Today, November 25, 2019, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. On this occasion, the Coalition of Women MPs from Arab Countries to Combat violence against women stresses the need to reject all forms of violence against women, especially economic, domestic, psychological, physical, and political violence and all forms of discrimination. Although the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, violence remains a phenomenon and a problem that is widespread throughout the world. There is still a long way to go to achieving justice and equality for women. One in three women is subjected to violence around the world. According to the latest United Nations statistic, 750 million girls got married before 18 years old, and 200 million girls underwent female genital mutilation. Women still constitute more than 71% of human victims, and 1 in every two girls is killed from a family member. Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, continuous and destructive human rights violations in our world today, according to the United Nations, but most of it remains unreported due to the lack of punishment, silence, the scandals and the stigma surrounding it.

Governments should be aware that the priority of gender equality is as important as its priorities in combating poverty, unemployment and achieving security and safety. If we examine the studies and statistics closely, we can clearly see that gender-based equality is fully linked with the fight against poverty, unemployment and the achievement of security and safety. The cost of violence in the world accounts for 2% of GDP and is equivalent to approximately one and a half trillion dollars, which is close to the size of Canada’s economy. This is according to CARE World Report 2018. The problem is serious in low, middle and high income countries alike. According to the report, the cost of violence on GDP is higher than the cost of government intervention and suspension. Therefore, serious and swift steps must be taken at all levels to eliminate violence against women and achieve gender equality.

In this regard, the coalition was able to present a convention to (Combat Violence against Women, Girls and Domestic Violence) to the League of Arab States in December 2016 and is now working to mobilize support from states at the regional level for ratification. The coalition reminds of the need to accelerate the steps by Arab governments to ratify the agreement because it is considered a preventive framework before it is a protection framework for women, girls and the family.