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60 million women 'missing' because of gender discrimination

Tuesday, 22 July 1997: Violence against women and girls is a major obstacle to social and economic development in the world today, according to The Progress of Nations 1997.

More than 60 million women who should be alive today are 'missing' because of violence and other forms of gender discrimination, the report says. Millions more, in every country, on every continent, and of every class, live under the daily threat of physical abuse. "This chronic condition of violence amounts to the most pervasive human rights violation in the world today," says UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy.

The Progress of Nations, published by UNICEF annually, ranks nations according to their progress on key issues affecting the health, welfare and rights of children. It brings together statistics on each country's progress towards a set of goals for reaching basic human needs. The 1997 report includes new league tables on sanitation, under-five mortality rates and women in ministerial positions, and presents data on HIV/AIDS, levels of overseas aid, educational achievement, juvenile justice, youth unemployment, alcohol abuse and school bullying.

It describes a shocking litany of violence and abuse against women and girls that ranges from dowry killings in India and domestic violence in the US to the hurling of acid in Bangladesh, female infanticide and female genital mutilation.

Arguing that crimes against women are vastly under-reported, the publication notes that social scientists are now discovering that the scope of violent acts against women and girls far exceeds earlier estimates. For example, between one in five and one in seven women will be victims of rape in their lifetime. A quarter to half of all women have suffered physical abuse at the hands of an intimate partner. Even in a comparatively open society like the US, only one in 100 battered women ever reports the abuse she suffers.

"Violence against women also means violence against girls, and some types of gender violence specifically target girls," says Ms. Bellamy. 'Son preference' results in the widespread abortion of female foetuses, and the murder of newborn girls is known to take place in some communities, particularly in parts of Asia. The practice of female genital mutilation -- the removal of part, or all, of a girl's genitalia -- is common in at least 28 countries, mostly in Africa. Up to 130 million women and girls today have had their genitals excised.

"In today's world, to be born female is to be born high risk. Every girl grows up under the threat of violence," Ms. Bellamy says. "The shadow of violence under which girls and women live debilitates them physically, psychologically and socially. It affects the healthy social and economic development of all societies."

UNICEF identifies education for girls as a key component in efforts to protect girls from violence. Girls denied the right to attend school are relegated to a weak social and economic position, leaving them vulnerable to oppression and ultimately to violence.

Laws that criminalize gender-based violence are also an important step. Legislation provides no guarantee of protection for women. However, national laws can help to establish standards for society. Yet, the report reveals that there is precious little national legislation that addresses gender-specific violence. Of 193 nations in the world, just over a quarter -- 44 countries -- have enacted legislation against domestic violence, only 27 have laws against sexual harassment, and only 17 regard marital rape a crime. Even in those countries where legislation does exist, the challenge is to make sure that the law is enforced.

"The status quo is intolerable," Ms. Bellamy says. "We must insist that violence against girls and women be viewed as a shocking aberration, not an invisible norm."

Sanitation
In a chapter on sanitation, the report reveals that almost three billion people -- half the people on earth -- do not have access to an adequate means of excreta disposal. The report found that, in contrast to the gains that have been made in providing clean water over the past 10 years, provision of sanitation has lagged because of cost, population pressures and cultural resistance. The world sanitation crisis is opening the door to the plagues of old as germs thrive in unhygienic conditions.

HIV/AIDS
The report notes that AIDS now threatens to reverse the progress that has been achieved in many developing countries over the past 30 years. It presents new data showing the impact that AIDS will have on infant mortality rates in the coming decades and warns against a growing complacency in the industrialized countries as high-cost treatments seem to make AIDS 'manageable'. It decries the imbalance of AIDS research priorities and calls for a shift of focus to benefit the great majority of people affected by HIV in the developing countries of Africa and Asia. "Now the fight against AIDS faces new enemies: complacency in the industrialized countries and divisiveness between the rich and poor nations," it says.

Juvenile justice
The report examines the failure by many countries, rich and poor, to find an adequate and appropriate response to mounting numbers of children who come into conflict with the law. It points to the high numbers of children held in detention and cites examples of good and bad practice from around the globe. It also examines issues of criminal responsibility and argues that, regardless of the reasons for their offences, children are entitled to fair treatment at the hands of juvenile justice systems designed to aid their return to productive society.

Development assistance
The publication also examines the aid record of industrialized countries and notes that in 1995, the latest year for which figures are available, official development assistance (ODA) was in the doldrums, slumping to the lowest level since aid statistics were first collected, in 1950. With average contributions at just 0.27 per cent of GNP, the US comes out at the bottom of the league with a contribution of only 0.10 as a percentage of GNP. The leading donor nations, measured by contributions as a percentage of GNP, are Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden. In absolute terms, Japan gives the most in ODA. The contributions of almost every country have declined since 1992.

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