 Outlawing violence against women: A first stepLegislation against domestic violence has been enacted in 44 countries around the world; 17 have made marital rape a criminal offence; 27 have passed sexual harassment laws; and just 12 countries have laws against FGM.The few laws that do exist vary significantly in strength and enforceability from one legal system to another. In countries that have not enacted specific laws, it may be possible to prosecute offenders under more general criminal statutes. Some governments have introduced accessible and well-integrated legal provisions, such as Ecuador’s 1995 law against domestic violence—a clear-cut prohibition of physical and mental assaults. Current and former cohabitants and parties in non-marital intimate relationships are included in the legislation, and psychological violence is explicitly defined. Other laws are more vague: New Zealand has enacted family violence legislation without specific reference to women or girls; in Malawi, a constitutional provision makes a general commitment to implementing policy on domestic violence. In recent years, sexual harassment has been publicly acknowledged as harmful to women, and countries are taking the first steps by adopting legislation prohibiting it. In the last two years, legislation that directly addresses sexual harassment has been passed in Belgium, Belize, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Ireland, Paraguay, the Philippines and Switzerland. Similar legislation has been proposed in Chile, Italy, Jamaica and South Africa. Laws that criminalize gender-based violence are positive steps but but they offer not guarantees. Worldwide, even where laws are in place, prosecution of perpetrators is rare, and successful prosecutions uncommon. |