4.7.1 Violence against women and girls13

Violence against women and girls has been described as a problem of pandemic proportions and it is an important aspect of the core protection mandate since it is linked to life-threatening issues and the capacity of law enforcement officials to address this form of abuse. One out of three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. According to UNIFEM, violence against women is:

“perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today, it devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development.” Statistics paint a horrifying picture of the social and health consequences of violence against women.

For women aged 15 to 44 years, violence is a major cause of death and disability. In a 1994 study based on World Bank data about ten selected risk factors facing women in this age group, rape and domestic violence rated higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria. Moreover, several studies have revealed increasing links between violence against women and HIV / AIDS. Women who have experienced violence are at a higher risk of HIV infection: a survey among

1,366 South African women showed that women who were beaten by their partners were 48 percent more likely to be infected with HIV than those who were not.14

UNIFEM highlights the following areas affecting women:

• Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence
• Sexual Violence
• Harmful Traditional Practices
• Trafficking in Women and Girls
• HIV/AIDS and Violence
• Crimes against Women in Situations of Armed Conflict

In all the core protection areas mentioned in this chapter, NHRIs have particular responsibility to carry out their mandate through a gender lens, and to ensure that protection issues involving violence against women are given due consideration and addressed as urgent issues requiring State action. Of particular interest are recent international developments clearly placing sexual violence at the heart of protection: a range of sexual violence offences is now included in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the statutes of the ad hoc international criminal tribunals. As well, in 2008 a UN Security Council Resolution noted that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide.

UN Security Council Resolution 1820 S/RES/1820 (2008)

13 The section is based, in part, on Equitas, Equality for Women: A Handbook for NHRIs on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 2008.

14 UNIFEM (2007), Facts & Figures on Violence against Women.