admin
Coach Ropa Youth Interactive Correspondent
For years now, violence against women and girls has become a norm in many societies all over the world. Regardless of the underlying factors that could possibly lead to such occurrences, violence against women still remains a threat and an act of violation towards human rights and women’s rights.
Women’s rights activists and civil society organisations have been working towards ensuring that women and girls’ rights get more awareness in a bid to reduce the number of gender based violence cases towards women and girls.
Progress has been made over the years and to some extent, the world at large has seen changes, but there still remains room for more initiatives to be implemented. This article seeks to address the progress and also highlight the opportunities that can be used to advocate for and combat violence against women and girls (VAWG).
Looking back and analysing the rates of the scourge – violence against women and girls, it’s safe to say that there is room for more intervention. Advocacy alone cannot reduce the mounting numbers of violence against women.
Movements were started, not just recently, but some were started years ago. Did those movements bring permanent change? Posts were and are still being put up all over social media to support the cause and raise awareness, but is there any significant change? Is the violence against women and girls ever going to come to an end? Are all efforts being made ever going to pay off? It is important to recognise the role that has been played by women’s rights movements to curb and put an end to violence against women and girls.
Those movements were and are still acts of bravery regardless of the fact that people label them “feminist movements”. Such movements started off a discussion that had been avoided for a long time and they helped create a platform for cases of violence to be talked about. With that being said, it should also be noted that even though movements played an exceptional role, the success was slightly short-lived with no long term results.
Women and girls need to speak out and let their voices be heard, but they can only be heard if they talk about the issues that they are facing. Platform issues aside, many women and girls are being stopped from talking about how they are victims of abuse and violence because of fear. If many victims had the confidence to report their cases, the current statistics of violence and abuse cases against women and girls would be much higher.
The evolution of women’s rights paved a way for women and girls to be protected by the law. It also played a role in creating a platform for women’s human rights to be identified and be known on a greater platform.
The identification of women’s rights has helped many in understanding the different forms of violence that are emerging and also acknowledging that any violence posed against women and girls is a form of discrimination and a complete violation of human rights.
Through social media, more awareness about women’s rights has been raised and women’s rights activists continue to advocate for women and girls in a bid to end violence against them.
Movements such as the #MeToo and #BreaktheSilence have helped create a conducive environment, a safe space across various social media platforms for people to voice out their opinions about the various forms of abuse and violence that many women and girls all over the world are facing.
In some parts of the world, women and girls are fully aware of their rights, thus they have the power and confidence to speak freely about issues revolving around their rights and violation of such.
However, in other parts of the world, women and girls are suffering in silence due to social stigma in their communities.
Therefore, it is important for communities to be developed into supportive environments that will allow them to work as catalysts in eradicating acts of violence posed against women and girls. Women and girls should be able to report any acts of violence committed against them with the confidence that they will not be victims of further assault after reporting their cases to the authorities.
In as much as we can start movements for women and girls’ rights, we need to take into account that perpetrators will continue looking for victims until justice is served. This fight will not be won if activists are the only ones who take the stand at fighting for the cause, policy makers should also come into the picture to help create laws that can protect women and girls from any forms of abuse and violence. Laws made should serve as protection acts for women and girls who report cases.
It is not enough to simply make perpetrators apologise for their actions. What will result in a drastic change (for the better) is calling out perpetrators and making them pay for their actions through the help of laws that support women and girls’ rights. For how long will perpetrators run scot-free after destroying lives not just physically but emotionally and psychologically as well!
Feedback: [email protected]
Online Reporter