Abstract
Prepared in conjunction with Amnesty International’s ‘Stop Violence Against Women’ campaign, this report provides an overview of the extent of violence against women on a global scale, its underlying causes in a variety of social and cultural contexts and its consequences for victims, families and societies, before exploring specific types of abuse within a human rights framework. Topics covered by the report include: violence against women in the context of military conflict; the role of sexuality and community prejudices in perpetuating violations of women’s human rights; and discrimination and violence against women in the workplace and in health care institutions. Specific arguments based on international human rights’ principles for State accountability and equal protection before the law are presented and some of the limitations of current criminal justice responses to violence are examined. The potential role of restorative justice programmes and a range of other community and policy strategies for change are also considered. Throughout the report, individual stories of women from all parts of the world are used to illustrate the severity, widespread prevalence and devastating impact of violence against women.