Women and girls should be heard – Odede

KEETMANSHOOP, 11 DEC – Women who have experience physical or sexual violence report higher rates of depression, having an abortion and acquiring human immunodeficiency virus compared to women who have not.
These remarks were made by the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Rachel Odede in her speech read on her behalf at the commemoration of the International Human Rights Day and the day of Namibian Women here on Monday.
Both days are commemorated under the theme; ‘Orange the world #HearMeToo: ending Gender Based Violence in the world of work’.
“Other health consequences include unwanted pregnancies and complications associated with forced or unsafe abortions, disability and psychological trauma,” she said.
Odede said exposure to and fear of violence deprives women and girls of their rights to education, health and decent livelihoods.
“We have and continue to see the human rights of women being abandoned, especially in form of violence. It is a complex phenomenon, resulting from unequal power dynamics and persistent social norms, practices and behaviours that discriminate against women,” she said, adding that worldwide approximately 15 million adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 have experienced forced sex at some point in their lives, while one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence, mostly by intimate partner.
She further explained that harmful practices such as child marriage steal the childhoods of 15 million girls under the age of 18 annually.
“Women play a critical role in sustaining economic and social progress and development, however, if they are left behind and faced barriers such as gender inequality, poverty, disempowerment as well as gender based violence, they cannot fulfil this potential,” Odede noted.
Odede said the UN will continue to advocate for human rights of women and girls and for gender equality and she urged the public at large to do the same.
She said addressing these issues starts with empowering victims and providing them with safe spaces to share their stories and be heard. – NAMPA