Gender Based Violence

Gender Based Violence Around the world, violence against women is an everyday occurrence. Up to 70 percent of women experience violence in their lifetime. In Columbia, one woman is reportedly killed by her partner or former partner every six days. In the Congo, 1,100 rapes are reported each month. In China, there have been over 250 million births that have been prevented between the years of 1980 and 2000. Over 140 million women and girls worldwide have been affected by the consequences of female genital mutilation. There is an estimate of 24 people per minute that are victims of rape. Women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria, according to World Bank data. The statistics can go on and on because gender based violence is real, alarming and needs to be addressed. The definition of gender based violence is “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” Throughout this paper, we will be focusing on four main topics of gender-based violence. The areas of female genital mutilation, rape, girls killed in China, and honour killings will all be addressed. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Around the world over 140 million girls and women are currently living with the consequences of these procedures. The average age to have FGM carried out is between infancy and 15, especially, between the ages of 7 and 10. Female Genital Mutilation is categorized into four major surgeries. Type one is considered a, clitoridectomy, which is the partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the