“Violence against women cuts across social and economic situations and is deeply embedded in cultures around the world – so much so that millions of women consider it a way of life.”—Cate Johnson, author of Violence Against Women: An Issue of Human Rights
***
I have four sisters, and I assisted them in completing their college education. As the eldest sibling in the family, I had the privilege (yes, I called it as such while others consider it a burden) of supporting my sisters in their academic pursuits.
My motivation was not driven by financial incentives. In fact, my desire to support them stemmed from the understanding that they are women, and upon marriage, they could potentially face violence against women.
I do not wish for them to become martyrs, trapped in marriages with husbands from whom they feel they cannot escape and that no one will support them if the marriage ends. My idea was that if they attain professional qualifications, I am confident that they will have the means to leave an unhappy marriage and sustain themselves independently.
This implies that my sisters would not be at the mercy of their husbands. Fortunately, they are now married, and the partners they have chosen genuinely love and care for them.
They are indeed lucky, but not other women. Nearly 1 in 3 women – estimated 840 million globally – have experienced partner or sexual violence during their lifetime, a figure that has barely changed since 2000.
“In the last 12 months alone, 316 million women – 11% of those aged 15 or older – were subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner,” the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) reported.
According to the United Nations health agency, violence against women remains a public health crisis and one of the most pervasive human rights violations worldwide, with millions of women experiencing physical or sexual violence, mostly by their intimate partner, at least once in their lifetime.
The WHO admitted that “very little progress” has been made “in two decades,” as per a landmark report released by the WHO and UN partners in time of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, which will be observed on November 25.
“Progress on reducing intimate partner violence has been painfully slow with only 0.2% annual decline over the past two decades,” said the report, Global, regional and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and non-partner sexual violence against women.
For the first time, the report includes national and regional estimates of sexual violence by someone other than a partner. It finds 263 million women have experienced non-partner sexual violence since age 15, a figure experts caution is significantly under-reported due to stigma and fear.
“Violence against women is one of humanity’s oldest and most pervasive injustices, yet still one of the least acted upon,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “No society can call itself fair, safe or healthy while half its population lives in fear.
“Ending this violence is not only a matter of policy; it is a matter of dignity, equality and human rights,” the WHO chief added. “Behind every statistic is a woman or girl whose life has been forever altered. Empowering women and girls is not optional, it’s a prerequisite for peace, development and health. A safer world for women is a better world for everyone.”
The report said that women subjected to violence face unintended pregnancies, a higher risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections and experiencing depression. Sexual and reproductive health services are an important entry point for survivors to receive the high-quality care they need.
The report underscores the reality that violence against women begins early and risks persist throughout life. For example, in the past 12 months alone, 12.5 million adolescent girls 15-19 years of age or 16% have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner.
Dr. Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, urged for the ending of violence against women and girl. “Ending violence against women and girls requires courage, commitment, and collective action. Advancing gender equality is how we build a more equal, safer world for everyone, where every woman and every girl can live a life free from violence,” she said.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993) defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”
In the Philippines, Republic Act 9262 – more popularly known as the Violence Against Women and their Children Law – was passed in 2004. It broadened the definition of abuse to include physical, emotional and economic harm. It also made violence by an intimate partner (anyone with whom a woman has a sexual relationship) a public crime and made it possible for anyone – not just the victim – to file a case against a perpetrator.
Intimate partner violence refers to the behavior in an intimate relationship that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviors.
Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship with the victim, in any setting. It includes rape, defined as the physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration of the vulva or anus with man’s sexual organ, other body part or object.
—###
