Francophonie Takes Step to Fight Gender Violence

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UNITED NATIONS, Mar 6 2013 (IPS) - Francophone countries adopted their own action plan to better address gender violence at national levels, according to the High-Level Francophone Consultations on Violence against Women and Girls held at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.

The U.N. defines violence against women 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.”

It is estimated that up to seven in ten women globally will be beaten, raped, abused, or mutilated in their lifetimes.

“Today, Francophone countries are taking a big step toward adopting the action plan,” said Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of U.N. Women.  “We need more regulatory frameworks for national plans,”, she added while underlining the importance to focus on the structural roots of violence. “There is no excuse on violence against women.”

The High-Level meeting is linked to the theme of 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), namely the “elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls”.

The meeting, which began Monday is scheduled to conclude March 15.

“The action plan reminds us how permanent violence against women and girls are,” said Najat Vallaud-Belkacen, French Minister of Women’s Rights. “It also stresses the urgent need to make the governments fully committed to preventing societies from such violence,” she added.

Violence against women can be eliminated by addressing discrimination, promoting women’s equality and empowerment, and ensuring that women’s human rights are fulfilled. “It is our collective responsibility to make this issue a top political priority,” Vallaud-Belkacem said.

Even if there has been significant progress in elaborating and agreeing on international standards and norms, more needs to be done, according to participants.

More than 125 countries have specific measures to penalize domestic violence, but still 603 million women live in countries where it is not considered a crime.

“It’s our duty within Francophonie to first work to promote a more just and egalitarian society,” Vallaud-Belkacem concluded.