Uitbannen van geweld tegen vrouwen (en)
25/11/2013 - Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. According to the United Nations, 70% of women are affected by violence in their lifetime: sexual abuse and exploitation, trafficking, forced or early marriage, honour killings, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation... Disasters, conflicts and protracted emergencies further increase those atrocities and expose the most vulnerable to greater risks. Natural calamities often cause disruptions of law and order that lead to abuse or exploitation and rape cases are also alarming in political turmoil. The European Commission is strongly committed to fighting this, through concrete actions on the ground.
Gender-based violence affects boys and men too, but females suffer disproportionately those crimes, not only adults but also girls, adolescents, youth and elderly. “Women’s bodies have become part of the battleground for those who use terror as a tactic of war,” according to Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department ECHO has recently adopted a new policy to better incorporate gender and age-related considerations as well as protection strategies. All ECHO projects must take into account gender related threats, for instance building separate latrines with locks and lights to reduce the risks of sexual violence against women and girls. Moreover, ECHO is supporting initiatives to provide healthcare, legal assistance and livelihood opportunities to female survivors of abuse and exploitation, reaching as well those compelled to trade sex for basic provisions i.e. food, water. Likewise, concrete measures are taken to prevent those staying in refugee or internally displaced people camps from being trafficked or recruited by armed forces.
Last 13 November, ECHO participated in the high level event 'Keep her safe - protecting girls and women in emergencies', organized by the United Kingdom in London. The conference brought together donors, UN agencies, the Red Cross family and international NGOs, which drafted a communiqué and a list of commitments to enhance gender-based violence prevention and response measures at the onset of humanitarian crisis, taking into account those are live-saving interventions too.
For more information
ECHO: Gender and Age in Humanitarian Aid
Reducing 'a double-edged danger' of emergencies for girls
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