UN calls for greater action to end violence against women
November 26, 2012 - The chief of the United Nations has called on world leaders to
“make good” on pledges they have made to end violence against women, a scourge that
affects millions of women and girls worldwide. “Up to 70 per cent of women experience
physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime (and) as many as a quarter
of all pregnant women are affected,” UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon said in message
to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed
on Nov. 25, Sunday. “Millions of women and girls around the world are assaulted,
beaten, raped, mutilated or even murdered in what constitutes appalling violations
of their human rights,” he said, calling on all governments to make good on their
pledges to end all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world.
The call reinforces a similar appeal made by the head of the UN Women, the UN agency
committed to gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women Executive Director
Michelle Bachelet used a video message to announce the launch of COMMIT, an initiative
asking governments to make national commitments that will be showcased globally.
“We must do better to protect women,” Bachelet urged, as the agency noted in a press
release that 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is still
not a crime. UN Women also administers the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against
Women, which is the world's leading global grant-making mechanism exclusively dedicated
to addressing violence against women and girls. This month, it announced plans to
disburse $8 million to local initiatives in 18 countries. In his message, Ban took
the opportunity to shine a spotlight on additional outreach initiatives launched in
his name. One is his landmark UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, launched
in 2008. It gathers a host of UN agencies and offices to galvanize action across the
UN system to prevent and punish violence against women. “All too often, perpetrators
go unpunished (while) women and girls are afraid to speak out because of a culture
of impunity,” said Mr. Ban, adding the initiative was “engaging governments, international
organizations, civil society groups, the media and ordinary citizens.” He said his
Network of Men Leaders initiative – which supports the work of women around the world
to defy destructive stereotypes, embrace equality, and inspire men and boys everywhere
to speak out against violence – was expanding. The shooting in October of Malala
Yousufzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani girl known for opposing Pakistani Taliban restrictions
on female education, is spotlighted in the messages from the UN human rights chief
and the head of the UN agency mandated to advance education worldwide. “The sad truth
is that Malala's case is not an exceptional one and, had she been less prominent,
her attempted murder might have passed more or less unnoticed,” UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a news release issued from her Geneva-based office.
“Despite all the advances in women's rights around the world, violence against girls
and women remains one of the most common human rights abuses – and the assault on
their fundamental right to education continues in many countries,” she added, stressing
how violence against women and denying them education were often “closely related.” From
the Paris headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), Director-General Irina Bokova said Yousufzai's story was “sadly, far from
unique.” “Across the world, girls and women face violence as they try to exercise
their basic rights,” she stated in a press release. “Violence, and its threat, is
one of the key factors forcing girls to drop out of school.” UNESCO will stage on
10 December a high-level advocacy event aimed at mobilizing a “deeper commitment”
to educating girls and celebrating the “courage of young girls like Malala Yousufzai,”.
Bokova said.