Displaced women are escorted by peacekeepers as they collect firewood in Sudan, in 2010. The women say they fear being assaulted when they leave their homes. Photo credit: UN Photo/Albert González Farran
UNITED NATIONS, New York – UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, in his remarks to government and United Nations officials today, underlined the need for urgent and intensified efforts to end gender-based violence and discrimination.
"Is there a tipping point? When will we finally say ‘enough’ to violence and discrimination against women and girls?” Dr. Osotimehin said at the 2014 annual session of the Executive Board of UNFPA, the UN Development Programme and the UN Office for Project Services, taking place this week in Geneva.
Gender-based violence is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world.
“One out of every three women in the world, in every country and from every background, will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime,” Dr. Osotimehin emphasized.
“They are not safe at school, not safe fetching water, not safe on a university campus, not even on the steps of a courthouse or in their own homes.”
Women’s struggles for freedom and equality have been a vibrant part of all social movements for transformation and social justice through history. Mary Wollstonecraft wrote in 1792 in her Vindication of the Rights of Women 1 that the struggle for rights of women is located within the personal space–the home and the family; and within the public space– the political and economic world.
Two hundred years later, women activists defined their experiences of violence, subordination and disadvantage as located within patriarchy. Patriarchy is a social formation that gives privilege to male power and separates the public and the private worlds. It constructs ‘gender’ (the socially constructed meaning assigned to the sexes) as a binary of male and female and assigns particular roles and privileges to these. It assigns to women roles within the private sphere which are attributed lesser value-creating and perpetuating inequality. Patriarchy also privileges heterosexuality, establishing sexual hierarchies and marginalizing sexual and gender identities that do not fall within this power dynamics. A pattern of violence, oppression, silencing and marginalization are used to enforce this value system.
Claiming rights, claiming justice: A guidebook on women human rights defenders
Извор: WUNRN – 24.06.2014
Ivorian widows run a small restaurant in Yopougon with the help of the non-governmental organization, Les Compagnes de Ruth. UN Photo/Ky Chung
No woman should lose her status, livelihood or property when her husband dies, yet millions of widows in our world face persistent abuse, discrimination, disinheritance and destitution stressed United Nation Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today in his message for this year’s International Widows’ Day.
In his message, the Secretary-General expressed his concerns about the number of widows subjected to harmful practices, including "widow cleansing", often involving the rape, and the increase in the widow’s risk of HIV infection, as well as "widow burning".
Mr. Ban underscored that such violent acts could also negatively affect the lives of their children. He has stressed the need for “stronger action to empower women, promote gender equality and end all forms of violence against women.”
The UN General Assembly declared 23 June 2011 as the first-ever International Widows’ Day, and has been marked annually ever since. The Day raises awareness and is an opportunity for action towards achieving full rights and recognition for widows worldwide and to bring the often invisible issues affecting them to a point of international concern.
More than 125 million girls and women are currently living with the consequences of female genital mutilation (FGM) and as many as 30 million more are at risk of undergoing this practice over the next decade, if current trends persist, warned the UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay, during a discussion on combating female genital mutilation.
Pillay explained that many believe this practice preserves a girl’s or woman’s virginity or restrains sexual desire, thereby preventing sexual behaviour that is considered immoral or inappropriate.
In many settings, these beliefs even result in a “better bride price” for the families of girls who have been mutilated, Pillay added.
“Incisional cutting is something that has been taken on board by the community, something that communities go along with, fearing discrimination and exclusion if they don’t,” said Chantal Compaoré, the First Lady of Burkina Faso.
The Guide is designed to be a resource for advocates, sexuality educators, young people, service providers and others working to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people around the world. It contains a wealth of data on young people’s sexual health and rights in 30 countries and offers guidance on how to use those data to advocate for better programs and improved education and services. This Guide highlights 70 key indicators on issues that include sexual activity, marriage and contraceptive use. Each indicator is defined and discussed in terms of how it can be applied in the context of advocacy, service provision and sexuality education.
By region, the countries covered are:
Africa—Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Asia—Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam
Europe—Albania, Moldova and Ukraine
Latin America and the Caribbean—Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru.
Demystifying data: Guide to using evidence to improve young people's sexual health & rights
Извор: WUNRN – 23.06.2014
