Theme: “Breaking the Media Silence around Gender Based Violence”
Presented by Dupe Ajayi Gbadebo, Member, Board of Trustees, The Nation Journalism Foundation (tNJF)
The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), on February 7, 2000, by resolution 54/134, designated 25th November as the day to globally commemorate the International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women.
This followed the earlier adoption, on 20 December 1993, of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, through resolution 48/104, by the organisation, which paved the path towards eradicating violence against women and girls, worldwide.
The day also marks the beginning of the 16 days of Activism against Gender-based Violence (GBV) or Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) which concludes on December 10, the International Human Rights Day.
The UN theme for this year is, Every 10 Minutes, a woman is killed. #No Excuse. UNITE to end Violence against Women.
Here, the theme has been put as Breaking the Media Silence around Gender-Based Violence.
Before we get to the possible causes for the silence of the Media around GBV, let us look at the background of the commemoration of the day.
Generally, international days are designated and marked to promote awareness and educate the public on issues of concern and to mobilise political will and resources to address global problems.
On November 1960, the Mirabal sisters were brutally assassinated because of their identity as women and activists just for fighting for their rights against the Dominican dictator, Rafael Trujilo.
This day has been observed by Women’s rights activists since 1981 to honour these three sisters.
According to the UN hashtag, #No Excuse, “violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world.
“Globally, almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner violence sexual offence, or both, at least once in her life.
“For at least 51,000 women in 2023, the cycle of gender-based violence ended with one final and brutal act – their murder by their partners and family members, meaning that a woman was killed every 10 minutes.
“This violence happens and are intensified in different settings; the workplace and online spaces, and it has been exacerbated by conflicts and climate change.
“The solution lies in robust responses, holding perpetrators accountable and accelerating actions through well-resourced national strategies and increased funding to women rights movements”.
Violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains largely unreported due to impunity, silence, stigma and shame that surrounds the scourge.
The UN lists the manifestations of violence against women being in physical, sexual and psychological forms as:
- intimate partner violence (battering, psychological abuse, marital rape, femicide)
- sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber-harassment)
- human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation)
- female genital mutilation, and
- child marriage.
Described by the Word Bank Group as a pandemic, VAWG affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime.
The scourge is devastating for survivors of violence and their families as well as entailing significant social and economic costs. Violence against women is said to cost up to 3.7% of GDP of some countries, which is more than double what most governments spend on education.
The World Bank Group posts some very staggering numbers of victims of VAWG as:
- 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner violence.
- 7% of women globally, have been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner.
- As many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner,
while
- 200 million women have experienced female genital mutilation.
GBV is said to have no distinction between social or economic boundaries and affects women and girls of all social economic backgrounds. It is therefore an issue that must be addressed in both developing and underdeveloped countries.
“Decreasing violence against women and girls requires a community-based, multi-prolonged approach, and sustained engagement with multiple stakeholders.
“The most effective initiatives address underlying risks factors for violence, including social norms regarding gender roles and the acceptability of violence”, the World Bank Group reports states.
Expressing its commitment to addressing the GBV through investment and research in collaboration with stakeholders worldwide, the World Bank claims to support over $300 million in development projects aimed at addressing the menace, through both standalone projects and the integration of GBV components in sector-specific projects.
Enumerating similar categorisation as those of the UN above, the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention, in using them as basis, distinguished five inter-related types of violence:
- physical violence
- verbal violence (including hate speech)
- psychological violence
- sexual violence and
- socio-economic violence.
The Council added two other categories of violence:
- domestic violence and sexual harassment, both of which it says may be a combination of all the five it listed above.
Indeed, the Council states that some or many forms of violence can be present at the same time, particularly in abusive relationships. All forms can occur both in the private sphere (in families and intimate relationships) and in the public sphere.
All forms of violence have a psychological aspect, since the main aim of being violent or abusive is to hurt the integrity and dignity of another person.
On Gender Matters, the Council states that GBV is an unrelenting assault on human dignity, depriving people of their human rights. Freedom from violence is a fundamental human right and gender-based violence undermines a person’s sense of worth and self-esteem. It affects not only physical health but also mental health and may lead to self-harm, isolation, depression and suicidal attempts.
GBV is an obstacle to the realisation of every person’s well-being and to their right to fulfilment and self-development.
It is deeply rooted in harmful stereotypes and prejudices against women or other people who do not fit into a traditional gender binary or heteronormative society. For that reason, GBV can have the effect of pushing women and others who are effected to the margins of society and making them feel inferior or helpless.
It is also an obstacle to gender equality. Gender equality is central to safeguarding human rights, upholding democracy and preserving the rules of law. GBV contributes to cultivating a heteronormative society and perpetuates the power of men. Gender equality on the other hand, entails equal rights for people of all genders, as well as equal visibility and equal opportunities for empowerment and implies equal access to, and equal distribution of resources between men and women.
Addressing our theme here, the European Council’s report confirms that GBV is under-reported and there is often impunity for perpetrators.
It goes on to state that there are common and very powerful myths like what happens at home should stay at home or it is nobody’s business what happens in the family. These types of myths make denouncing violence in families very difficult, and it may affect the provision of help and support services, thereby exposing the abused person to greater harm, with possibly fatal consequences.
In addition, violence very often silences those who are affected by it. By failing to speak out against domestic violence, we also mirror the techniques used by perpetrators.
In some countries, most types and forms of gender-based violence are illegal and punishable by law but there are still countries which lag behind in this respect. This is why Istanbul Convention of the Council of Europe is asking for criminalisation of different forms of gender-based violence.
More importantly, the EC report adds that children raised in families where a woman is abused are also victims of violence, may be not always physically, but always psychologically. These children witness violence and may form the impression that such behaviour is justified or normal. In other words, the children assimilate violent norms. They are also brought up in a culture of violence that may negatively affect their self-development and ability to function in society. GBV affects family members, friends and colleagues.
Like the UN report, the EU also states that GBV has very heavy economic costs.
‘It requires the involvement of different services – medical, psychological, the police or justice system and it results in the loss of resources or of employment by victims. It makes people underachieve at work and in education and it negatively affects their productivity. ‘Many people who suffer from GBV cannot stay at home and need a place to stay which sometimes results in homelessness’. Shelter services need to be provided for such people, and while there are services for abused women and their children in many places in Europe, it is not in sufficient numbers and for some, it still remains critical.
The EU-funded Gender SAFE project says it will support research and higher education institutions in establishing safe, inclusive, and respectful environments by setting up comprehensive policies to effectively counteract gender-based violence.
Similarly, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in a report states that the incidence of GBV is growing astronomically with the activities of the insurgency in the Northeast of Nigeria. From forced marriage to the physical, mental or sexual assault on women, Nigerian women have experienced physical violence by age 15 (NDHS 2013).
The Fund’s targeted areas of intervention is to improve the gender-based violence policy environment at national and state levels. The Fund works with various partners to provide survivors with medical, reproductive health services and/or psychological care as part of its commitment to rehabilitate women and girls who have been abused and to help them overcome their ordeal.
On adopting the day of commemoration, the UN invited governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to come together to organise activities and raise public awareness of the issue every year on the day. This then is the reason we are holding this programme as part of our resolve to be active in the ‘16 Days’ campaign of November 25 – December 10.
Dear participants, please come along with us to discuss and propagate the activities of this commemoration.