The Commission on the Status of Women opens next week in New York, with violence against women as its primary theme. But will this year’s CSW result in firm outcomes or be just another talking shop? Anusha Santhirasthipam, Soroptimist International Assistant Programme Director, sets out ten powerful reason why Governments must achieve consensus and take action.
At past CSW meetings, we NGOs have spent most of the time talking to each other, often preaching to the converted in the safe confines of parallel events. Meanwhile, the real business of policy making, international negotiations and trade-offs takes place in the UN buildings across the road in UN and Government sponsored sessions.
Last year, CSW was a dismal failure because all countries walked away without reaching consensus and no agreed document was signed. It would be a sad waste of hundreds of millions of dollars of tax payers’ money and all our “unpaid NGO time" if we saw yet another futile CSW talk fest this year.
We are expecting many Governments to come to the negotiating table ready to unravel, backslide and possibly, reverse previously agreed upon conventions, treaties and declarations. All this will seriously erode women’s fundamental rights agreed 30 years ago in Nairobi and almost 20 years ago in Beijing.
We need to make sure that each and every Government official at CSW57 understands what is at stake here – that they are aware of these 10 powerful reasons that we must do something about violence against women and girls.
Whether you’re in New York for CSW57 or not, you can play your part, in person or online. Let your Government know that the world is watching: they must do the right thing!
10 Reasons to ELIMINATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS and Ensure GENDER EMPOWERMENT
1. The healthcare consequences of violence against women and girls exceed that of cancer in women (World Bank estimate).
2. WHO findings prove that medical care costs of rape or sexual assault victims are twice that of non-victims.
3. World economic data reveals that countries that empower women to contribute to the economy by 2-3% increase GDP by 6-8%.
4. Women are primary producers of up to 90% of food for the rural poor and produce 60-80% of essential food in most developing countries.
5. Many developed countries have documented substantial productivity losses and negative socio-economic impact due to high incidence of violence against women.
6. Every minute a woman dies in childbirth; teen brides are twice as likely to die. Maternal mortality affects families and communities.
7. 72% of the world’s 33 million refugees are women and girls, most are victims of violence who require medical aid, food and shelter.
8. 80% of transnational trafficking victims are women and girls and up to 50% are minors. Social welfare service costs are rising fast.
9. 70% of the world’s poor are women; 1.2 billion women earn less than US$1 A DAY.
10. 50% of the world’s population are women and in most countries they are registered voters who can determine Governments.
Violence against women and girls significantly impacts a country’s healthcare, security, social fabric and economic strength. Education and empowerment of every girl child is a fundamental human right. Engaging men and boys is critical to transformative social change.
To see the latest updates from the SI delegation at CSW, visit www.soroptimistinternational.org/CSW57