Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Violence Against Women and Girls is a global pandemic that affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime. Every girl deserves to grow up protected from harm - yet gender-based violence continues in staggering numbers, often contributing to the end of girls' childhoods and risking their futures. It occurs in every country in the world and cuts across all economic and social groups.
Gender-based violence is an act of crime against girls or women that “undermines the life, health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims." It includes gendercide, sexual exploitation, harassment, child marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking, acid attacks, and physical abuse. Sadly, one in three women and girls will experience violence in their lifetimes. The threat of gender-based violence is pervasive and its impacts are significant in both the short and long-term, as shown by staggering global trends: 15 million girls are married before the age of 18 each year, 30 million girls are at risk of female genital mutilation in the next decade, there are between 300 -1000 acid attacks in certain countries every year, 160 million girls have been killed by gendercide, and in many communities, violence against girls and women is expected and even accepted. In Guinea, for instance, 89% of girls and women between the ages 15-24 believe that men beating their wives is a norm.
Girls have the basic right to gender equality and a life free from violence. We must strongly support programs promoting gender equality and girl empowerment to create the gender-equal future that all girls deserve.
