Nearly one in three women experiences gender-based violence in their lifetime. Every ten minutes, a woman is killed by their partner or someone in their family.
Terminology
The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life"
Gender based violence affects both men and women and boys and girls. Yet women and girls are disproportionately affected because of gender inequality, discrimination and harmful cultural and social norms, which increases their vulnerability.
GBV can take various forms: physical, psychological, sexual, socio-economic and harmful traditional practices. Gender based violence causes lasting physical, psychological, social and economic harm to individuals and their families while exposing them to trauma, fear and potential endless cycles of violence.
During armed conflict and humanitarian crisis, women and girls face heightened risks of sexual violence, which is sometimes deliberately used as a tactic of war. The “offline gender-based violence” is increasingly extending into digital spaces where women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by technologically-assisted sexual violence due to persistent gender inequality, discrimination and heightened social vulnerability.
Action
We cannot become disillusioned by these numbers and must act to create a safer space for women and girls. UNPOL underscores its mandate to promote gender sensitive policing and advocate for increased representation of female police officers in order to reflect the communities we serve. Historically, the representation of women in policing has remained low across many national police services, limiting the ability to respond to the needs of all members of society. The increased presence of female police officers contributes to building confidence and public trust, particularly among survivors of gender- based violence.In many contexts, there is severe underreporting of gender based violence due to fear of stigma, mistrust in the police and insensitive or discriminatory treatment, preventing survivors from seeking help.
United Nations Police integrates the different concerns and vulnerabilities of women, men, boys and girls into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all police activities. We raise awareness and advocacy by engaging with Police Contributing Countries in dialogue, outreach to female police associations, and information campaigns on social media. Only by working together can we lower these numbers. The Gender Initiatives of UNPOL make clear that the reduction of GBV is an important step.