WUNRN
Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
____________________________________________________________________
In
Europe, North America and Australia, more than half of women with disabilities
have experienced physical abuse, compared with one third of non-disabled
women, the study said.
UN
Study of Violence Against Women Finds 50% of Disabled Women Experience Abuse
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Violence against women is "severe and
pervasive" worldwide with one in three women subjected to intimate partner
abuse during her lifetime, according to a UN report. "There is compelling
evidence that violence against women is severe and pervasive throughout the
world," said UN chief Kofi Annan's report, titled "Ending Violence
Against Women: from Words to Action."
The study cited surveys on violence against women conducted in at least 71
countries showing "a significant proportion of women suffer physical,
sexual or psychological violence... On average, at least one in three women is
subjected to intimate partner violence in the course of her lifetime."
A World Health Organization study in 11 countries found that the percentage of
women subjected to sexual violence by an intimate partner ranged between six
percent in Japan and Serbia and Montenegro, and 59 percent in Ethiopia.
Murders of women often involve sexual violence, with between 40 and 70 percent
of female murder victims killed by husbands or boyfriends in Australia, Canada,
Israel, South Africa and the United States, Annan's report said.
It noted that more than 130 million girls are victims of female genital
mutilation, a practice most prevalent in Africa and some Middle Eastern
countries but also found in immigrant communities in Europe, North America and
Australia.
Female infanticide, prenatal sex selection and systematic neglect of girls were
said to be widespread in South Asia, Southeast Asia, North Africa and the
Middle East.
The study also highlighted the fact that women experience sexual harassment
throughout their lives, with between 40 and 50 percent of women in the European
Union reporting some form of sexual harassment.
"The majority of the hundreds of thousands of women trafficked each year
are women and children and many are trafficked for the purposes of sexual
exploitation," it added.
It also focused on the phenomenon, including sexual violence, in armed
conflicts, noting that between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the
1994 genocide in Rwanda while between 20,000 and 50,000 suffered the same fate
during the conflict in Bosnia in the early 1990s.
In Europe, North America and Australia, more than half of women with
disabilities have experienced physical abuse, compared with one third of
non-disabled women, it said.
The study noted that women subjected to violence were more likely to abuse
alcohol and drugs and to report sexual dysfunction, suicide attempts,
post-traumatic stress and central nervous system disorders.
And it concluded that despite progress in recent decades, "violence
against women has not yet received the priority required to enable significant
change."
"A more cohesive and strategic approach is needed from all actors, including
governments, the international community and civil society," the report
said.
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