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Women’s Leadership is developing an Index to measure and map gender equality levels and their variation across local areas in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The UK Gender Equality Index focuses on the following domains of women’s and men’s lives: paid work, unpaid work, money, power &
- What is gender-based violence? It’s helpful to define GBV as it can take many forms — including some that aren’t as apparent as others. The United Nations defines gender-based violence as any act of violence against women and girls based on their gender; an act “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.”
- Gender-based violence is a widespread phenomenon, not a rare event, affecting over 730 million women. In fact, one in every three women worldwide will be physically, sexually, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
- Gender equality is strongly linked to GBV. For example, the World Bank has ranked Pakistan as having one of the lowest levels of gender equality in the world.
- Gender-based violence is a human rights violation. GBV and gender inequality exist in a vicious cycle in which one enables the other. As such, gender-based violence is a human rights violation that threatens the first article of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
Acts of violence against women and girls are interconnected and part of a spectrum of violence that is underpinned by inequality, male power and control. Each act reinforces that VAWG is a ‘normal’ experience that is tolerated in society.
- Overview
- Scope of The Problem
- Health Consequences
- Impact on Children
- Social and Economic Costs
- Prevention and Response
- Role of The Health Sector
- Who Response
The United Nations 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" (1). Intimate partner violencerefers ...
Population-level surveys based on reports from survivors provide the most accurate estimates of the prevalence of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. A 2018 analysis of prevalence data from 2000–2018 across 161 countries and areas, conducted by WHO on behalf of the UN Interagency working group on violence against women, found that worldw...
Intimate partner (physical, sexual and psychological) and sexual violence cause serious short- and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems for women. They also affect their children’s health and well-being. This violence leads to high social and economic costs for women, their families and societies. Such violence can: 1...
Children who grow up in families where there is violence may suffer a range of behavioural and emotional disturbances. These can also be associated with perpetrating or experiencing violence later...Intimate partner violence has also been associated with higher rates of infant and child mortality and morbidity (through, for example diarrhoeal disease or malnutrition and lower immunization rates).The social and economic costs of intimate partner and sexual violence are enormous and have ripple effects throughout society. Women may suffer isolation, inability to work, loss of wages, lack of participation in regular activities and limited ability to care for themselves and their children.
There is growing evidence on what works to prevent violence against women, based on well-designed evaluations. In 2019, WHO and UN Women with endorsement from 12 other UN and bilateral agencies published RESPECT women– a framework for preventing violence against women aimed at policy makers. Each letter of RESPECT stands for one of seven strategies...
While preventing and responding to violence against women requires a multi-sectoral approach, the health sector has an important role to play. The health sector can: 1. advocate to make violence against women unacceptable and for such violence to be addressed as a public health problem; 2. provide comprehensive services, sensitize and train health ...
At the World Health Assembly in May 2016, Member States endorsed a global plan of action on strengthening the role of the health systems in addressing interpersonal violence, in particular against women and girls and against children. 1. Global plan of action to strengthen the role of the health system within a national multisectoral response to ad...
Reports reveal increased gender-based violence against women around the world, with surges being reported in many cases of upwards of 25%, as stated in the United Nations Policy Brief on the Impact of COVID-19 on Women (2020).
Ageing, living with a disability, being a foreigner and other life circumstances can increase women’s vulnerability to gender-based violence. Freedom from violence and stereotyping is a key pillar of the 2020–2025 EU gender equality strategy [1].
Jun 27, 2024 · This article provides an overview of the main forms of violence against women and girls, along with other commonly used terms, that any gender equality activist should have in their vocabulary toolkit.
