UN Advocacy Focus

Violence against women and children is a serious human rights violation that occurs at alarming rates worldwide. Available data indicate that women’s and children’s experience of violence is widespread and takes different forms. The COVID-19 pandemic and the confined living conditions of lockdown, with severe health, economic and social impacts, have amplified existing inequalities and have worsened the existing crisis of violence against women and children worldwide. The empowerment of women and children is essential in eliminating gender-based violence. Members of the International Presentation Association (IPA) are leaders in their missions and professions, working in partnerships with women, children and their communities to educate and empower them with skills in all aspects.

• In 2019, 243 million women and girls aged 15-49 have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner.
• Globally, an estimated 736 million women, almost one in three, have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30% of women aged 15 and older).
• Approximately 1 billion children (half the world’s children) each year are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries, disabilities and death.
• About half the world’s children are subjected to physical punishment at home; roughly 3 in 4 children or 300 million children between the ages of 2 and 4 years receive violent discipline by parents and other primary caregivers; half of students aged 13 to 15 experience peer violence in and around school; and 1 in 3 adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 have been victims of intimate partner violence.
• An estimated 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday.
• Globally between 38%-50% of murders of women are committed by intimate partners.
• The majority (55-95%) of women survivors of violence do not disclose or seek any type of services.

One of the most important ways to address violence against women and children is by providing the survivors who have experienced violence with immediate access to quality services. Such response services must be based upon survivors’ needs and safety. Certain examples of quality and support services include:

• Health and medical services that address the immediate physical and psychological injuries resulting from violence.
• Safe houses and shelters for women and children who are escaping violence.
• Online and offline trauma counselling and psychosocial support for women and children who have experienced violence.
• Channels to assist survivors, in areas such as health, social welfare, police reporting and justice.
• Legal aid and legal literacy training for women.
• Capacity-building of ‘first responders’ (police, social and health care workers) to address effectively cases of violence against women and children.
• Behavioural change programmes for men for boys.

There are many ways of describing and conducting advocacy. Advocacy represents a set of strategic actions that will influence the decisions, practices and policies of others. In order to eliminate violence against women and children in the long term, it is essential to advocate for policy development and legislative change.

What do we mean by advocacy in the context of the IPA’s UN priority action for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children? One simple, overarching definition could be that advocacy is the deliberate process, based on demonstrated evidence, to directly and indirectly influence decision makers, stakeholders and relevant audiences to support and implement actions that eliminate violence against women and children, and achieve gender equality.

Preventing violence against women and children from occurring before it even starts is the most difficult way to stop gender-based violence, yet the most effective one towards eliminating violence against women and children completely. Transforming gender stereotypes and social norms, addressing the structural causes associated with violence in any society is not only the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do for a long-term development and stability.

Violence against women and children remains pervasive across the world, despite the significant efforts that have been made to respond to gender-based violence and advocate for its elimination in all its forms. A total elimination though can only be achieved through prevention. Successful prevention requires:

• political commitment and leadership
• implementing laws and policies that promote gender equality
• investing in women’s organisations
• allocating resources to prevention, and
• addressing the multiple forms of discrimination women face daily.

Considering and assessing the context (current laws, policies and practices addressing gender-based violence) in which prevention strategies are to be implemented is an essential aspect of the planning process. Preventing violence against women and children before it occurs is fundamental to ensuring that women and children are truly able to live a life free from violence.