Ending Impunity for Violence against Women Violence against Women in the African Region: A Public He

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Ending Impunity for Violence against Women?
Violence against Women in the African RegionA
Public Health Issue
8 Mars/March 2007

• Dr Colette Dehlot
• Regional Adviser for Gender, Women and Health

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Violence Against Women (VAW)

• Some Statistics
• WHO estimate that age 12-16 25 girls and 8
  boys, aged 12-16 years, have been subjected to
  child sexual abuse
• In Africa, about 100-140 millions girls and women
  have been subjected to FGM
• About 14-20 of women will be raped at least
  once in their lifetime.
• Wife inheritance can increase the prevalence of
  HIV by 20 in countries where the practice exist
• During arm conflicts up to 72 women will be
  raped
• The overwhelming majority of VAW is committed
  every day by men
• Important Conventions and Declarations have been
  taken nationally, regionally and globally to
  address the above

• DEFINITION
• Any act of gender-based violence that results
  in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual,
  or psychological harm or suffering to women,
  including threats of such acts, coercion, or
  arbitrary depravation of liberty, whether
  occurring in public or private life (UN, 1993)

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VAW Lifespan

• Old age 50 years
• Forced/coerced sex
• Home abuse
• HTP/FGM
• Family violence
• Domestic violence

• Infancy Childhood 0-9 years
• Sex preference
• Female discrimination
• FGM/HTP
• Childhood sexual abuse
• Child marriage

• Adolescence 10-19 years
• Intergenerational conflicts
• Forced/coerced sex
• Early marriage
• Early pregnancy
• FGM/HTP
• Forced prostitution

• Adulthood 20-49 years
• Forced/coerced sex
• FGM/HTP
• Sexual violence
• Sexual harassment
• Domestic violence
• Family violence

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Child Abuse

• Sex preference
• Child neglect
• Child sexual abuse
• Child marriage
• Child prostitution
• Child pornography

• Early/Forced pregnancy
• Sex trafficking
• Sexual coercion
• School harassment
• Child labour
• HTP/FGM

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Child Neglect and Abuse

• Responses
• Child Survival Strategy
• Adolescent Health Strategy
• Capacity building of health and social workers
• Raising awareness among children, families and
  communities APADOC
• Life-skills workshops for adolescent
• Adolescent Friendly Health Services
• Appropriate protection and prevention programmes,
  including counselling

• Health-related Issues
• Inability to report and/or to articulate abuse
• Multiple risks of exploitation
• RH tract infection
• Depression, anxiety
• Suicidal tendencies
• Post-traumatic disorder
• Sexual dysfunction
• Substance abuse
• STI and HIV/AIDS
• Early pregnancy
• Sexual risk-taking later life

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On Route to Womanhood with Promises of a brighter
future
27 African countries with FGM More than 3
millions girls and women will undergo the
practice in Africa
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FGM Typologies WHO Classification
Medicalisation
(Type I)
Infibulations
(Type III)
Keloid Clitoridectomy
(Type II)
(Type IV)
Elongation
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FGM and other Harmful Practice

• Health-related issues
• Immediate effects
• Severe pain
• Shock
• Haemorrhaging
• Local infections
• Long-term effects
• Urine tract infections
• Reproductive tract infection
• Infertility
• Painful intercourse
• Obstetric complications
• Facilitate HIV/AIDS transmission
• Psychosocial
• Sense of losing own body control

• Responses
• Promote law enforcement
• Promote protective measures
• Promote AFRO anti-FGM
• Train health professionals
• Educational campaign
• Promote successful community best practices
• Empower women through education
• Advocate ZERO-TOLERANCE FGM
• Propose non-harmful alternative rites

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Dreadful Traditions

• Child marriage
• Wife inheritance
• Widow cleansing
• Self immolation
• Witchcraft
• Honour killing
• Dowry crimes
• Bride-price abuse
• Dishonouring women

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Confronting Cultural Traditions

• Responses
• Eradicate dreadful traditions
• Establish long-term strategies of legal reforms
• Sensitise communities
• Empower women, the victim
• Promote social and economic services
• Promote gender equity and equality
• Entice male support
• Promote AFRO/POA-FGM elimination
• Advocate ZERO TOLERANCE

• Health-related issues
• Complication from pregnancy and child bearing
• Complication of obstetric fistula
• PTSD
• High economic dependency
• Vulnerability to STI/HV/AIDS

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Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

• Intimate partner violence
• Female battering
• Sexual coercion
• Marital rape
• Domestic violence
• Commercial market
• Forced prostitution
• Sexual harassment
• Sex trafficking
• HTP/FGM

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Sexual and Gender-based Violence(SGBV)

• Responses
• Provide victim-friendly services
• Focus treatment
• Access to support and counselling
• Build capacity of health, social and legal
  systems
• Ensure rapid emergency responses
• Train responsive policy and law enforcement
  agents
• Use WHO tools and guidelines

• Health-related Issues
• Often long-term sexual abuse
• Obstetrical and gynaecological problems
• Psychological illness
• Push Pull factors
• PTSD
• Negative pregnancy outcomes STI/HIV/AIDS

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Violence against elderly Women

• Sexual assault, including rape
• Abuse in the home by family members
• Intimate-partner violence
• Institutional setting abuse

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Addressing elderly Abuse

• Health-related Issues
• Victim reluctant to disclose crucial details
• Failure to seek support
• Lack of targeted support
• Post-reproductive illness
• Lack of economic resources
• Insufficient information to sick help

• Responses
• Enact empowerment
• Provide counselling services
• Support elderly caretakers
• Train health and social workers to recognise
  age-specific concerns
• Foster peer support
• Initiate public awareness

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The Changing face of War

• All forms of Rape
• Sex slavery
• Sexual services
• Female abduction
• Sex trafficking
• Mutilation
• Target all ages

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Addressing Violence in War

• Responses
• Integrate prevention and response within across
  sector
• Strengthen psychosocial support
• Improve protection and legal assitance
• Train health and social welfare woekers
• Train police and local military
• Sensitise families and communities
• Support gender equity and equality initiatives

• Health-related Issues
• Vaginal destruction
• Traumatic fistula
• Uterus prolapsed
• RH tract infections
• PTSD
• Sexual dysfunction
• STI/HIV/AIDS

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The Perpetrators

• Patriarchy systems believe in male domineering
  nature
• Male perception of masculinity as a power
  relation
• Natural propensity to violence
• Forcing women into sex is logic
• High social tolerance of sexual violence against
  women
• Believing in their right to sexually access women
• Sex as mechanism for overpowering and controlling
  women
• Use of biological or psychopathological argument
  to explain mens violent behaviour

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Re-Profiling the Perpetrators

• Health-related Issues
• Perpetrators of sexual violence are almost
  exclusively male
• Women accountable for sexual violence
• Popular perception of women provocation
• Women abandonment if raped
• Submissiveness of female
• Male promiscuity is an accepted fact
• High STI/HIV/AIDS transmission

• Responses
• Challenge patriarchal systems
• Establish mechanisms to stop abusive perpetrators
• Fight intimate-partner violence
• Provide training programmes for men
• Educate and counsel men and women
• Organise peer support
• Increase male involvement to help stop SGBV
• Redefine masculinity as non-violent

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Challenges in SGBV

• Many social settings tolerate violence against
  women
• Social and cultural norms reinforce
  male-dominated power structures
• Silence of the victim
• Impunity of the perpetrator
• VAW is under reporting
• Inadequate institution for protection and care
• Shortage of trained human resources
• No proper support and activities to advance
  womens human rights
• VAW constitute one of the most universal and
  unpunished crimes of alls
• VAW is fundamentally related to discrimination.

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Response-team Approach toPrevention nnd
Management of SGBV
Psychosocial services
SGBV-friendly service team
Economic activities
Healthcare services
Protection services
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Future Needs

• Extend and improve services for survivors
• Build capacity of local community-based
  organisations
• Standardise procedures for timely medical
  responses to SGBV
• Train health professionals in the prevention and
  management of SGBV
• Legal reforms/law enforcement and Human Rights
• Empower women
• Involve men in combating violence against women

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Empowering Individuals, Families Communities in
PM/SGBV
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Women are vital members of families and
communities

• Contributors to socio-economic development

• Educators and Caregivers

• Sustainers of the cycle of life

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Thank You for your Involvement in Ending
Impunity for Violence Against Women In Africa