The Amnesty International Report 2008 shows how failure of leadership has betrayed the promise of the Declaration for at least half the world’s population – women. It documents, for example, at least 23 countries with laws specifically discriminating against women. As well as countless others where discrimination is embedded into every day life.
The report also highlights the issue of domestic violence. In just one example, in Egypt in 2007 nearly 250 women were killed by violent husbands or family members in the first six months and two women were raped every hour.
The experience or threat of violence affects the lives of women everywhere – in every region of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
Women and girls suffer disproportionately from violence in peacetime and in conflict, at the hands of the state, the community and the family. They are beaten, raped, mutilated and killed with impunity. Such violence comes as a direct result of endemic gender discrimination perpetuated by social and political institutions.
Women experience unequal access to education, training and employment, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and marginalization. It is extremely difficult for women living in poverty to escape abusive situations, obtain protection or access the criminal justice system.
Nation states are obligated to prevent violence against women, yet the issue is frequently met with silence or apathy. This failure to create non-discriminatory environments has life-long, and unsustainable, consequences.
Violence against women impoverishes society economically, politically and culturally. It limits the crucial role that women should make in the development of their communities.