A Review of Gender Based Violence in the United States of America
Abstract
Gender-based violence (GBV) violates human rights and presents a significant public health challenge with civic, social, political, and economic consequences for individuals, communities and whole societies. Different forms of GBV cause physical and mental harm, limit access to education, incur medical and legal costs, reduce productivity, and lower income. Gender-based violence undermines the safety, dignity, health, and human rights of the millions of individuals who experience it, and the public health, economic well-being, and security of nations. GBV is a global pandemic that is inflicted upon men, women and children. However, women and girls are the most at risk and most affected by gender based violence. An estimated one in three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. According to the UN Population Fund, almost 50 percent of all sexual assaults worldwide are against girls 15 and younger. Although statistics on the prevalence of violence vary, the scale is tremendous, the scope is vast, and the consequences for individuals, families, communities, and countries are devastating. For instance, a recent USAID funded study in United States found that the cost of domestic violence is equivalent to two percent of the country’s GDP nearly equal to the amount of the government’s annual expenditures in health and nutrition. Gender violence is perhaps the most widespread and socially tolerated human rights violation, cutting across borders, race, class, ethnicity, and religion. Gender-based violence impacts the lives of countless women and their families across the United States. Women and girls of all ages, income levels, racial and ethnic communities, sexual orientations and religious affiliations experience violence in the form of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, trafficking and stalking. The enactment of the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 provided a national, streamlined response to how communities respond to violence against women by giving law enforcement, prosecutors and judges the tools they need to hold offenders accountable and keep communities safe while supporting victims.
Keywords: GBV, Human rights, Violations, Challenges, Barriers, Policies
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