Violence Against Women

Violence Against Women

Introduction

Violence against women takes many forms, including physical abuse, sexual violence, psychological or emotional abuse, and stalking. Cross-cultural research indicates that violence is associated with other sociocultural factors that limit women's access to resources.

Data indicate that in the United States, women are at the greatest risk for experiencing violence during their reproductive years, ages 16 to 24. Violence against women is therefore deeply rooted in the larger body of knowledge pertaining to gender based violence overall.

Discussion

Since the founding of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, had put in effort in promoting women's empowerment, gender equality, and women's rights have been at the foundation of several key conventions agreed upon and ratified by UN member states. While they are often referred to as “soft laws,” conventions are international treaties of sorts; they are negotiated norms, setting global standards for state behaviors, and when protocols are attached, rules for monitoring and compliance may apply.

In regard to women's global status and human rights, most UN member states have voluntarily agreed to the following international conventions that eliminate various discriminations against women and protect their bodily integrity; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979); Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1994) and many more. Although UN member states sign international conventions voluntarily and often attach reservations and interpretations that strictly limit the conventions' effectiveness in order to preserve state sovereignty and prerogatives, conventions are treaties with contractual force and are major standard-setting documents. Over the years that the UN has existed, member states have increasingly recognized and supported an international women's rights agenda through progressively broader and more inclusive conventions that often have begun as less-comprehensive “declarations” that, nonetheless, also have some moral power.

The Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against ...