Gender-based violence is perhaps the violation of human rights most widespread and socially tolerated. The cost for women, their children, their families and their communities is a significant obstacle to reducing poverty, achieving gender equality and achieving the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The violence is a traumatic experience for any man or woman. But gender-based violence is predominantly inflicted by men against women and girls. This reflects and reinforces inequities between men and women and compromises the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims. It is estimated that worldwide one in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape during their lifetime (1). One in three will have been beaten, coerced into sex under duress or otherwise abused, usually by a family member or acquaintance (2). Often the perpetrators go unpunished. Each year, hundreds of thousands of women and girls are trafficked and enslaved millions more are subjected to harmful practices. Violence kills and disables as many women between 15 and 44 years older than the number of cancer victims. And the number of women who see their health is affected by violence than the combined amounts of victims of traffic accidents and malaria (3). The consequences of gender-based violence are devastating. Survivors often experience during their lifetime emotional disorders, mental health problems and poor reproductive health. Abused women are also at increased risk of HIV infection (4). Women who have been physically or sexually assaulted tend to be intensive long-term health services (5). The effects of violence may also extend to future generations: children who have witnessed abuse or were victims themselves, often suffer lasting psychological damage (6). Also the cost is high for countries: increased spending on health care, court filings, police and school difficulties, and losses in educational achievement and productivity. In 1996, domestic violence cost women Chile revenue losses amounting to 1,560 million dollars, more than 2% of the GDP of the country (7). A survey in India showed that after an incident of violence, women lost an average of seven working days (8). Domestic violence is a major health risk to Australian women of childbearing age and cause economic losses of 6,300 million per year (9). In the United States, the figure is about 12,600 million annually (10). International financial institutions have also begun to take notice. For example, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is addressing gender-based violence in their loan portfolios (11). The magnitude and the many variants of gender-based violence The gender-based violence can be inflicted by intimate partners, members of the family, acquaintances or strangers. Although for a long time it was considered a private matter, the international community now recognizes that gender-based violence is a violation of human rights, whose roots stem from the subordinate status of women. The action plans of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), 1994, and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing), 1995, recognized that the elimination of gender-based violence is a prerequisite for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. The term covers domestic violence, sexual abuse and forms of psychological and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation or cutting. Also includes prenatal selection based on the sex of the fetus and female infanticide, extreme manifestations of low social value placed on girls. Systematic rape, increasingly used as an instrument of terrorism during armed conflict, has driven the adoption of important international agreements to protect women and punish the perpetrators of these crimes.
Language: es
", language="es", issn="0300-9041", doi="", url="http://dx.doi.org/" }