The bumpy road to eliminating violence against women: the influence of crisis contexts on the trafficking of women and girls
The context of historical and structural discrimination against women is manifested in practices that have affected, unfortunately affect and will continue to affect women around the world. According to the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, violence against women is defined as “violence against women”.any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”. Therefore, violence against women is an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace, and their consolidation in society based on full respect for their rights.
Through the Resolution 54/134The United Nations General Assembly’s resolution of December 17, 1999, November 25 was declared the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.The aim is to carry out campaigns to raise awareness of this problem, with the aim of taking into account the degree of special vulnerability that some women have when added to contexts related to migration, indigenous or rural communities, age, disability or armed conflict, among other contexts.
It is important to highlight that violence against women and girls continues to be a form of human rights violation and more frequent and widespread throughout the worldand it is estimated that 736 million women have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both, at least once in their lifetime.. Other important figures reflecting the state of the situation of violence against women would be the following: in 2021, some 45,000 women and girls died at the hands of their partners or other family members around the world; in addition, less than 40% of women who experience violence seek some type of help, which reflects the fact that a large percentage of women may live with the after-effects of violence throughout their lives, at least 200 million women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to female genital mutilation. in the 31 countries where this practice is concentrated.
Violence against women can also be reflected in a number of crimes that have been criminalized in different parts of the world, as in the case of femicide, rape, sexual harassment, online harassment or cyberstalking, domestic violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, psychological abuse, trafficking in women and girls, among others.. In order to focus only on the development of the context of one of these crimes, for a better understanding and greater awareness in favor of the victims, the following, we will focus on the issue of trafficking in women and girls.and its link with the current global crisis contexts.
Trafficking in women and girls is a serious violation of human rights and a form of violence. With regard to trafficking in women, in 2020, it was found that for every 10 victims of human trafficking in the world, four of them were adult women, and two were girls. In addition, most of the victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation detected are women, accounting for 91% of the total. It also states that women victims of trafficking are subjected to physical or extreme violence by traffickers at a rate three times higher than that of men.
Therefore, the growing crises affecting our worldsuch as, climate change, conflicts and the COVID – 19 pandemic (from the consequences of which we are still recovering)The risk of women and girls becoming victims of trafficking is increased, due to the increased vulnerability of these two groups, both in terms of factors such as poverty, economic insecurity, migratory displacement, violence and discrimination.
As for the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have that, as a result of the border closure, technology was used as an avenue for the recruitment and exploitation of women and girlswhich has been maintained in spite of the lifting of restrictionsThis is especially true in the case of misleading job advertisements related to trafficking, or the use of dating apps to recruit future victims. In addition, the Internet makes it easier than ever before for them to offer the sexual services of these women and girls.
With respect to climate change, This not only exacerbates gender inequalities, due to its devastating impact on the livelihoods of the most vulnerable peoplebut also, intensifies the risk factors for traffickingespecially, when women and girls end up opting for migration routes that put them at risk from traffickers. Similarly, natural disasters linked to climate change in recent years demonstrate how they have a direct influence on trafficking cases; for example, we have the cases of Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh during 2009, or what happened with the earthquake in Nepal in 2015.
In relation to conflict, about a quarter of the world’s population now lives in conflict zones, the highest number of violent conflicts since the end of World War II. Based on the conflict in Ukraine, until July 22, 2022.As a result, nearly 6 million people had fled Ukraine to neighboring countries or elsewhere; and, a total of 7.1 million people were displaced within the country, with an estimated 90% of those fleeing Ukraine being women and children, who are at high risk of being trafficked for sexual or labor purposes.
Taking into account all of the above, it is important to recognize the crisis contexts that are currently being experiencedThe aim is to establish governmental measures or policies, as well as those of regional or international organizations, to significantly reduce the impact of these contexts on the trafficking of girls and women and, in general, on violence against them.
In relation to prevention, the United Nations has launched the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign, to be held from November 25 to December 10, with this year’s theme: “UNiTE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls”. It calls on civil society to reflect, and on governments around the world to invest in prevention to eradicate violence against women and girls, in pursuit of a safer, more equal and prosperous world.
From FIBGAR, we want to join the call, and from November 25 until December 10, every day, we will publish a podcast talking about different women who have contributed to the realization of the rights of women and all people.
No doubt about it, eradicating violence against women and girls is everyone’s job.This is measured not only at the international or governmental level, but requires taking steps and raising awareness at home, through the use of education, to make the bumpy road easier to travel over time.
Lessa Verushka Saer Lopez, FIBGAR collaborator.
