VAWG Government Strategy

 

In 2010, the Government first published their End Violence against Women and Girls Strategy with this simple proposition: no woman should live in fear of violence, and every girl should grow up knowing she is safe, so that she can have the best start in life. Since then, legislation framework has been strengthened, new offences introduced and awareness raised by many organisations in order to tackle perpetrators, prevent violence and support victims.

 

What is Violence against women and girls?

 

Violence against women is violence directed at women and girls because they are women or girls, or is experienced disproportionately by women and girls as a group.

Violence against women includes domestic abuse; rape and sexual violence; stalking; forced marriage; so-called honour based violence; female genital mutilation (FGM); trafficking and sexual exploitation including through the sex industry; and sexual harassment in work and public life.

 

Violence against women and girls is a cause and consequence of inequality between women and men, a violation of human rights, and a result of an abuse of power and control.

 

Global Statistics on VAWG

 

5. Adult women and girls together account for 72% of all human trafficking victims detected globally, with girls representing more than three out of every four child trafficking victims. [1]

 

5. Approximately 15 million adolescent girls (aged 15 to 19) worldwide have experienced forced sex (forced sexual intercourse or other sexual acts) at some point in their life. In the vast majority of countries, adolescent girls are most at risk of forced sex by a current/former husband, partner or boyfriend. Based on data from 30 countries, only one per cent ever sought professional help. [2]

 

5. At least 200 million women and girls aged 15-49 have undergone female genital mutilation in the 30 countries with representative data on prevalence. In most of these countries, the majority of girls were cut before age five. More than 20 million women and girls in just seven countries (Egypt, Sudan, Guinea, Djibouti, Kenya, Yemen and Nigeria) have undergone female genital mutilation by a health care provider. With population movement, female genital mutilation is becoming a practice with global dimensions, in particular among migrant and refugee women and girls. [3]

 

5. The Crime Survey of England and Wales estimates 20% of women and 4% of men have experienced some type of sexual assault since the age of 16, equivalent to an estimated 3.4 million female victims and 631,000 male victims. 5 in 6 victims (83%) did not report their experiences to the police. [4]

 

5. It is estimated that there are 650 million women and girls in the world today who were married before age 18. During the past decade, the global rate of child marriage has declined. South Asia had the largest decline during this time, from 49 per cent to 30 per cent. Still, 12 million girls under 18 are married each year and in sub-Saharan Africa—where this harmful practice is most common—almost four out of 10 young women were married before their 18^th birthday. Child marriage often results in early pregnancy and social isolation, interrupts schooling, limits the girl’s opportunities and increases her risk of experiencing domestic violence [5]

 

5. In a national university student survey in Australia, 72 per cent of trans and gender diverse students (self-identifying their gender as ‘indeterminate or unspecified’, ‘transgender’, or ‘other’) reported having been sexually harassed at least once during 2016, in contrast to 63 per cent of female students, and 35 per cent of male students. [6]

 

5. Results from a national Australian survey show that almost two out of five women (39 per cent) aged 15 and older who have been in the workforce in the last five years have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace during that period, compared to one out of four (26 per cent) of their male counterparts. Regarding most common perpetrators, in almost four out of five cases (79 per cent) one or more of the perpetrators were male. [7]

 

5. In 75% of the domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police in the year ending March 2019, the victim was female. [8]

 

If you are worried someone might see that you have visited this page, the Women’s Aid website tells you how to cover your tracks online. 

 

Please copy and paste this link as clicking it will not take you to the page.

https://www.womensaid.org.uk/cover-your-tracks-online/

 

For more information about covering your tracks online, please visit Greater Manchester Police’s advice page: ‘How to hide this visit from your web history’

 

Sources

 

[1] UNODC (2018). Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018

[2] UNICEF (2017). A Familiar Face: Violence in the lives of children and adolescents

[3] UNICEF (2019). What you need to know about female genital mutilation- How the harmful practice affects millions of girls worldwide; UNICEF (2016). Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A global concern; and United Nations (2018). Intensifying Global Efforts for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, Report of the Secretary-General

[4] Office of National Statistics, Domestic Abuse Victim Characteristics, England and Wales (2019)

[5] UNICEF (2019). Child marriage around the world- Infographic and UNICEF (2017). Is every child counted? Status of Data for Children in the SDGs

[6] Australian Human Rights Commission (2017). Change the Course: National Report on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities

[7] Australian Human Rights Commission (2018). Everyone’s business: Fourth National Survey on Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces

[8] Office of National Statistics, Domestic Abuse Victim Characteristics, England and Wales (2019)