Every 10 minutes, a woman or girl is killed by her intimate partner or family member across the world.
The Femicides in 2023 report by the United Nations (UN) Women and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that a total of 85,000 women and girls were killed intentionally globally. This makes femicide the most extreme form of violence against women and girls.
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is even more prevalent across the continent, as Africa recorded the highest rates of intimate partner and family-related femicide.
Here in Nigeria, the data shows an increase in Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), with women and girls often at the receiving end, particularly in the north. Statistics show that 1 in 3 Nigerian women have experienced GBV by age 15, from forced and early marriages to physical, mental or sexual assault.
What is GBV?
This umbrella term covers all forms of harmful acts of abuse committed against a person’s will and is rooted in a system of unequal power between women and men.
The UN specifically defines GBV as
“any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”
Who is at risk of GBV?
GBV can happen to anyone; however, it disproportionately affects girls and women, regardless of their status in society. The rate of GBV tends to increase in emergencies, conflicts, and crises, where vulnerability and risks are higher.
People at risk include:
- Women and girls living with disabilities
- Young and adolescent girls
- Older women
- People who identify as LGBTQ+
- Women of ethnic minorities
What are the effects of GBV?
GBV has a lasting effect on survivors and their families that ranges from physical harm, emotional and mental distress to death. The effects include unwanted pregnancies, complications during pregnancy and birth, and sexually transmitted infections.
GBV can also result in further threats of violence, social stigma, ostracisation, livelihood, and increased gender inequalities in the long term.
What can we do to prevent GBV?
Here are some ways to tackle and prevent this crisis:
- Recognise the role of gender in violence
- Speak up against sexist and discriminatory language
- Raise awareness however you can
- Look out for signs of abuse
- Stand against rape culture and sexual harassment
- Stop victim blaming
- Stop stereotyping men’s and women’s roles
- Don’t make excuses for violent friends and family members
- Listen to and believe survivors
- Understand and practice consent
- Empower women and girls however you can
- Be a male ally
- Include women in decision-making at leadership levels
- Hire women
As the world commemorates the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence from November 25th (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to December 10th, 2024 (International Human Rights Day), we must do our part to build a GBV-free future.
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