Indicators to Measure Violence Against Women in Africa

1. Expert Group on Indicators to measure Violence Against Women Oumar SARR Statistician African Centre for Statistics Geneva 8 - 10 October

2. Plan of the Presentation Introduction African context Indicators Some statistics Issues of Measurement ECA Initiatives Conclusions Slide 2

3. Violence against women are widely observed through the world but perhaps mostly in Africa; Since long time, most of these violence are admitted by people; In spite of many conventions and treaties ratified, countries don’t fully apply recommendations; Difficulty to compare progresses and obstacles since in most African countries data on women’s rights is not adequately and regularly collected. Introduction Slide 3

4. African context Social context Tradition: patriarchal family gives superiority of men upon women; Religion: admit privileges of men to the detriment of women. Political context Policy monopolized by men while women are often excluded at the high level of decision; Justice not strong and admit somewhat traditional or religious understanding. Wars & Conflicts Favour massive acts of violence against women and children. Slide 4

5. In Zaria, Nigeria, 16% of patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were girls under the age of five, a sign of sexual assault; In the single year 1990, the Genito-Urinary Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, treated more than 900 girls under 12 for STDs; Ethiopia has the highest figure of 59% of sexual violence; In 2005, WHO found that 50% of women in Tanzania and 71% of women in Ethiopia’s rural areas reported beatings or other forms of violence by husbands or other intimate partners; Some statistics

6. In South Africa, Amnesty International reports that a woman is killed by her husband or boyfriend every six hours; In Zimbabwe, six out of 10 murder cases tried in the Harare High Court in 1998 were related to domestic violence; In Kenya, the attorney general’s office reported in 2003 that domestic violence accounted for 47% of all homicides. Some statistics

7. Physical violence During conflicts Women treated as war trophies, Rape, Women taken as sexual slaves, Women exposed amputation, Abduction, Forced labour, Displacement, Ritual murder, Social reprobation; Daily acts: considered normal Beaten, killed, forced marriage, marital rape, female genital cutting,sexual harassement, … Indicators Slide 7

8. Psychological violence Moral violence addressed Bad words against women. Method of withdrawing women from their husband family in case of divorce: no right on land, cattle and any decision on family issues; No decision on family management. Indicators Slide 8

9. Status of the measurement Main source of statistics are NSOs BUT studies on Gender issues are: Rare due to the priorities to other subjects; Methodology: difficulty to draw study on gender violence is that the society find humiliant or mispolite to ask some questions. Lack of coordination between NSOs and line ministers in charge of gender issues. Issues of Measurement Slide 9

10. Dev. Account Project on Gender Jointly implemented by ACS and ACGSD Overall objective to assist African Governments to improve gender sensitive policy formulation, programme targeting, including public expenditure programmes and monitoring progress towards gender equality and empowerment of women through sex-disaggregated data. ECA Initiatives Slide 10

11. Component 1: Engendering P&R on PHC This component of the project intends to review, from a gender perspective, the statistical frameworks for the preparation of the 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses (2010 RPHC) and provide recommendations on how to take account of the gender perspectives in census undertaking. ECA Initiatives Slide 11

12. Component 1: Engendering P&R on PHC To review surveys and census methodologies with the view of assess whether gender issues are taken into account in their implementation; To undertake desktop/on-line research in order to prepare updates on four participating countries in the 2010 Round Population and Housing Censuses (2010 PHCs) - progress and challenges in mainstreaming gender in the censuses; To propose relevant gender-related analytical topics and cross-tabulation related to gender from censuses; ECA Initiatives Slide 12

13. Component 1: Engendering P&R on PHC To review the P&R on PHC with the view of highlighting and/or incorporating gender-related topics; To design training manuals and modules to be used for sensitization workshops for 2010 PHCs. ECA Initiatives Slide 13

14. Components 2: African Gender Development Index (AGDI) This component of the project intends to develop sectoral AGDI in agriculture and trade to inform data collection and processing for evidence-based policy making. ECA Initiatives Slide 14

15. Components 2: AGDI A conceptual framework linking agriculture and trade from a gender perspective. Such framework will be fed with data and information collected, using the sectoral AGDIs; All the indexes will combine a quantitative assessment of gender equality using various indicators, and a qualitative measurement of policy, legal, programmatic, and budgetary responses to addressing unbalances and empowering women. ECA Initiatives Slide 15

16. Component 3: Workshops Overall Objective The overall objective of organizing five workshops is to disseminate tools and methodologies developed by ECA for the collection, development and analysis of sex-disaggregated data; The workshops will be aimed at improving the capacity of African National Statistical Offices (NSOs). ECA Initiatives Slide 16

17. Component 3: Workshops Specific objectives: Brainstorming on how to introduce cost-effective ways of generating sex-disaggregated statistics; Providing a platform for comprehensive exchange of experiences of African member states in generating sex-disaggregated statistics. ECA Initiatives Slide 17

18. Component 3: Workshops Improving the capacity of NSOs to integrate the gender perspective national census undertaking during the ‘2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses’. Advocating for the production and dissemination of sex-disaggregated data through training and dissemination of tools developed by ECA namely time use studies; national satellite accounts of household production; data decomposition in the agriculture and trade sectors using the sectoral AGDIs and gender sensitive monitoring of the MDGs and PRS. ECA Initiatives Slide 18

19. Component 4: Gender Statistics Network (GESNET) This component of the project intends to provide a framework for knowledge sharing, peer learning and networking between all stakeholders dealing with gender statistics issues; Build a Website on Gender Issues with a Portal and a Forum of discussions; Possibility to download statistics from StatBase. ECA Initiatives Slide 19

20. In the future: Programme To sensitise Boards and Head of NSOs as well as line ministers; To advocate for the creation of Gender Units among the NSOs; and To promote production of gender disaggregated statistics. ECA Initiatives Slide 20

21. African Women’s Right Observatory (AWRO) Focus in three forms of violence: partner physical violence, sexual violence and FGM. The prevalence; Political commitments of governments; Performance of law enforcement agencies; Societies’ response to assist survivors and whether governments have formally guaranteed women’s ownership and access to land. AU Convention on Human Rights; Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (BDPA). Other Regional Initiatives Slide 21

22. Need of strong advocacy; Inclusion of statistics components in the Gender programmes; Special efforts to the NSOs for implementing Gender sensitive studies. Conclusion Slide 22

23. THANKS Slide 23