It is not always easy to think of violence against women and girls in an age in which women are heads of State, have traveled to space, won Olympic medals, and been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2009 five women have received Nobel Prize, four of them in fields not typically seen as women’s ‘quarters’: Elinor Ostrom in Economics, Ada E. Yonath in Chemistry, Carol W. Greider and Elizabeth H. Blackburn in Physiology and Medicine (Herta Müller in literature,). This year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women for their nonviolent role in promoting peace, democracy and gender equality: the President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, her compatriot, the peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, a pro-democracy campaigner.
This is why I find it even more shocking that, from Pacific to North America, from Siberia to Africa, from the battlefield to the bedroom, women and girls are at risk. Whether in times of peace or war, they are subjected to atrocities simply because they are women. Thousands of them are beaten, raped, murdered and assaulted on a daily bases.
Every time I hear the stories of victims and survivors across the world, I am deeply struck by both the dreadfulness of their experiences and their courage in telling their story - let alone their astonishing bravery in dealing with the attacks and the violence which had been made upon them. In quiet, matter-of-fact tones, they tell their stories: sometimes bleak, sometimes chilling, and always incredibly difficult. But no-one can fail to be humbled by the determination, the resilience and the strength they bring to dealing with their problems, and the hugely impressive support and help they get from those who are working with them. Sadly, and all too often, their stories are repeated across the globe.
Few years back, at the conference that I was attending one of the speakers said that “government cannot solve the problem at the ground. Government has a role but civil society and NGOs lead the work on the ground”. I would like to believe that the speaker was complimenting the incredible work of the civil society and women’s organizations in particular, but I could not help thinking: When a police officer says “He did not hit a women, he only hit his wife.” or when a teacher and school administrator rape 63 girls under age of 11 – government must lead the work.
When majority of women in one country do not know the phone number of help line for survivors of domestic violence – government must take the lead.
When women, and girls survivors of rape, have to pay for their forensic examination or when a police officer tells a rape survivor to walk to the police station, as “it is very close”, government lost the lead.
Violence against women and girls is a global human rights problem that is not confined to any particular political or economic system, but is prevalent in every society in the world. And all of us know that this violence is severe and hidden, and that it has many different forms and shapes. It is a direct result of discrimination, impunity, power imbalance, prejudice and apathy. It happens because far too often governments turn a blind eye to it, do not punish those who commit crimes and fail to ensure effective access to justice for women and girls. It happens because very often society at large is still apathetic to violence against women and girls in many parts of the world. When we see a women suffering family violence, how often do we ask: why does she stay with him? And, how many of us actually ask: why does HE abuse her?
In my role as Campaign Manager, I am often asked if there is any value in launching global campaigns to end and prevent violence against women and girls?
My simple answer is YES – of course! Campaigns like United Nations Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence Agaist Women provide a powerful tool to challenge around the world those who would argue that culture, religion or national laws justify restricting women’s and girls human rights. It provides governments with benchmarks and standards they can translate in national laws and policies and implement them. It provides us campaigners with a tool to hold governments, cooperations, media, communities and all individuals to account and to scrutinise their performance not simply by their own national standards and local resources, but by common internationally accepted rules. It also provides society with a different paradigm and activists with a powerful framework for advocacy. Above all, it gives women and girls around the world A HOPE.
As professionals and leaders in our communities, we have opportunities to use our influence to make a difference. Violence against women and girls must become a public concern, as serious as it is smoking: from South Africa, to Canada, from London to New York - smoking is not acceptable or tolerated anymore – what about violence against women and girls?
It is not good enough to just denounce violence against women and girls or to have a law. Just as with smoking, we must campaign to achieve implementation.