WHO Calls for More Data on Violence Against Older Women and Women With Disabilities — Global Issues

by Naureen Hossain (united nations)Friday, March 29, 2024Inter Press Service

On Wednesday, WHO and UN-Girls launched two new briefs, the primary in a sequence that may talk about uncared for types of violence, together with gender-based violence. The 2 briefs, titled Measuring violence in opposition to older ladies and Measuring violence in opposition to ladies with incapacity, examine the forms of violence that these teams face via the information out there. By means of reviewing current research into violence in opposition to ladies, the analysis crew was in a position to synthesize the data out there on this subject and its scope throughout totally different international locations.

As was famous by Dr. Lynnmarie Sardinha, Technical Officer at WHO and the UN Particular Programme on Human Copy (HRP) for Violence in opposition to Girls Information and Measurement, and writer of the briefs. The restricted information on older ladies and girls with disabilities undermines the power of programmes to fulfill their wants. “Understanding how numerous ladies and ladies are in a different way affected, and if and the way they’re accessing providers, is crucial to ending violence in all its types.”

One in three ladies is affected by gender-based violence in these types. For older ladies—aged 60 years and over—and girls with disabilities, they’re additionally subjected to different types of abuse and neglect, often by the hands of caregivers, members of the family, or healthcare establishments similar to nursing houses. Examples of this embrace controlling behaviors similar to withholding medication and assistive gadgets, and monetary abuse. Although these types of neglect and abuse have been noticed, the research that the briefs reviewed appeared to focus extra on intimate associate violence via bodily and sexual abuse. The briefs acknowledge, nevertheless, that violence in opposition to ladies mustn’t solely be exemplified by intimate associate violence. The prevalence of this instance hints at additional nuances that aren’t sufficiently captured within the research attributable to their limitations.

Violence in opposition to older ladies can manifest in different methods as they and their companions/perpetrators age. Though ladies aged 15–49 are at larger threat of intimate associate and sexual violence, older ladies are nonetheless more likely to expertise it, and this could shift in the direction of different types of abuse, similar to neglect, financial abuse, and psychological abuse. The temporary on older ladies reveals, nevertheless, that there’s restricted information to definitively state its prevalence. That is notably the case for low- and middle-income international locations; the information that was compiled for this temporary comes largely from high-income international locations, a niche that the experiences are conscious of. Older ladies are represented in solely ten p.c of the information on violence in opposition to ladies.

Solely 6 p.c of the research reviewed for ladies with disabilities included measures of violence particular to this group. The shortage of questions particular to this demographic signifies that they’re, maybe unconsciously, unaccounted for when measuring the size of violence in opposition to ladies. Information assortment procedures might not be designed to accommodate ladies with disabilities or forestall them from self-reporting, similar to deaf or hard-of-hearing ladies who’re unable to take part in surveys carried out via the phone.

The briefs additionally counsel that girls who stay with lifelong disrespect and neglect could not acknowledge the particular types of violence, which may account for fewer cases being reported. This might additionally apply to older ladies, the place surveying and reporting mechanisms are geared in the direction of ladies of reproductive age, particularly in low- and middle-income international locations.

This will likely additionally communicate of socio-cultural attitudes in the direction of violence in opposition to older ladies which might be steeped in ageism, dangerous stereotypes, and discriminatory cultural norms that forestall them from sharing their experiences.

The WHO briefs make a number of suggestions to handle the proof gaps. Amongst them are extending the age restrict for survey participation and incorporating questions that relate to various kinds of violence. Information assortment must also account for cultural-specific contexts of violence and abuse throughout totally different international locations. Girls with disabilities ought to be consulted in analysis at each stage when designing surveys focused at them, which can enable for a broader spectrum of disabilities to be accounted for.

Learn the briefs on ladies with incapacity and older ladies.

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