“Violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive
violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality,”
he writes in an exhaustive 139-page study that
was presented to the General Assembly’s Third Committee today.
“Such violence is unacceptable, whether perpetrated by the State and its
agents or by family members or strangers, in the public or private sphere, in
peacetime or in times of conflict… as long as violence against women continues,
we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and
peace.”
“Violence against women impoverishes individuals, families, communities and
countries. The social, political and economic costs of allowing it to continue
unabated are great and call for a commensurate investment in women’s security.
Such an effort requires increased political will expressed through a much
greater commitment of financial and human resources.”
The study, which was called for by the General Assembly in December 2003,
examines many forms and manifestations of violence against women in a wide range
of settings, including the family, the community, State custody and
institutions, armed conflict and refugee and situations involving internally
displaced persons (IDPs).
Such violence often takes a direct physical form, but can also involve
psychological abuse and economic deprivation, it notes, while highlighting that
States have “an obligation to protect women from violence, to hold perpetrators
accountable and to provide justice and remedies to victims.”
It says that much remains to be done to create an environment where women can
live free from gender-based violence, and warns that at the international level
“violence against women has not received the visibility and prominence required
to enable significant change.”
Before elaborating on 10 pages of recommendations, Mr. Annan highlights the
role of the Assembly in “ensuring that meaningful follow-up and implementation
is undertaken by different stakeholders,” stressing that Member States and the
international community must acknowledge the “devastating impact any further
delay in taking these limited but critical measures will have on women, their
families and their communities.”
The recommendations are divided into six key areas for action at the national
level that include a wide range of measures from ensuring States ratify all
human rights treaties to increasing funding for adequate services and access to
justice and redress to victims/survivors.
Four key areas at the international level also include similarly detailed
recommendations, including calling for a “stronger, more consistent and visible”
leadership role by intergovernmental bodies and the entities of the UN system,
while also stressing the role of the world body in assisting countries to
collect data on violence against women so as to better combat it.
Welcoming Mr. Annan’s report, the head of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) bemoaned the fact
that “far too many women are subjected to violence and made to feel shame.”
“It is time to end tolerance and complicity. We cannot make poverty history
unless we make violence against women history. We cannot stop the spread of HIV
unless we stop discrimination and violence against women and girls,” said UNFPA
Executive Director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, in a press release.
As well as discussing the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence
today, the Third Committee also debated his report on the
work of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which was presented by its
Executive Director, Noeleen Heyzer. ___________________________________________________________________
9 October 2006
– Condemning widespread global violence against women as a human
rights violation, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for
more political will and financial resources to fight the scourge, warning that
as long as such acts continue there will be no real progress towards equality,
development and peace.