VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: THE SITUATION 
Autor: Paulo de andrade | Publicado: 2014-07-20T19:19:00-07:00


VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: THE SITUATION
the problem





Violence against women takes many forms - physical, sexual, psychological and economic. These forms of violence are interrelated and affect women from before birth to old age.





Some types of violence, such as trafficking in women, cross national borders.

Women who experience violence suffer a range of health problems, and their ability to participate in pubic life decreases. Violence against women harms families and communities of all generations and reinforces other violence prevalent in society.




Violence against women also impoverishes women, their families, their communities and their countries.

Violence against women is not confined to a culture, a specific region or country, or to groups of women in particular within a society. The roots of violence against women stem from the persistent discrimination against women.

About 70% of women experience some form of violence during their lifetime.

Women aged 15 to 44 years are most at risk from rape and domestic than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria violence, according to World Bank data.

Violence by an intimate partner

The most common form of violence experienced by women around the world is physical violence by an intimate partner, where women are beaten, forced to have sexual relations or otherwise abused.

A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted in 11 countries found that the percentage of women subjected to sexual violence by an intimate partner varies from 6% in Japan to 59% in Ethiopia.

Several global surveys suggest that half of all female homicide victims are killed by their husbands or partners, past or present.

In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, 40% to 70% of female homicide victims were killed by their partners, according to the World Health Organization
In Colombia, every six days a woman is killed by her partner or ex-partner.
Psychological or emotional violence by intimate partners is also widespread.




sexual violence

It is estimated that, worldwide, one in five women will become a victim of rape or attempted rape during life.

The practice of early marriage - a form of sexual violence - is common worldwide, especially in Africa and South Asia. Girls are often forced to marry and have sex, which carries health risks, including exposure to HIV / AIDS and the limitation of school attendance.

One of the effects of sexual abuse is traumatic gynecologic fistula: an injury resulting from severe disruption of the vaginal tissues, leaving the woman incontinent and socially undesirable.




Sexual violence in conflict




Sexual violence in conflict is a serious current atrocity affecting millions of people, mostly women and girls.

It is often a deliberate strategy employed on a large scale by armed groups to humiliate opponents, terrify individuals and destroy societies. Women and girls may also be subjected to sexual exploitation by those who have an obligation to protect them.

Women, whether grandparents or babies, have routinely suffered violent sexual abuse at the hands of soldiers and rebel forces.

Rape has long been used as a tactic of war, with reports of violence against women during or after armed conflicts in all areas of international or non-international war.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, approximately 1,100 rapes are reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day. It is believed that more than 200,000 women have suffered sexual violence in the country since the beginning of the armed conflict.
Rape and sexual abuse of women and girls permeates the conflict in Darfur, Sudan
Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Sexual violence was a characteristic trait of the civil war that lasted 14 years in Liberia.
During the conflict in Bosnia in the early 1990s, between 20 and 50 thousand women were raped.
Violence and HIV / AIDS

The inability to negotiate safe sex and refuse unwanted sex is closely linked to the high incidence of HIV / AIDS. The Unwanted sex results in increased risk of bruising and bleeding, which facilitates the transmission of the virus.

Women who are battered by their partners are 48% more prone to HIV / AIDS.

Young women are particularly vulnerable to coerced sex and are increasingly infected with HIV / AIDS. More than half of new HIV infections worldwide occur among young people aged 15 to 24 years, and over 60% of young people infected with the virus are women in this age group.

Excision / Female Genital Mutilation

The Excision / Female Genital Mutilation (FGM / C) refers to several types of mutilation operations performed on women and girls.

It is estimated that over 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM / C, especially in Africa and some Middle East countries.
It is estimated that 2 million girls a year are under threat of suffering genital mutilation.
Murder for dowry

The dowry murder is a brutal practice in which a woman is killed by her husband or relatives of this because the family can not meet the demands of dowry - a payment made ​​to the husband's family upon marriage as a gift to the new bride's family.

Although dowries or similar payments predominate worldwide, dowry murders occur mainly in South Africa

"Homicide in defense of honor"

In many societies, rape victims, women suspected of practicing pre-marital sex, and women accused of adultery have been murdered by their relatives because the violation of chastity of women is an affront to the honor of the family.

The Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the annual worldwide number of so-called "murder in defense of honor" can reach 5000 women.

Trafficking in persons

Between 500,000 and 2 million people are trafficked annually in situations including prostitution, forced labor, slavery or servitude, according to estimates. Women and girls account for about 80% of the victims detected.

Violence during pregnancy

Violence before and during pregnancy has serious consequences for the health of mother and child. Leads to high-risk pregnancies and pregnancy-related problems, including miscarriage, premature labor and low birth weight.

Female infanticide, prenatal sex selection and systematic neglect of girls are widespread in South and West Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.

Discrimination and violence

Many women face multiple forms of discrimination and an increasing risk of violence.

In Canada, Indigenous women are five times more likely to die as a result of violence than other women of the same age.
In Europe, North America and Australia, more than half of women with disabilities have experienced physical abuse, compared to a third of women without disabilities.
Violence against women detained by the police is common and includes sexual violence, inadequate surveillance, magazines denuded performed by men and demanding sexual acts in exchange for privileges or basic needs.
COSTS AND CONSEQUENCES

The costs of violence against women are extremely high. Include the direct costs of services for the treatment and support of abused women and their children, and to bring the culprits to justice.

Indirect costs include loss of employment and productivity, and the costs in terms of human pain and suffering.

The cost of domestic violence between couples, only in the United States exceeds $ 5.8 billion per year: $ 4.1 billion on medical services and health care, while lost productivity totals almost 1.8 million dollars.
A 2004 study in the UK estimated that the total indirect costs, direct and domestic violence, including pain and suffering, reach 23 billion pounds per year, or 440 pounds per person.
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