“We must end the system of silence that allows violence against women and girls to persist.” —Vidya Sri, cofounder and chief operating officer, Every Woman Treaty, and forced marriage expert 

EVERY Woman Treaty, an NGO representing women’s rights advocates in 128 countries, has launched a campaign for a global treaty to combat the worldwide pandemic of violence against women and girls.

“Violence against women and girls is a global crisis that occurs in every nation and takes many forms. At least one in three women is raped, beaten, or assaulted,” Vidya Sri, cofounder and COO of Every Woman Treaty, and a forced marriage expert, said. “Yet at the global level, there is still no legally binding tool to hold nations accountable for preventing this violence, and no mechanism for fully funding proven interventions.”

Current agreements, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW, have spotlighted the issue of gender-based violence and set forth human rights principles to which signatories aspire. Building on and complementing such agreements, the Every Woman Treaty would, for the first time on a global level, make preventing violence against women and girls a legal mandate.

Women’s rights advocates modelled the Every Woman Treaty after successful global treaties such as the Tobacco Treaty and the Mine Ban treaty, which set forth measurable, evidence-based actions for nations to take and that generated financial resources. The Every Woman Treaty website, everywoman.org, states: “Treaties catalyze funding. In the first 36 hours of the Mine Ban Treaty, nations pledged US$500 million toward implementation. The Every Woman Treaty fund aims for US$4 billion annually, or 1 dollar per female on earth.”

“Existing legal frameworks have recognized that addressing violence against women is urgent and necessary,” Simi Kamal, a social development specialist in Pakistan and member of Every Woman Treaty’s Steering Committee, said. “The emerging worldwide recognition of the reality and pervasiveness of sexual, mental, and physical abuse has placed this vital human rights issue at the top of global leaders’ agendas. The next step is ending it with a global treaty.”

“The vast scope of the problem requires a concerted worldwide effort that only a global treaty can deliver,” Eleanor Nwadinobi, a steering committee member from Nigeria, said. “Thousands of people all over the world have visited everywoman.org to join our call supporting the high-level dialogues taking place.”

Five Key Interventions

“We’re breaking the system of silence that allows violence against women and girls to persist and showing that while the problem is big, it’s solvable,” said Sri. “This treaty will be a game changer that mandates the kinds of interventions that have been proven effective in reducing violence, and helps raise the money to fully implement them.”

These five interventions are:

(1) legal reform;

(2) training and accountability for police, judges, doctors, and nurses;

(3) violence prevention education and campaigns;

(4) services for survivors; and

(5) funding.

“As an indigenous woman and human rights activist, I can speak to the importance of a global treaty to set a legal framework,” Caroline Herewini, an Every Woman Steering Committee member, said. “In New Zealand, the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) between Maori and the settlers set standards for proactive partnership, participation, and protection.”

As an indigenous rights activist, I can speak to the importance of a global treaty to set a legal framework, hold nations accountable, and generate resources,” Caroline Herewini, an Every Woman Steering Committee member, said. “In New Zealand, we have the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), which set the standards and provided the tools for us to negotiate from a proactive position.”

“We modelled the Every Woman Treaty after the Tobacco Treaty and the Mine Ban Treaty, successful proactive treaties that mandate clear, measurable steps nations must take,” said Every Woman Treaty cofounder Lisa Shannon, author of A Thousand Sisters and Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen. “To date, more than 840 organizations and 4,200 individuals from 150 countries have called for this global treaty. The treaty will generate the enormous political will that gets nations to act, and will catalyze an increase in funding, bringing more resources for all to prevent violence against women and girls.”

Notable signers include Nobel Peace Prize laureates Shirin Ebadi (Iran), Tawakkol Karman (Yemen), and Jody Williams (USA). Every Woman Treaty invites women and men to join the global call for a treaty at everywoman.org, and help create a safe world for women and girls.

– Mar. 5, 2019 @ 13:59 GMT |