Mediterranean Forum Asks Governments to Enforce Laws to Curb Violence Against Women, Girls

UNITED NATIONS, New York — National laws and other practical measures must be adopted urgently to stamp out violence against women and girls, which harms the whole society and prevents women from fully contributing to development, according to participants in the 1st Mediterranean Forum on Violence Against Women.

The Forum, held in Rabat, Morocco, on 23-25 November, called for the lifting of all reservations on the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the ratification of its 1999 Optional Protocol. It also called for the ratification of all conventions by the International Labour Organization on the rights of women in the workplace. In addition, participants called for national policies to be based on the principle of equality between men and women and national legislations to be in compliance with relevant international conventions.

Organized by the Moroccan Government, the Canadian Agency for International Development and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, the Forum was held in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The gathering included 80 participants from Mediterranean governments, non-governmental organizations, parliaments, research institutions and the media. Representatives came from Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, and Türkiye, in addition to Canada.

“The persistence of gender-based violence calls for the establishment of clear national policies to eradicate all forms of abuse that would allow women to fully enjoy their human rights,” said Yasmina Baddou, Morocco’s Secretary of State in charge of Family, Childhood and Disabled Persons. “This would also allow them to play their political and social roles and to be integrated in the economy.”

The gathering provided participants with an opportunity to exchange experiences in combating gender-based violence, including legal measures and other prevention means, as well as ways to deal with battered women and girl victims. Despite the growing awareness of the problem in most of the Mediterranean countries, and despite major achievements in some of these countries, participants noted major obstacles to gender equality and the eradication of gender-based discrimination in the economic, social, and cultural areas.

UNFPA “is working hard in this region on multidimensional approaches to address gender-based violence,” said Alaadin Morsy, Director of UNFPA’s Arab States and Europe Division. “In doing so, it fully realizes the need to adopt an approach that takes into consideration the cultural and local specificities, without disregarding international principles of equality and human rights.”

Participants discussed the various consequences of violence against women, including its social and cultural dimensions; related legal national and international frameworks; the impact on women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health; and the economic costs of violence against girls and women

The Rabat Declaration, adopted by the Forum, notes that some laws in certain Mediterranean countries still enforce gender-based discrimination and disregard women’s human rights. It also affirms that the adhesion to international human rights agreements would remain limited as long as it is not coupled with gender-sensitive legislative and the protection of women’s human rights.

In addition to national laws against violence against women and girls, the Declaration calls for public and media campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of such violence, particularly to women’s health, including reproductive health. It also calls for strategies to integrate gender in national development plans, with special attention to the needs of rural women and girls. The Declaration notes the need to clear school curricula of perceptions that tarnish the image of women. It also calls for improvements in care for victims, including strengthening counselling centres, as well as psychological and legal support.

The Declaration also proposes the establishment of a Mediterranean network on gender-based violence, in cooperation with the UNFPA, to facilitate the exchange of information on good practices and to follow up on the Forum’s recommendations and plan of action.

Contact Information:

Omar Gharzeddine
Tel.: +1 (212) 297-5028
Email: gharzeddine@unfpa.org