GLOBAL VILLAGE
How will violence against women look in a scaled down world, in a global
village of 1,000 people? (the figures are based on statistics from UN, WHO and
governmental and non-governmental organizations)
·
500 are women
·
It would be 510, but 10
were never born due to gender-selective abortion or died in infancy due to
neglect
·
300 are Asian women
·
167 of the women will
be beaten or in some other way exposed to violence during their lifetime
·
100 of the women will
be victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime
WOMEN AND POPULATION
·
49.7% of the world
population are women (3,132,342,000 women; 3,169,122,000 men) (UN Population
Division).
·
At least 60 million
girls who would otherwise be expected to be alive are "missing" from
various populations as a result of sex-selective abortions or inadequate care
as they are seen less important than boys (E, Joni Seager, 2003).
VIOLENCE IN THE FAMILY
Violence within the family takes different forms
1- physical aggression, such as slapping, hitting, kicking and beating
2- psychological abuse, such as intimidation, constant belittling and
humiliation, including various controlling behaviors, such as isolating a
person from their family and friends, monitoring and restricting their
movements, access to information or assistance.
Around the world
·
At least one in
every three women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten,
coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetimes. Usually, the abuser
is a member of her own family or someone known to her (L Heise, M Ellsberg, M
Gottemoeller, 1999).
·
Up to 47% of women
report that their first sexual intercourse was forced (WHO 2002).
·
Up to 70% of female
murder victims are killed by their male partners (WHO 2002).
·
In Kenya more than one
woman a week was reportedly killed by her male partner (Joni Seager, 2003).
·
In Zambia five women a
week were murdered by a male partner or family member (Joni Seager 2003).
·
In Egypt 35% of women
reported being beaten by their husband at some point in their marriage (UNICEF
2000).
·
In Bolivia 17% of all
women aged 20 years and over have experienced physical violence in the previous
12 months (WHO 2002).
·
In Canada the costs of
violence against the family amount to $1.6 billion per year, including medical
care and lost productivity (UNICEF 2000).
·
In the USA a woman is
battered, usually by her husband/partner, every 15 seconds (UN Study on the
World’s Women, 2000).
·
In Bangladesh 50% of
all murders are of women by their partners (Joni Seager, 2003).
·
In New Zealand 20% of
women reported being hit or physically abused by a male partner (UNICEF 2000).
·
In Pakistan 42% of
women accept violence as part of their fate; 33% feel too helpless to stand up
to it; 19% protested and 4% took action against it (Government study in Punjab
2001).
·
In the Russian
Federation 36,000 women are beaten on a daily basis by their husband or
partner, according to Russian non-governmental organizations (OMCT 2003).
·
In Spain one woman
every five days was killed by her male partner in 2000 (Joni Seager, The
Atlas of Women).
·
About two women per
week are killed by their partners in the United Kingdom (Joni Seager, 2003).
Violence against women is violence against humanity, against
the continuity of this life.
Violence against women is violence against the essence of
this world
We’ve been living in a male-dominant world for ages, and
look what they have been doing … live, and let the women live… I assure you, it
will be an amazing place to live in!