Violence against women: What about the law?
According to the information gathered by UNDESA and The World Bank from the project Women, Business and the Law, we now have the updated data from 1980 until 2020, which allow us to broad a picture of the global legislation in defense of the women victims of violence.
First of all, it’s necessary to define the word violence.
It’s not easy to explain this concept because it involves many kinds of aggression: verbal, physical, psychological, sexual and more.
Consequently, every form of violence needs a specific law in order to punish the different types of perpetrators and assaults.
The more specific the legislation is, the more attention is given to the victims.
Concerning the laws on sexual harassment in employment, for example, thanks to The World Bank data, we can see that laws in defense of women victims of sexual harassment in employment have increased over time.
One of the first points that this map shows is that many states in the world don’t have any data about this kind of violence.
Although as time goes on more states decided to adopt this law, in 2020 there are still, for example, Cuba, Turkmenistan and Western Sahara that don’t even show their data to the authorities.
So, the map reveals several problems: many states don’t present any laws against this kind of violence, but there are also many states that don’t even collect official reports about that issue, and that is particularly alarming.
However, from this dynamic graphic it’s clear that between 1980 and 2020 an increasing number of states chose to approve this law on sexual harassment in employment.
Despite the positive trend, there is a deep difference among developed and developing countries.
For example, nowadays the Middle East and North Africa, followed by East Asia and Pacific register a high percentage (respectively 45% and 40%) of states that don’t adopt a specific law on this type of violence. On the other hand, OECD states and South Asia are more advanced into this issue: they present, respectively, only the 3% and even the 0% of states that didn’t vote for this law.
Moreover, the map also illustrates which are the latest states that adopted this legislative statement: for example, the last three states which have just introduced this law during 2020 are Bahrain, Djibouti, United Arab Emirates.
Thanks to The World Bank data, it’s possible to deepen this legal topic too. In fact, data also show which laws include criminal penalties or civil remedies for sexual harassment in employment.
The lowest results are registered in East Asia and Pacific and in the Middle East and North Africa: almost half of their states doesn't have criminal penalties or civil remedies for the convicted (48% and 45%).
The East Europe and Central Asia aren’t among the best positions: the 32% of their states don’t require civil or criminal penalties for sexual harassment in employment.
A further deep wound that is currently present in our society is the domestic violence against women. This kind of aggression has been especially intensified during the last lockdown caused by the pandemic.
The survivors often don’t report their experiences because of fear, familiar or social pressure and because they live with their abusers, who limit their freedom.
Hopefully, according to data updated until 2020 many states in the world have a specific law that defends women victims of domestic violence, but especially in North Africa and the Middle East the situation is still alarmingly.
In Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa states the percentages of states that don’t adopt this law are quite high: respectively 50% and 37%. In these countries domestic violence isn’t taken into account because of cultural, religious and historical reasons.
For example, in many African states women don’t have the same rights as men who have the major authority into the family and in general into their social context. In some cases women are almost the property of their husband or dad or brothers, of any male figures next to them. So, it seems that the laws may reflect the cultures of the citizens.
In order to sum up the content of all graphics and data collected from UNDESA and The World Bank, it’s remarkable that we’re witness to a positive global trend concerning legislation in defense of women victims of violence, but in many countries the situation is still highly serious.
However, the presence of a specific law against the violences suffered by women doesn’t mean an actual and concrete justice.
For example, many women don’t report to the authorities their aggressions, many trials are interrupted or are prolonged for so long, or the convicts are still in freedom because they don’t have to pay criminal or civil penalties and there isn’t a compensation for the victims.
So, it’s necessary to work harder in order to improve the prevention of these crimes, the communication between legal institutions and victims, in order to help them from different points of view.
In fact, women victims of any kind of violence need not only legal, familiar, friendly support, but also psychological and in case of physical aggressions they need medical treatments too.
The survivors deserve a specific and dedicated help first of all for themselves but they also could be a positive example for the next victims of abuse, that are more and more everyday.
Women need to believe that it’s possible to live in a safer and fairer world after having suffered from violence.
Sources:
1. The World's Women 2020 / Trends and Statistics
3. DataBank / Gender Statistics