In addition, while gender violence is as old as humanity, it is only in the past decade that it has been publicly recognized, systematically studied and legislated against to any significant degree. In the 1990s, such violence finally gained currency on the international level with its recognition as a human rights issue. That is welcome news, and most of the credit goes to women s groups that have struggled against enormous odds to bring the issue to light. But this is no reason for complacency. As the second millennium draws to a close, there have been reprisals against the progress in the field rightly regarded as a challenge to male primacy.
Some studies even suggest that certain forms of violence against women and girls are on the rise.
For gender violence, in all of its varied manifestations, is not random and it is not about sex. Constant vigilance is needed to protect the fragile gains made thus far, to continue along the road to equality and to bring an end to the torrent of daily violence that degrades not only women but humankind in its entirety.