The U.N., women and violence

OPINION:

The new U.N. campaign targeting violence against women is a worthy endeavor; we hope it will yield tangible solutions and not mere handwringing and flowery discourse.

Regardless of location or cultural mores, women routinely face multiple forms of abuse. One in three women will face physical or sexual abuse during her lifetime, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women this week as he announced the campaign. Mr. Ban condemned rape, sex selection, genital mutilation and sex trafficking as some of the most harrowing forms of abuse. In India, for example, female infanticide and the abortion of female babies is outlawed but still common because males are seen as superior providers and parents also want to avoid the cost of a wedding dowry.

Women are particularly vulnerable in war-ravaged areas. As many as 500,000 women were raped during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and an estimated 50,000 women were raped during the Bosnian conflict of the early 1990s. Data from the World Bank show women between the ages of 15 and 44 “are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, motor accidents, war and malaria.” Clearly, assaults on women are widespread and must be reversed.

The United Nations hopes to bring men to the forefront on this campaign by enlisting prominent men in government, entertainment, sports, business and religion to combat this global problem. Mr. Ban is also urging women’s groups to help the new initiative succeed.

Mr. Ban’s Unite to End Violence Against Women campaign is part of eight Millennium Development Goals, ranging from ending poverty to combatting the spread of HIV/AIDS. While it is admirable to set such goals, we worry this campaign could amount to little more than a PR blitz with no bite. As even a U.N. official pointed out, there is little evidence to suggest that previous efforts to protect women have worked. Rachel Mayanja, an adviser to Mr. Ban, said more than 120 countries had sought to eliminate violence against women and improve societal parity between men and women, however these programs have been largely ignored and underfunded.

In so many of its previous endeavors, the United Nations issues stern warnings and pronouncements against a societal ill or regional conflicts only to see problems escalate because there is no means of enforcement. While it is laudatory to highlight the issue of violence against women, it is ultimately up to the member states themselves to institute no-tolerance policies. This age-old plague can and must be reversed, but it will take not only glossy campaigns but also vigilant policing to make that happen.