Violence against Indigenous girls
A new report, launched jointly by the ILO and other UN agencies, details the vastly disproportionate rates of violence against Indigenous girls.
28 May 2013
UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA, ILO and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, have together successfully undertaken a study on violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women to be launched today in New York. In the context of the United Nations Secretary General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign, it is also in direct response to his two 2006 global studies on violence against women and violence against children which recommended deeper investigations into the situation of vulnerable and excluded groups such as those of indigenous background.
This study also fulfills a recommendation of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to UN agencies to address gaps in knowledge on the prevalence and incidence of violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women. Towards such a major step, it represents a first attempt at systematically reviewing existing quantitative and qualitative data on the prevalence and incidence of the types of violence which have already been documented in relation to these groups. It further determines the interface between violence experienced by them and the social, economic, political and cultural contexts of indigenous people and how these are being addressed through various prevention, protection and response initiatives.
Based on illustrations from Africa, Asia and Latin America and more narrowly from Kenya, Philippines and Guatemala, the study affirms the universality of violence across all socio-economic groups and cultures. It however finds that violence is heightened for indigenous girls, adolescents and young women when the broader contexts of indigenous peoples such as colonial domination, continued discrimination, limited access to social services, dispossession from ancestral lands and militarization intersect with personal circumstances such as age, sex, ethnicity and furthermore by patriarchal value systems of both indigenous and wider societies.
This study finds that the types of violence which have been documented with respect to these groups are embedded in a narrow space of evidence, which although widening through a number of qualitative and quantitative sources such as Demographic and Health Surveys and Multi Cluster Indicator Surveys which capture household data on areas such as domestic violence and harmful practices, limitations are evident in areas which tend to fall outside the scope of household surveys such as sexual and economic exploitation and gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict.
Notwithstanding the noticeable gaps in information, the report captures evidence which can already spur a call to action. They include in contrast with other population groups, disparities in the way in which indigenous girls and adolescents are affected by harmful practices such as FGM/C, early marriage and pre-natal sex selection; worst forms of child labour including, bonded labour, domestic work and trafficking; higher prevalence rates among them of domestic violence and their increasing involvement and impacts of armed conflicts and communal violence on their lives. These occurrences are exacerbated by the high levels of impunity and limited access to justice, redress and culturally appropriate rehabilitation for affected victims.
The call to action is directed towards Governments, Civil Society Organizations and UN agencies to work collaboratively to tackle issues such as the structural, underlying causes and risk factors that lead to violence and the limited capacities of implementing agencies, while at the same time paying attention to the deficits in information. The study has been reviewed and endorsed by Ms. Rashida Manjoo, United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
This study also fulfills a recommendation of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to UN agencies to address gaps in knowledge on the prevalence and incidence of violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women. Towards such a major step, it represents a first attempt at systematically reviewing existing quantitative and qualitative data on the prevalence and incidence of the types of violence which have already been documented in relation to these groups. It further determines the interface between violence experienced by them and the social, economic, political and cultural contexts of indigenous people and how these are being addressed through various prevention, protection and response initiatives.
Based on illustrations from Africa, Asia and Latin America and more narrowly from Kenya, Philippines and Guatemala, the study affirms the universality of violence across all socio-economic groups and cultures. It however finds that violence is heightened for indigenous girls, adolescents and young women when the broader contexts of indigenous peoples such as colonial domination, continued discrimination, limited access to social services, dispossession from ancestral lands and militarization intersect with personal circumstances such as age, sex, ethnicity and furthermore by patriarchal value systems of both indigenous and wider societies.
This study finds that the types of violence which have been documented with respect to these groups are embedded in a narrow space of evidence, which although widening through a number of qualitative and quantitative sources such as Demographic and Health Surveys and Multi Cluster Indicator Surveys which capture household data on areas such as domestic violence and harmful practices, limitations are evident in areas which tend to fall outside the scope of household surveys such as sexual and economic exploitation and gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict.
Notwithstanding the noticeable gaps in information, the report captures evidence which can already spur a call to action. They include in contrast with other population groups, disparities in the way in which indigenous girls and adolescents are affected by harmful practices such as FGM/C, early marriage and pre-natal sex selection; worst forms of child labour including, bonded labour, domestic work and trafficking; higher prevalence rates among them of domestic violence and their increasing involvement and impacts of armed conflicts and communal violence on their lives. These occurrences are exacerbated by the high levels of impunity and limited access to justice, redress and culturally appropriate rehabilitation for affected victims.
The call to action is directed towards Governments, Civil Society Organizations and UN agencies to work collaboratively to tackle issues such as the structural, underlying causes and risk factors that lead to violence and the limited capacities of implementing agencies, while at the same time paying attention to the deficits in information. The study has been reviewed and endorsed by Ms. Rashida Manjoo, United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.