Now in its fourth decade, campaign fights most pervasive rights violation

WASHINGTON (AN) — They are disturbing numbers: One in three women and girls will suffer sexual or physical violence in their lifetimes. Seventy percent of women experience gender-based violence in humanitarian contexts.

One in five girls is married when still under the age of 18, and one in three women and girls lives in a country where marital rape is not an explicit crime.

Also widespread and often perpetrated without justice for survivors is gender-based violence against LGBTQI+ persons, persons with disabilities, older persons, and members of marginalized ethnic and racial communities.

The annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign has involved more than 6,000 organizations across 187 nations in targeting these disturbing trends since its launch in 1991. On Friday, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the 16-day countdown began. It runs until Dec. 10, which is Human Rights Day.

"Violence against women and girls happens everywhere. It prevails in homes, schools, businesses, parks, public transport, sport arenas and, increasingly, online. It escalates in the context of climate change and in times of war," said Dr. Natalia Kanem, executive director of UNFPA, the U.N.'s sexual and reproductive health agency. "For women and girls, no place is completely safe."

Violence against women and girls remains the world’s most chronic, devastating and overlooked violation of human rights, according to Kanem.

"Yet violence against women and girls is completely preventable," she said. "We can stop this crisis by acting in solidarity with the growing numbers of people who are standing up and saying 'enough.' Everyone has the right to bodily autonomy and to live in safety and security."

'Deeply entrenched in gender and social norms'

U.N. Women and other United Nations agencies released a joint statement expressing concerns that "online and technology-facilitated violence against women and girls are exacerbating existing forms of violence and leading to the emergence of new patterns and forms of violence against women and girls."

"At the same time, there has been a rise in anti-rights movements, including anti-feminist groups," they said, "resulting in shrinking space for civil society, a backlash against women’s rights organizations, and a rise in attacks against women human rights defenders and activists."

The dates for the 16-day campaign were chosen to link violence against women and human rights and emphasize that gender-based violence against women is a violation of human rights, according to the U.S.-based Center for Women's Global Leadership, which first launched the campaign and serves as its coordinator.

The center notes the 16-day period also highlights the International Women Human Rights Defenders Day on Nov. 29, World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, and the anniversary of the Dec. 6, 1989 mass shooting known as the Montreal Massacre in which 14 women were killed and many others were injured.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration will soon release an "action-oriented update" to a 2019 U.S. strategy paper that will set U.S. priorities for ending gender-based violence around the world. It is meant to support the administration's 2021 strategy paper on gender equity and equality.

The U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development will also soon launch an initiative for preventing and dealing with gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies, Blinken said.

"Despite great strides to prevent and respond to the pervasiveness of gender-based violence around the world, violence remains deeply entrenched in gender and social norms and persists in homes, schools, communities, workplaces, and increasingly, in virtual and online spaces," he said in recognition of the campaign. "Gender-based violence is a human rights abuse."

Heilprin reported from Bern, Switzerland.