WUNRN
Campaign to End
Hunger Must Focus on Violence Against Women
G8 leaders meeting next week to talk about food security must include
factors such as domestic violence that affect women's ability to produce,
process and prepare food for their families
Women
attend a lecture in the
13 June 2013 - Later this month, food
security and nutrition will be a top agenda item at the G8
summit in
A discussion on ending hunger
must take into account factors that affect women's ability to produce, process
and prepare food for their families. We must make sure that ending all forms of
violence against girls and women is a priority as the international community
looks beyond the 2015 millennium development goals.
The International Centre for Research on Women
(ICRW) is delighted to see that the UN high level panel's report
last week outlined the need for a standalone goal to achieve gender
equality and empower women and girls. It's important that the final product of
the post-2015 discourse includes strong measures on reducing violence against
girls and women, and ambitious targets on ending child marriage.
Many women suffer domestic violence, and the cost to
households includes inefficiencies in food production and an unpredictable home
environment. An estimated one in every three women worldwide experiences
violence, with rates reaching as high as 70% in some countries, affecting every
social and economic class, and every religion, race and ethnicity.
The evidence on gender-based
violence speaks for itself. For example, the use of rape as a weapon of war in
countries such as the
In the past few decades,
researchers have made great efforts to identify the root causes of gender-based
violence as well as viable ways to reduce it. More often than not, it stems
from profound gender inequality, is inextricably tangled in social and cultural
norms, and is fuelled by economic strife. Through research and programmes, the
international development community has been establishing ways to combat gender
inequality and gender-based violence.
ICRW has found that interventions that work with
men, and especially young and adolescent boys, are critical in shifting the
behaviour of the next generation. Through an innovative school-based programme
in Mumbai – Gender Equity Movement in Schools
– our researchers have witnessed and documented a marked shift in boys'
attitudes toward girls and women. And there are signs that a pioneering project
in rural
Girls and women encounter
physical, sexual and psychological violence across the world. From domestic
abuse to rape as a weapon of war, violence against women is a gross violation
of human rights as well as a threat to their health and wellbeing. It is also a
severe impediment to development that renders a staggering cost to society.
When women are abused or attacked they are often so psychologically or
physically harmed that they are unable to work, earn an income, or care for
themselves – let alone raise their children to be healthy, productive adults.
According to available country data,
as many as seven out of 10 women worldwide – at home, in the streets, or in
conflict zones – will experience some form of violence in their lifetime. In
fact, girls and women aged 15 to 44 are more at risk of being raped or
experiencing domestic violence than being harmed by traffic accidents, cancer,
malaria and war.
There is a long road ahead to find sustainable solutions
to reduce violence against girls and women. This year's G8 declaration on preventing sexual
violence in conflict is a remarkable first step towards that
end. Now it is time for the international community to extend the remit beyond
the battlefield. I urge the G8 leaders meeting in
• Sarah Degnan Kambou is president of the International
Centre for Research on Women