The Active Inclusion of Men in Eliminating Violence against Women

November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Each year women and other gender activists gather to create awareness on the unique challenges of women and advocate for what they really want. The day is often marked with 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

The Advocacy and Communications Department of the Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) in partnership with the Greater Accra Paralegal group (2023) organized a training for some adolescents in Jamestown to mark the Orange Day, under the theme “Acting Together to End Gender-based Violence”.

The UN defines violence against women as, ‘any act of violence that results in or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. Gender-based violence takes many forms- physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological. Examples include but are not limited to rape, female genital mutilation, femicide, forced and early marriage, and sex trafficking. While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, it disproportionately affects women and girls and people with disability.

Poverty, instability, and lack of education play a major role in exposing women and girls to gender-based violence and are most prevalent in developing countries. Recent global estimates indicate that 700 million girls were married before age 18—many against their will. Girl brides are often vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse.

The theme for the 2023 campaign “Invest to Prevent Violence against Women & Girls” calls on all individuals to demonstrate how much they care about ending violence against women and girls and request governments worldwide to share how they are investing in gender-based violence prevention.

The World Bank reveals overwhelming statistics on Gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women and girls (VAWG). The global pandemic affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime:
35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.

Globally, 7% of women have been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner.

Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.

200 million women have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting.
Perpetrators of GBV are most often identified with masculinity and power, hence has become very apparent to extend the advocacy and include boys and men as allies in the fight against GBV. Mr. Derick Kwame Botsyoe.

Founder – Men For Impact Africa, facilitated a session treating topics such as Masculinity and Violence Against Women and Girls, Gender norms and roles, Bystanding, and Consent. He encouraged the boys to treat the girls with respect and not to engage in activities that could cause them pain.

“Be active Bystanders and report issues or ill-treatments against women and girls”.

Mr. Jude Sodatonu equally urged the boys to take consent very seriously, noting that at any point in time be in a sexual activity or not, they should learn to respect the views of the girls or women. “No means No.”

Advocate for the Street Children Empowerment Foundation, Madam Ophelia Allotey who also doubles as President of the Greater Accra Paralegal group, added that less than 40% of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort. People bottle up and suffer in silence due to stigma and shame, thus encouraging victims to speak up, “it is only when you break the silence that we can help you and hold your perpetrators accountable for their unscrupulous actions against your dignity”.

Madam Stephanie Edzordzinam Anyanah, a Broadcast Journalist in Ghana, urged the girls to look beyond their current circumstances, focus on their studies, and aim for a better future.
The training was crowned with a donation of sanitary pads to all the fifty (50) girls engaged. This was made possible due to the fundraising efforts of Miss. Magdalena Wolter and her German team. The girls were also educated on the effective use and proper disposal of the sanitary pads by Miss. Diana Adams, Deputy Secretary of the Paralegal Group.

Violence against women is a global injustice and the highest form of discrimination, which continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, and peace as well as to the fulfillment of women and girls’ rights.

By Ophelia Allotey