Today Is “International Day For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women” - Who Wants Some Sobering Statistics!

Today is the international day for human rights and women’s rights activists to speak out for an end to violence against women, so we thought it’d be appropriate to remind everyone why this is an important issue. For starters, violence targeting women is an enormous global problem- not just in instances of domestic abuse, but in cases where women are targeted en masse, as happens often during wars or crises. The Institute for Women estimates that about 400,000 women have already been the victims of male abuse this year, although only 80,000 of those will ever be formally prosecuted in a court.

In 2006 the Secretary-General of the UN called for greater focus on this issue, eloquently explaining the urgency of the matter;

Violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. Such violence is unacceptable, whether perpetrated by the State and its agents or by family members or strangers, in the public or private sphere, in peacetime or in times of conflict. … [A]s long as violence against women continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace.

Violence can happen to anyone, but in many societies violence specifically against women has been acceptable for so long that it is now ingrained in those societies mores. In conflict situations, women are often the first to be targeted, as war prizes, targets of humiliation or as an object on which to vent anger and stress. So how to stop it? The Ministry of Equality for Spain suggested that there was a need for greater cooperation among the governments of nations, both within their own countries, and internationally. Most importantly, people everywhere need to take it upon themselves to refuse to accept such violence as acceptable. It needs to be recognized, reported and punished.

Igualdad estima que unas 400.000 mujeres son maltratadas al año [El País]