Ending Violence Against Women is Both a Human Rights Issue and a Development Issue

Globally, a woman was killed every 10 minutes in 2023.[1] The world is striving for sustainable and inclusive international development, which cannot be achieved unless the crisis of gender-based violence is addressed.

Despite significant progress in gender equality and women’s rights, women and girls still experience high rates of violence in a wide range of forms, including, physical, sexual, psychological and economic. This has huge impacts on individuals, as well as far-reaching impacts on society and human development. There are deep links between gender inequality, violence against women and girls and achieving development outcomes.

5 ways violence against women is detrimental to international development

1. Gender inequality and economic growth: The World Bank found that countries with higher rates of gender inequality have slower economic growth, whereas those that prioritise gender equity experience more inclusive and faster economic growth and development.[2]
2. The health toll: a barrier to development: The immediate and long-term health consequences to women are severe, as well as to their children. Women with disability are twice as likely to experience gender-based violence than women without disability and can experience barriers in accessing disability-inclusive response services.[3] Victim/survivors have higher risks of physical injury, sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancies and can experience a range of impacts on mental health, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder. Violence-related health needs can place further strain on healthcare systems in countries where the system is already stretched.
3. Impeding education driver of development: Violence against girls, regardless of where they experience it, can impact learning outcomes and lead to school dropouts. There are also situations where gender discrimination and inequality explicitly exclude girls from education. These all in turn limit girls’ future prospects, and can contribute to poverty and continuing inequality.
4. Failing to enable the economic driver of development: Violence against women can impact their ability to participate fully in the economy. Women of colour experience higher rates of sexual harassment than their peers.[4] The perpetration of domestic violence often prevents a woman from reaching their full productivity and can impact attendance and retention of employment. Perpetrators often inflict economic abuse by restricting access to money or resources and prevent women from utilising finances and making financial decisions. Studies have shown that when women have control over financial resources, they are more likely to invest in essential needs such as “food security, health and education “which has a positive ripple effect, leading to better outcomes in health, education, and lifeline earning potential for the entire family.” [5]
5. Impunity perpetuates cycles of violence and negative impacts on development: When impunity exists, cycles of violence and discrimination continue – perpetrators are not held to account. Victim/survivors face systemic barriers to justice and support, increased risks of re-traumatisation and many experience systems abuse within the system that should protect them. Ineffective legal frameworks, weak enforcement of laws, a tolerance of violence and a lack of victim-survivor-centric approaches in justice systems contribute to this impunity. The UN’s 2023 Global Gender Equality Report highlights the way that violence against women: reduces productivity, limits women’s social and economic mobility and destabilises communities. This consequently impedes broader development goals relating to poverty, education and peacebuilding.