able to find the benefits and resources needed for your work to be taken to scale and to depth, and for the work to have life-changing impact. And I hope that as we get clearer and clearer about how this initiative will work, we will continue to be in touch with you, so that we strengthen our collaboration.

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Gender Matters

• Types of gender-based violence

Violence is often associated only with physical violence, neglecting other nonphysical forms . Violence is a complex issue and categorising different types of violence can never be exact.  

The Council of Europe Istanbul Convention mentions the following types of violence:

• psychological violence (Art. 33)
• stalking (Art. 34)
• physical violence (Art. 35)
• forced marriages (Art. 37)
• sexual violence, including rape (Art. 36)
• female genital mutilation (Art. 38)
• forced abortion and forced sterilisation (Art. 39)
• sexual harassment (Art. 40)
• aiding or abetting and attempt (Art. 41)
• unacceptable justifications for crimes, including crimes committed in the name of so-called honour (Art. 42).  

Using these as a basis, we shall distinguish five inter-related types of violence:

• physical violence
• verbal violence  (including hate speech)
• psychological violence
• sexual violence  
• socio-economic violence .

There also two other categories of violence: domestic violence and (sexual) harassment , both of which may be a combination of all five types of violence mentioned above. In reality, some or many forms of violence can be present at the same time, particularly in abusive relationships . All forms can occur both in the private sphere (in families and intimate relationships) and in the public sphere , committed by (unknown) individuals in public space, or by organisations , institutions and states .

• What is gender-based violence?
• What causes gender-based violence?
• Exploring gender and gender identity
• Gender-based violence and human rights
• Youth work and youth policy responses

Chapter 1: Gender identity, gender-based violence and human rights

Gender Matters, a manual on addressing gender-based violence affecting young people

Physical violence

Verbal violence

Psychological violence

Sexual violence

Socio-economic violence

Domestic violence or in intimate relationships

Harassment and sexual harassment