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UN Women has embarked on a number of prevention and awareness raising campaigns and advocacy such as “Take a Stand” initiative.
Internally, within the UN system, UN Women is coordinating closely with other UN agencies on issues related to Prevention of and Reporting on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (by UN personnel)
In addition to this, we have UN Women Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) focal points in all of our six regions whose roles within UN Women are to:
- communicate their role and raise awareness of the ST/SGB/2003/13;
- to ensure that complaints against the individuals/entities to whom the ST/SGB/2003/13 applies are reported to OIOS;
- to report to the UN Women SEA working group at HQ in order to share any issues, cases or local observations; and gather data for onward reporting;
- to educate the UN Women workforce regarding the prevention of SEA.
“The training had a lot of impact on my life because I [now] have knowledge about the misdeeds of excision [cutting] and child marriage. I'm pregnant and if I have a girl I will not make her go through this practice”, said Fatoumata N.*, a peer educator in Mali. She was speaking about the harmful traditional practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), which is inflicted on 89 per cent of women and girls in Mali, according to the World Health Organization. FGM/C has devastating health ramifications for women and girls, including pain, bleeding, permanent disability and even death. This harmful traditional practice is not yet banned in Mali.
The UN Trust Fund is supporting the Malian organization AMSOPT to change social norms and provide access to medical and psychosocial services for survivors of FGM/C. The project’s awareness-raising efforts in the Kayes region, which has the highest rates of FGM/C in the country, have already led two villages to publicly renounce the harmful traditional practice as well as child marriage, and six others are in the process of doing the same. The two villages held public assemblies bringing together counselors, women, youth and village leaders to agree on the abandonment of FGM/C, and created a committee to ensure the application of the decision
*Name has been changed to protect the privacy of the individual.
DRC
Establishment and strengthening of community mechanisms for the prevention of sexual violence. Support for "Break the Silence" and "HeForShe" campaigns, thousands of people have been reached by awareness messages on the fight against sexual violence, mainly through the involvement of community radio stations.
SENEGAL
Senegal benefits from the commitment of communities and state institutions in the fight against gender-based violence. This community dynamic, supported by territorial and administrative authorities and elected officials at local level, strengthens the efforts of sectoral ministries to put an end to violence.
CABO VERDE
Men’s Alliance has increased on fighting GBV in Cabo Verde thanks to UNW’ support. During White Ribbon Association – Cabo Verde’s second GA, organized in partnership with UNW, a new board and President has been elected the event there was also a renewing of its members and provide a moment of reflection on the future of the Association. The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde Mr. Jorge Carlos Fonseca, in his capacity of the national champion of the HeForShe campaign, who emphasized the importance of the men’s role in achieving gender equality in the country and in the world. Other individualities, such as the President of the National Assembly, representatives of political parties, Presidents and representatives of Civil society organizations, the Minister of Family and Social Inclusion, the UN Resident Coordinator, the Attorney General of the Republic, USA Ambassador and media, have attended to the event. Aligned with the HeforShe, the main lines of intervention of the Network are focused on the challenge that strives for everyone not to remain silent about gender-based violence, to assess men attitudes, language and actions, the education of young people, especially young men. UNW supported also the elaboration and presentation of the new 4 Years Strategic Plan of the Laço Branco Cabo Verde.
MALI
UN Women has adopted a systematic strategy to involve men and boys in GBV projects to have both a significant impact on prevention and repression and to encourage men and boys to be allies to support advocacy for the adoption of the draft law against GBV. A network of young girls operating throughout the territory from North to South, bringing together educated and uneducated young people, is committed to acting as a relay at the community level to inform, raise awareness and encourage their peers to disclose acts of violence but also to refer and accompany survivors to available rescue services. This network has a website with courses on GBV in French and national languages to inform and raise awareness among young people.
Another notable development around prevention is the review of the Police Code of Conduct. Indeed, GBV is common in the security forces. These acts are characterized by harassment, abuse of authority either on fellow police officers or civilian women. The country programme, in partnership with the national police authorities, has begun the process of revising the police code of conduct to include a GBV prevention and control dimension.
CAMEROON
UWN Cameroon worked in the humanitarian settings, awareness raising activities in different forms reached a great number of women, men, girls and boys including traditional and religious leaders who maintain significant influence over social norms and behaviours at the community level, on gender-based violence, girls' education, importance of women's economic empowerment, early/forced marriage and other relevant issues. These community outreach activities were not only prevention measures but also served as a first step to inform the population on available GBV services and to encourage them to report cases in the social environment that traditionally silences the survivors of violence.
LIBERIA
UN Women Liberia continue to conduct series of community engagement including community dialogues, the conduct of the socio-cultural audit consultative session in 6 counties with high prevalence of SGBV cases, and capacity building training for about 83 Women and Children Protection Officers, 65 prosecutors, city solicitors and court officials and 81 health workers. A total of 905 persons (478 women and 427 Males) have been reached in 2017 with targeted SGBV Messages) 2,700 youths were also reached through awareness raising and sensitization information.
NIGER
In recognition of the high impact activities implemented by UN WOMEN's Niger office in recent years, it enjoys the commitment of communities (men's clubs, multidimensional clubs), institutions such as CENI (National Independent Electoral Commission), social nets, National Assembly, sectoral ministries (Gender, Hygiene and Sanitation) in the fight against gender-based violence. The results achieved by the men's and multidimensional clubs (men, women, religious and local leaders) to raise awareness among more than 10,000 people about GBV, gender, and the promotion of women's rights is a successful community model imitated by several actors
CHAD, BENIN, GUINEA, TOGO
The Community Response
In Chad, hundreds of community leaders were trained and oriented on their roles and responsibilities in the fight against GBV, maternal and child mortality through the committees to combat maternal, newborn and child morbidity and mortality. Thanks to the commitment of mayors.
"He for Her", Mobilizing Men to Promote Women's Rights
In Benin, Chad, community radios support the activities of men's clubs for training on violence prevention, promotion of the SSRAJ and the rights of girls and women.
In Togo, the "Papas Champions" continue their activities to prevent violence.
In Chad, Guinea, Benin and Togo, 464 women and adolescent girls were taken in charge
Sexual and Reproductive Health for Adolescents and Youth and the fight against violence in schools and in the informal sector
In Togo and Benin, 568 girls and boys in schools and in the non-formal education system, 200 parents were sensitized. Conferences and debates are organized through the production of teaching materials. Apprentices have also benefitted from this awareness targeting the improvement of their SRH, prevention and management of violence and the prevention of early pregnancies.
A VAWG reporting watchdog committee system has been set up in the Dantokpa market (the largest market in West Africa). They are made of groups of 5 men and women per sector in the market for a more effective fight against violence. At the end of the year, 20 cases of violence, rape, with or without sequestration are denounced by these committees and legally prosecuted
The safety of the girls working in the market, often between the ages of 14 and 24, is ensured throughout the year at the "House of Hope" (ME), built a Christian Association. 1458 girls are benefitting from it. Among them are sex workers and sexually Active girls in the Marketplace who After a psychological support are also referred to Saint Luc hospital for complete health care.
ESCWA, in partnership with the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW) at the Lebanese American University and UNFPA, organized a youth arts competition for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2017. The competition received over 75 submissions of artwork from youth in the Arab region and the awards event involved a presentation on engaging with visual arts as a means to respond to gender sensitive legal reform.
ESCWA, in partnership with UN Women, produced a brochure targeting policy makers on estimating the economic costs of violence against women and a created a series of eight infographics conveying key messages on the impact of violence against women in the Arab region and responses by ESCWA Member States.
ESCWA facilitates a quarterly gender discussion series, open to all members of the community. The following topics have been addressed: Child marriage in the Arab region; Prioritizing women, peace and security on the Arab agenda; Estimating the cost of violence against women in the Arab region; and the Arab position on gender equality.
ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, screened the film ‘Nour’ (2017) about a fifteen-year-old girl from a Lebanese village who is forced to marry a much older man. In response to the film, audience members remarked that activists, government official and NGOs must strategize how to confront child marriage once it happens, in addition to promoting legal reform.
ESCWA, in partnership with the Asfari Institute on Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut, launched the “Lazim Campaign” during the weeks leading up to International Women’s Day 2018. Through the Lazim Campaign, prominent women throughout the Arab region shared their hopes for change in 2018, including criminalizing violence against women and developing gender-sensitive legislation.
In line with commitments to the global Call to Action and in accordance with the GBV Guidelines, IOM continues to work to improve GBV prevention and risk mitigation in emergency response operations worldwide. Efforts are geared towards the needs of front-line field staff and, to this end, experts from global support teams in Headquarters deploy experts to provide technical and coordination support to field offices to strengthen GBV prevention. The deployments generate several results, ranging from infrastructural site improvements and establishment of women friendly spaces, to integration of GBV prevention in emergency strategies, creation and dissemination of GBV referral pathways and other information, education and communication materials.
At field level, in South Sudan, IOM is working to strengthen social norms, values and existing capacities that support positive health outcomes, violence prevention and gender quality, and to transform harmful social norms which perpetuate high rates of morbidity and mortality, perpetuate violence against women and girls, and undermine gender quality in the POCs and host communities. In Nigeria, under a joint CCCM, MHPSS and Shelter action plan, IOM carried out awareness raising sessions on GBV targeting IDPs.
Moreover, a second edition of the Site Planning and GBV guidelines has been published, which will be used for training and capacity building purposes, Shelter/NFI Distribution Guidelines completed, and a site planning and GBV video created. IOM also advocates the inclusion of sexual crimes committed against women and girls during conflicts into large-scale victims’ reparations programmes and policies.
DRC
After the promulgation of the revised Family Code, United Nations agencies mobilized to disseminate texts and laws favorable to women's rights (the Family Code, the Parity Act, the Child Protection Act, the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence and the Act on the Protection of Persons Living with HIV), The Maputo Protocol on Gender and Development, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Security Council resolutions (notably Resolution 1325) during the 16 Days of Activism campaigns in November 2017, Amani Festival in February 2018 and Women's Month in March 2018. A draft bill on the reparation and compensation mechanism for victims of sexual violence has been submitted to the Senate. The agencies support the government in the process of reviewing the national strategy to combat sexual and gender-based violence and the national action plan 1325.
SENEGAL
Senegal has a legal framework favorable to the elimination of gender-based violence through the law against excision, the law on parity, the law for nationality, the Senegal Emerging Plan, the National Strategy for Equity and Gender Equality, the National Strategy for the Promotion of Rights and Protection of Children.
CABO VERDE
In the continued efforts to support the implementation of the CEDAW and other international and regional normative frameworks on women’s human rights, in 2017 the UN Women supported the evaluation of the 6-years implementation of the law. The evaluation has provided several insights and evidences of the best practices and lesson learnt that informed the Government in how to improve the procedures and promote new responses to face the challenges of the implementation of the GBV law. This analysis has provided key elements for the monitoring of the national goals for eliminating GBV in alignment with international human rights and gender frameworks and provided guidance’s to where the actors responsible for the application of the law should improve to better tackle this phenomenon in Cabo Verde. The Evaluation of the Implementation of GBV Law has been a powerful instrument of discussion and analyses, UNW supported the government by presenting the final results to public and stakeholders. The conducted evaluation has shown, that, even so, challenges persist, including with the moroseness of judicial responses and in the institutionalization of victim support services, geared toward their sustainability thereof.
MALI
Thanks to the support of development partners including UN Women and a draft law against female circumcision submitted to the National Assembly (NA) of Mali by the PACTE Group, the idea of a law against GBV was formed on the initiative of a working commission composed of national and international organizations under the aegis of the NGO ACORD Mali supported by UN Women. The Government of Mali through the Ministry of Women has taken the lead through the National Programme to Combat the Practice of Excision (PNLE). A committee to monitor the law was set up by ministerial order and this committee delegated a technical team of five national and international experts (two lawyers and an anthropologist from Mali and two volunteer Canadian legal advisors) to draft a bill against GBV in Mali. The Ministry of Gender and the Ministry of Justice will bring this draft bill before the Government and the National Assembly.
CAMEROON
In humanitarian settings, the capacity and the level of ownership of police forces as a primary protection actor on violence against women issues has significantly increased in 2017. Their increased commitment and actions in the field translating the humanitarian principles and national standards in coordination with other humanitarian actors resulted in gender-based violence cases received by gender desk officers at police stations. UNWOMEN also started to work with judicial actors on VAW in 2017 through magistrat training, and it is expected that further collaborative work with Ministry of Justice will continue in 2018 to strengthen their capacity to treat cases with sensitivity and full understanding of the VAW issues
LIBERIA
Except for the 2014 Amendment of the Elections Law of Liberia which calls for the list of candidates from political party or coalition to have no less than 30% of its members/candidates from each gender, there are 3 key laws still before the National Legislature for passage; Domestic Violence Law, Land Rights Law and the CRC.
NIGER
The Constitution of 25 November 2011 and all subsequent texts support the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, including the quota law which grants a certain number of elective and nominative places to women the 1325 decree 2017 on the retention of girls in school. All these texts exist but the effectiveness of their application remains problematic.
GUINEA CONAKRY, TOGO, CHAD
Knowledge production and advocacy on violence and maternal health
In Guinea Conakry, about 100 health workers have been trained on GBV and its consequences.
In Togo, the same study generated strong interest from partners. The United Nations system and UNFPA are taking a closer look at this phenomenon.
In Guinea, the capacities of 100 health providers were sensitized on violence in delivery rooms with the contribution of several local NGOs.
Chad has organized advocacy for the dissemination of the penal code through the training of community leaders on the provisions of the penal code and Law 029 prohibiting child marriage.
ACDemocracia worked in Ecuador to promote access to justice for women and girl survivors of violence. The UN Trust Fund-supported project seeks to promote the application of normative frameworks and policies for the protection of women’s rights by influencing legislative reform and changing cultural norms. The project is working with the Decentralized Autonomous Governments to strengthen the institutional response to violence at the local level.
At least 20,000 people received information on women’s right to live free of violence through various publicity initiatives, including broadcasts on the national and international media. By providing short six-week courses for 92 people, the project was able to increase the number of women and girls survivors supported to 699, an almost 10-fold increase from the start of the project.
A petition was launched in support of a comprehensive law on violence against women and girls which gathered 27,000 physical and 10,000 virtual signatures from all over the country. In January 2018, ACDemocracia led advocacy along with the National Coalition of Women and UN Women for the adoption of a new Comprehensive Law for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women, which was approved with 90 per cent votes in favour by the parliament in Ecuador.
In Cambodia, OHCHR provided technical assistance for the drafting of a Law on Surrogacy in line with international human rights standards.
In Ukraine, OHCHR report on conflict related violence influenced the content of the amended the Criminal Code considered in December 2017 by the Parliament. In particular, a gender sensitive definition and the criminalization of sexual violence.
In Serbia, OHCHR provided substantive and legal advice for the drafting of and amendments to the Law on Domestic Violence and the Criminal Code.
In Honduras, OHCHR jointly with UNWomen, through technical assistance contributed to the strengthening of the definition of the crime of rape – in relation to the concept of “consent” – it also provided support for drafting a proposal on decriminalizing abortion in line with HR standards.
In Guatemala, OHCHR provided technical assistance to Congress in relation to draft bills both to support rights of women in the context of violence (such as the recently adopted reforms to the Criminal Code to prevent child marriage under 18 years) and to ensure that there are not regressions in this regard (draft bill 5272 to criminalize abortion).
In Haiti, OHCHR helped national stakeholders in identifying and addressing discriminatory laws against women for revision of the draft SGBV law in relation to the draft criminal code and criminal procedure code, in accordance with international standards.
IOM’s reparations programmes are supporting governments to identify and rehabilitate survivors through dedicated trainings for professionals and by promoting sensitive and non-stigmatizing services. These tools and services are embedded in a holistic mechanism that encompasses psychosocial, physical and social rehabilitation with transitional justice and memory preservation/validation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Colombia and Nepal, IOM has delivered training and capacity building to stakeholders to improve long-term access to justice and care for victims of CRSV; for example in BiH, progress towards harmonization of legal and administrative frameworks is enabling access to care and justice across the country; and in Nepal awareness of CRSV is rising across the spectrum of stakeholders. NGOs and victim associations have been trained on reparations and psychosocial support, and referral mechanisms have also been established.
View MoreIOM’s reparations programmes are supporting governments to identify and rehabilitate survivors through dedicated trainings for professionals and by promoting sensitive and non-stigmatizing services. These tools and services are embedded in a holistic mechanism that encompasses psychosocial, physical and social rehabilitation with transitional justice and memory preservation/validation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Colombia and Nepal, IOM has delivered training and capacity building to stakeholders to improve long-term access to justice and care for victims of CRSV; for example in BiH, progress towards harmonization of legal and administrative frameworks is enabling access to care and justice across the country; and in Nepal awareness of CRSV is rising across the spectrum of stakeholders. NGOs and victim associations have been trained on reparations and psychosocial support, and referral mechanisms have also been established.
In Honduras, OHCHR organised several conference and meetings addressing challenges in combatting VAW, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the promotion of the work of women’s networks. It also organised information campaigns on gender based violence and women human rights defenders.
In Haiti, OHCHR funds helped for the development and production of communication tools (audio-visual)/ messages to build resilience and prevent natural disasters for groups and populations at risk with a gender approach.
In Liberia, during the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, OHCHR and the UNCT provided support for the organisation of a conference on “Consolidating National Efforts against FGM’, with the participation of government officials, traditional and community leaders and other stakeholders.