For immediate release
21 November 2003 Contact: Leigh Pasqual +1 212-906-5463
[email protected] [2]

ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN MUST BECOME SERIOUS GLOBAL PRIORITY

New Report Reveals Paradox of Ongoing Violence Against Women Despite Considerable Progress Over Last Decade in Efforts to Eliminate It

United Nations, New York — A new report, launched today by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), highlights the urgency of making the elimination of violence against women a serious global priority. The report singles out gender inequality as the chief source and breeding ground for the continuing scale of violence against women. Not A Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women is based on a series of regional reviews conducted by UNIFEM in 2002, that provide an overview of the achievements made by women globally to move the issue of gender-based violence from the shadows to the foreground, and to mobilise attention to the issue as a clear violation of human rights, a public health problem and a crime against women and society. The report reveals that despite progress at the international, national and grassroots levels to address the issue, there has not been a dramatic reduction in violence directed at women. Instead, the challenges have become more complex and the resistance to change deeper in many instances.

"We must make the eradication of violence against women a serious global priority," said Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM. "Clearly efforts so far have brought results — there are better legal frameworks and policies, awareness and partnerships, including with men and youth. We have better integrated services, knowledge and research including knowledge about the high cost of violence against women to families and societies. And yet, women do not appear to be substantively more free from violence than they were a decade ago. We are walking up a down escalator. There are structures and processes that generate violence. We need to break the cycle of violence by ensuring that women have the voice and power to assert their priorities in an increasingly violent world. For this to happen, women must have access to property, employment and equal wages, to the seats of power, and to education," she said.

The report indicates that although much has been achieved so far with little investment, the scale of the problem vastly exceeds current resources committed to addressing it. Heyzer pointed to the extraordinary changes that can take place with small amounts of support, as UNIFEM has learned through managing its Trust Fund for Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women. Trust Fund grantees, with $50,000 to $100,000, have had families sign pacts to end femicide, worked to secure agreements from communities to stop female genital mutilation, and spurred the passage of important laws and policies. "Unfortunately, however, even with a solid record of results, securing sufficient resources for the Trust Fund to support the innovative ideas being generated remains a challenge," she added. "Since it was set up by the UN General Assembly, the Trust Fund for Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women should be treated like other global funds set up to address worldwide priorities. It is a mechanism that must be taken more seriously if we want to deal effectively with violence against women and provide a secure environment for women. The security of women is the best indicator of the security of our future."

The report was launched this year to mark the tenth anniversary of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, when women human rights advocates succeeded in placing women's rights issues, for the first time, on the international agenda. As a result of lobbying by the Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights, a coalition of NGOs and individuals in partnership with UNIFEM, the World Conference declared violence against women — in public and in private — to be a human rights violation requiring urgent and immediate attention. The Vienna Declaration was soon followed by the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and other international and regional treaties and protocols, committing and obliging states to take responsibility for ending violence against women.

Today, many countries have some type of legislation concerning violence against women, most commonly against domestic violence. At least 45 nations have specific legislation on domestic violence, 21 more are drafting new laws and many others have amended criminal assault laws to include domestic violence. The report points out that legislation and policies alone are insufficient however. Because of gender inequalities that give rise to systemic gender discrimination and deeply ingrained attitudes they require a host of other supportive measures in order to be effective. States must put the full weight of their moral, legal and economic power behind end-violence work, and above all, commit the resources necessary to make change possible.

Nathalia P. Kimaro, a High Court judge in Tanzania, agrees that legislation must be accompanied by sustained efforts to promote gender equality and remove discrimination and negative attitudes towards women. "Women have been deprived of their rightful inheritance from their deceased husbands, they have been raped and brutalized, all in the name of either culture/tradition or family affairs. No amount of legislation will change the way men view and regard their fellow women. The next nursery for the respect and observation of human rights is in peoples' minds. People need to change their attitudes."

Ms Kimaro is in New York to speak at an event organised by UNIFEM on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. She is a member of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), an international NGO with members in 78 countries. In Tanzania, the IAWJ runs a program to train and sensitize judges so they can issue court decisions that protect the rights of women.

Not A Minute More: Ending Violence Against Women will be available online at UNIFEM's Web site — www.unifem.org [3]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UNIFEM is the women's fund at the United Nations, providing financial support and technical assistance to innovative programs promoting women's human rights, their economic and political empowerment, and gender equality in over 100 countries. For more information, visit www.unifem.org [3] .

UNIFEM, 304 East 45th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10017, tel: 212 906-6400, fax: 212-906-6705