The Level of the Problem
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LIFE WITHOUT VIOLENCE: IT'S OUR RIGHT By Aparna Mehrotra and Rini Banerjee 1998 offers unparalleled opportunities to refocus attention on the issue of violence against women. The year commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – and women’s rights are human rights; this idea, while obvious today, was in fact slow in the coming. The international framework that embodied the change grew out of a powerful women’s movement, gradually becoming formalized in the form of increasingly validated international legislation and corresponding national development perspectives, policies and programmes. Furthermore, the 1990 UNDP Human Development Report states, "development is about enlarging choices." When development is examined in this perspective of human development, violence emerges as one of the most disturbing and prevalent obstacles to exercise ones choices, chipping away at the process of self-affirmation needed to make independent decisions affecting women’s lives. It emerges as a serious violation of human rights that abrogates the women’s right to dignity, equality, autonomy, and physical and mental well being. Moreover, violence, is not only a manifestation of unequal, disempowering, and unjust power relations but is also a costly economic phenomenon resulting in significant losses of productive potential. Fully cognizant of this morally unacceptable reality, the UN System has joined together, in this special year for Human Rights, in an inter-agency campaign on violence against women and girls. The UN Campaign focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean. UN Campaign on Violence Against Women A series of events will take place in 1998 that provides a unique opportunity for the UN system to further their commitment to women’s human rights. First, 1998 will mark the fifth anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), that historically, recognized that women’s rights are human rights. Mid-year, the UN Commission on Human Rights will review the implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. Second, the UN Commission on the Status of Women (March 1998) will devote part of its session reviewing government commitments made at the Fourth World Conference on Women to end violence against women. Finally, on 10 December 1998 it will be half a century since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) went into force. A time to renew our commitment to the principles enshrined in the UDHR, which acknowledges a common standard for the protection and promotion of human rights for all people. To reaffirm the UN’s commitment to the global women’s movement, and agreements produced by UN Conferences and treaties, several UN Agencies, namely UNIFEM and UNDP (co-coordinators), UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNHCR, OHRCHR and ECLAC have jointly initiated the 1998 UN Inter-Agency Campaign on Violence against Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean. Each Agency is committed in this campaign to raise public awareness that violence against women is an endemic and unacceptable problem. Moreover, this inter-agency alliance will create collaborative strategies for promoting and protecting the human rights of women with particular focus on violence issues. The inter-agency campaign will draw on the network of representatives and staff members of each supporting agency and the UN Information Centres as well as national civic organizations throughout the region for advocacy, capacity building, media communication, distribution of materials, and arrangement of events. Some activities for the campaign will include facilitating awareness and training workshops for judges and police, providing seed money for shelters, assist in drafting and passage of national legislation in line with the Committee to End Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), support civil society organizations for data collection and preparation of needs assessment, mobilize the media to report on the issue, organize concerts and contests, and develop radio spots and public service announcements for television, and a documentary on violence against women and girls. This multi-media and public education campaign will have sustained activities running throughout the year and culminating on 10 December 1998, Human Rights Day. Revealing Gender Violence Latin America and the Caribbean register a striking trend of increasing incidences of violence against women and girls. Studies on violence against women and girls indicate high incidences of violence within families, and in some countries it is cited as the leading cause of hospitalization of women. Anywhere from 25 percent to more than 50 percent of Latin American and the Caribbean women - depending on the country the live - are victims of some kind of domestic violence. In fact, violence constitutes the most disempowering form of victimization that women are subject to in their entire lives. This phenomenon has powerful implications for women and for society, generating problems that often start as early as birth and continue throughout their life cycle. The following table below illustrates this gender violence continuum: |
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Phase |
Type of Violence Present |
Prenatal: |
Battering during pregnancy (emotional and physical effects on the woman; effects on birth); coerced pregnancy; deprivation of food and liquids; sex-selective abortion. |
Infancy: |
Female infanticide; emotional and physical abuse; differential access to food and medical care for girl infants. |
Childhood: |
Child marriage; genital mutilation; sexual abuse by family members and strangers; differential access to food and medical care; child prostitution. |
Adolescence: |
Rape and marital rape; sexual assault; forced prostitution; trafficking in women; courtship violence; economically coerced sex; sexual abuse in the workplace; |
Reproductive |
Abuse of women by intimate partners; marital rape; dowry abuse and murders; partner homicide; psychological abuse; sexual abuse in the workplace; sexual harassment; rape; abuse of women with disabilities; legal discrimination. |
Old-Age: |
Abuse and exploitation of widows. |