García-Moreno, Claudia

Temmerman, Marleen

English

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eCommons@AKU Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa Medical College, East Africa 1-2015 Commentary: Actions to end violence against women: a multi-sector approach Claudia García-Moreno Marleen Temmerman Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_mc_obstet_gynaecol  Part of the Women's Health Commons Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttps://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rgph20Global Public HealthAn International Journal for Research, Policy and PracticeISSN: 1744-1692 (Print) 1744-1706 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rgph20Commentary: Actions to end violence againstwomen: A multi-sector approachClaudia García-Moreno & Marleen TemmermanTo cite this article: Claudia García-Moreno & Marleen Temmerman (2015) Commentary:Actions to end violence against women: A multi-sector approach, Global Public Health, 10:2,186-188, DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2014.986163To link to this article:  https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2014.986163© 2015 World Health Organization.Published by Taylor ' Francis.Published online: 28 Jan 2015.Submit your article to this journal Article views: 1555View related articles View Crossmark dataCiting articles: 1 View citing articles THEME: INTEGRATED AND COMPREHENSIVE SRHSERVICES: A GLOBAL VIEWCommentary: Actions to end violence against women: A multi-sectorapproachClaudia García-Moreno* and Marleen TemmermanDepartment of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva,SwitzerlandOverall, 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexualviolence by an intimate partner or non-partner sexual violence, although most is by anintimate partner (World Health Organization, London School of Hygiene and TropicalMedicine, & South African Medical Research Council, 2013). Many other forms ofviolence can affect women and girls, such as trafficking, female genital mutilation, earlyand forced marriage, murders in the name of honour or dowry, and sexual harassment andabuse by authority figures (e.g., teachers, police officers or employers) (United NationsGeneral Assembly, 1993). Disabled women, women in prison and women in conflict-affected settings may be at additional risk for sexual and other forms of gender-basedviolence. Despite the prevalence, the tremendous impacts on women’s physical, sexual,reproductive and mental health, and the consequences for their own and their children’shealth and development, many women do not report violence or seek help, so it remainshidden (Campbell, 2002; Plichta & Falik, 2001; Stökl et al., 2013; World HealthOrganization et al., 2013). Governments are obligated under the Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and have also madenumerous commitments in intergovernmental forums, most recently at the 2013 sessionof the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, to develop and implementnational policies, budgets and actions to reduce, eliminate and mitigate the consequencesof violence against women (VAW) and girls (United Nations Commission on the Status ofWomen, 2013).Prevention is imperative and promising programmes exist that need to be tested andscaled up (Heise, 2011; WHO & London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2010).These include multi-sector interventions implemented under a coherent and systematicpolicy framework that empowers women socially and economically. All governments,NGOs and development partners together, need to: frame and implement laws andprogrammes to eliminate the economic and sociocultural factors that foster a culture ofviolence against women, including discriminatory family laws; support interventions tochallenge social norms that support gender inequality and sanction or condone VAW,including comprehensive sexuality, human rights and gender equality education (Redner &Akinfaderin-Agarau, 2014); reduce childhood exposure to violence–a risk factor for*Corresponding author. Email: Garciamorenoc@who.intaGlobal Public Health, 2015Vol. 10, No. 2, 186–188, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2014.986163© 2015 World Health Organization. Published by Taylor & Francis.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 IGO License,which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered,transformed, or built upon in any way. This article shall not be used or reproduced in association with the promotion of commercial products, services orany entity. There should be no suggestion that the World Health Organization (WHO) endorses any specific organization, products or services. The useof the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article's original URL.violence in adulthood; strengthen women’s economic rights and position, includingeliminating gender inequalities in access to formal wage employment and secondaryeducation; and build the capacity of all sectors (health, police, legal, social work) to addresssuch violence (Heise, 2011; WHO, 2013; WHO & London School of Hygiene andTropical Medicine, 2010).Countries must also provide care and support for women who are experiencingviolence. Although many women may not want to disclose abuse or violence, a health-care provider is likely to be the first professional contact for women suffering intimatepartner violence or sexual assault. Women also identify health-care providers as theprofessionals whom they would most trust with disclosure of abuse (Feder, Hutson,Ramsay, & Taket, 2006).The health system and health-care providers, particularly but not only sexual andreproductive health services, programmes and information, can support disclosure,provide treatment, care and support, referral and follow-up, and create documentation.National and local health policies and programmes should ensure that health servicesmeet the minimum requirements for addressing violence against women in accordancewith WHO guidance (WHO, 2013), including: policies, training and support for healthprofessionals so that they can recognise and respond to partner and/or sexual violence,including first-line psychological support, as well as physical health care; post-rape careincluding, emergency contraception, safe abortion, and STI and HIV prophylaxis andpsychological support; and violence prevention, recognition, and care information in alleducation activities. The health system must also address violence perpetrated by health-care providers against women, especially in sexual and reproductive health services,including during labour and delivery, and in the provision of abortion and post abortioncare, among others.Unprecedented worldwide public, professional and political interest currently offersexceptional opportunities for action. Strong leadership and coordination, to guide a multi-sector response and ensure coherence across sectors, can and must be mobilised,including with women’s organisations, which have been at the forefront of work to date.Better evaluation of promising interventions and further research to inform programmesshould be supported.Finally, the UN’s post-2015 global agenda, currently under discussion, must include atarget to eliminate VAW and girls, which supports the actions we outline above. This willhelp to pave the way for a generation of women and girls who live free of violence, andcreate more peaceful societies. Violence against women and against girls is one of, if notthe, most common violation of human rights in today’s world. It does not have to happenand it can end with concerted action.DisclaimerThe authors are staff members of the World Health Organization. The authors alone are responsiblefor the views expressed in this publication and they do not necessarily represent the decisions orpolicies of the World Health Organization.ReferencesCampbell, J. C. (2002). Health consequences of intimate partner violence. Lancet, 359, 1331–1336.Feder, G. S., Hutson, M., Ramsay, J., & Taket, A. R. (2006). Women exposed to intimate partnerviolence: Expectations and experiences when they encounter health care professionals: A meta-analysis of qualitative studies. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166 (1), 22–37.Global Public Health 187Heise, L. L. (2011). What works to prevent partner violence? An evidence overview. London:Centre for Gender Violence and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.Retrieved from http://strive.lshtm.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/What%20works%20to%20pre-vent%20partner%20violence.pdfPlichta, S. B., & Falik, M. (2001). Prevalence of violence and its implications for women’s health.Women’s Health Issues, 11, 244–258. doi:10.1016/S1049-3867(01)00085-8Redner, J., & Akinfaderin-Agarau, F. (2014). Young people: Shattering the silence on sexual andreproductive health and rights. In G. Sen & M. Durano (Eds.), The remaking of social contracts:Feminists in a fierce new world (pp. 310–311). London: Zed Books.Stökl, H., Devries, K., Rotstein, A., Abrahams, N., Campbell, J., Watts, C., & García-Moreno, C.(2013). The global prevalence of intimate partner violence: A systematic review. Lancet, 382,859–865. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61030-2United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. (2013). Agreed Conclusions of the 57thsession of the CSW on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women andgirls (Report No. E/CN.6/2013/11). New York: United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw57/CSW57_Agreed_Conclusions_(CSW_report_excerpt).pdfUnited Nations General Assembly. (1993). Declaration on the elimination of violence againstwomen. New York: United Nations.World Health Organization (WHO). (2013). Responding to intimate partner violence and sexualviolence against women: WHO clinical and policy guidelines. Geneva: Author. Retrieved fromhttp://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241548595/en/World Health Organization (WHO) & London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. (2010).Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women: Taking action and generatingevidence. Geneva: World Health Organization.World Health Organization, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, & South AfricanMedical Research Council. (2013). Global and regional estimates of violence against women:Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence.Geneva: World Health Organization.188 C. García-Moreno and M. Temmerman

Commentary: Actions to end violence against women: a multi-sector approach

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