Violence against women and girls is not cultural but criminal
SHOBHA SHUKLA - CNS
All forms of gender-based violence against women and girls and other gender identities must STOP.
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Violence against women and girls remains the most pervasive human rights violation around the world. It manifests itself in many forms: sexual violence, physical violence, emotional and psychological violence, harmful traditional practices, socio-economic violence, and other forms of gender-based violence. Explicit and implicit cultural legitimation for violence against women and girls has to end if we are to deliver on the promise of a socially just and ecologically sustainable world order for everyone.
Despite years of unending struggle to end all forms of gender-based violence, more than 1 in 3 women continue to experience gender-based violence during their lifetime, a figure that has largely remained static over the last decade. This becomes even more alarming when we realise that the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all countries globally in 2015, calls for the elimination of violence against women and girls (by 2030) - namely through target 5.2 under SDG-goal 5 on gender equality and women's empowerment.
The annual observance of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign that began on Friday, 25 November 2022 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) ended on Saturday, 10 December 2022 (Human Rights Day). Led by civil society, and managed by UN Women, the campaign is supported by the United Nations through the Secretary General's UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women initiative that was launched in 2008. This year's theme was "UNiTE! Activism to end violence against women and girls".
Is femicide data, tip of the iceberg?
According to a study, of the estimated number of 81,100 women and girls killed intentionally in 2021 worldwide, 45,000 (55%) were killed by intimate partners or other family members. In other words, more than 5 women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family. While these numbers are alarmingly high, the true scale of femicide is likely to be much higher, more so as data on gender-related killings committed in the public sphere are particularly scarce.
Asia has the dubious distinction of topping the list of female homicides, with 17,800 women and girls killed in 2021, which was just slightly lower than 18,600 in 2020.
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