UN human rights chief calls for end to ‘economic violence’ against women and girls
In his opening speech to a full-day session dedicated to women and human rights, Mr. Türk said there had been “extraordinary progress” thanks to the women’s movement around the world.
But the fact that a separate council on gender-based violence needed to be convened showed that progress was “hard-won and fragile”, he added.
The meeting focused on the so-called Economic violence as part of a broader pattern of gender-based violence occurs when a woman or girl is denied access to financial resources as a form of abuse or control.
Mr. Türk noted that one in three women have experienced some form of violence – physical, sexual, psychological or economic – at least once in their lives.
“If one in three men globally were suffering such devastating and widespread harm, an emergency summit would be called.“, he say.
Unseen, Uncontrolled
The High Commissioner said economic violence is often invisible or unchecked but can be as harmful as physical violence, as it often involves forms of control, exploitation and destruction.
“While economic violence most often occurs within the family, It can also be enabled and implemented by the State through discriminatory legal frameworks. This has limited women’s access to credit, employment, social protection or property and land ownership,” he said.
Mr. Türk stated that global efforts to achieve gender equality have so far failed, pointing out that 3.9 billion women worldwide face legal barriers that affect their economic participation and that women earn only 77 cents for every dollar paid to men, among other inequalities.
Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks at the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) debate on women’s rights in Geneva.
It’s time to start again
Mr. Türk said that a thorough overhaul of discriminatory laws and practices is needed to end economic violence.
“Gender equality needs to be actively promoted through laws that regulate all areas of life and policy measures are needed to ensure these laws are applied,” he said.
In addition, he said stronger efforts were needed to ensure survivors of economic violence could seek justice and support.
“There needs to be better complaints mechanisms, better economic and social support systems.psychological support is made more widely available and perpetrators are brought to justice,” the High Commissioner said.
He stressed that violence against women and girls was “abhorrent and inexcusable”.
Civil
At the forum, members of civil society also weighed in on the harm caused by economic violence.
Esther Waweru, Senior Legal Adviser at Equality Now, said inequality within families was one of the main causes of economic violence, along with “degenerate patriarchal gender norms.”
She said 1.4 billion women globally live in countries where economic violence is unrecognized and unprotected; a reality she believes could leave more women and girls vulnerable to exploitation.
Ms. Waweru recommended that Member States introduce comprehensive legislation to criminalize sexual and gender-based violence as well as intimate partner violence – along with economic violence.
She called for the law to “repeal and repeal the matrimonial power provisions that designate the husband as head of household” to “ensure equitable sharing of common property arising from marriage” and equal labor rights.
