New lens on gender-based violence
Authors: Jeni Klugman
Journal: The Lancet Global Health (2013)

Your October, 2013, articles1Fulu E Jewkes R Roselli T Garcia-Moreno C on behalf of the UN Multi-country Cross-sectional Study on Men and Violence research teamPrevalence of and factors associated with male perpetration of intimate partner violence: findings from the UN Multi-country Cross-sectional Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific.Lancet Glob Health. 2013; 1: e187-e207Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (325) Google Scholar, 2Jewkes E Fulu E Roselli T Garcia-Moreno C on behalf of the UN Multi-country Cross-sectional Study on Men and Violence research teamPrevalence of and factors associated with non-partner rape perpetration: findings from the UN Multi-country Cross-sectional Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific.Lancet Glob Health. 2013; 1: e208-e218Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (129) Google Scholar bring a welcome scientific lens to gender-based violence in the Asia-Pacific region. Indeed, gender-based violence is so widespread it merits closer examination through the lens of development economics as well. Women in poverty often confront multiple difficulties in avoiding or escaping gender-based violence. They might have less financial independence and fewer exit routes, and they often live amid social norms that at best turn a blind eye to their suffering. Fear of encountering violence deters many women from seeking employment. The vicious cycle of inequality, poverty, and violence continues. To address this pervasive rights abuse and its concomitant psychological, social, and economic costs, the World Bank Group is expanding its gender-related work to advance our twin goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Indeed, the costs of gender-based violence, even according to conservative estimates of lost productivity, range from 1·2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in Brazil and Tanzania to 2% of GDP in Chile3Rajkumar AS Swaroop V Public spending and outcomes: does governance matter?.J Dev Econ. 2008; 86: 96-111Crossref Scopus (324) Google Scholar—as much as most governments spend on primary education. In collaboration with key partners, we are investing in knowledge and data on women and girls. This investment includes new work on women's agency and participation, which takes as its starting point the view that freedom from violence is perhaps the most fundamental expression of agency. First, we are analysing the costs of violence and reviewing what interventions work and why. Second, we are bringing financing to operations on the ground. In just the past year, ten new projects with an exclusive or priority focus on sexual and gender-based violence totalling almost US$19 million have been approved. Third, we are partnering with the private sector and civil society. In places such as Papua New Guinea, with its astonishingly high rates of gender-based violence, our “traditional” investments in areas such as mining and infrastructure all comprise explicit gender elements. Recent interviews with girls in the Pacific Island state as part of a global survey on development priorities4United Nations Development GroupA million voices: the world we want.http://www.worldwewant2015.org/millionvoicesGoogle Scholar suggest that they can imagine something better. “I want my future to be much safer”, one girl said, while another urged her government “to give first priority to young women and girls…They should allow women to run the government.” Empowering women and girls can be catalytic in lifting families and communities out of poverty. Tackling the epidemic violence against them is vital to that equation. I declare that I have no conflicts of interest. Prevalence of and factors associated with male perpetration of intimate partner violence: findings from the UN Multi-country Cross-sectional Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the PacificPerpetration of IPV by men is highly prevalent in the general population in the sites studied. Prevention of IPV is crucial, and interventions should address gender socialisation and power relations, abuse in childhood, mental health issues, and poverty. Interventions should be tailored to respond to the specific patterns of violence in various contexts. Physical and sexual partner violence might need to be addressed in different ways. Full-Text PDF Open AccessPrevalence of and factors associated with non-partner rape perpetration: findings from the UN Multi-country Cross-sectional Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the PacificRape perpetration committed by men is quite frequent in the general population in the countries studied, as it is in other countries where similar research has been undertaken, such as South Africa. Prevention of rape is essential, and interventions must focus on childhood and adolescence, and address culturally rooted male gender socialisation and power relations, abuse in childhood, and poverty. Full-Text PDF Open Access