Hello everybody, before I begin I just want to ask, how do you define women and

children’s situation in the past and nowadays? Let me begin with a short story. I was
born in simple living, in my community I observed so far less record of violence and
abuses against women and children ,but I heard stories from the past about a woman
experience that brought her a lifetime suffering due to the psychological trauma
because of his abusive and drunker husband. That man was said to carry a machete
and when he was drunk he used his machete to scare her family especially her wife and
to every houses, it happen every time he was drunks for years. It might sounds not
terrible to you? But don’t you know how his actions affect that woman life up to this day.
She was scared to go out or to travel and she was haunted and lured to get suicide by a
voice that speaks to her. This is just one of the millions horrifying stories that every
woman wanted to be outspoken, that many women out there wanted to be heard.

As I also read some stories I ask myself why? Why some women suffer such devilish
acts and some women out there put other women down. Some victims tried to speak for
their self but they were mocked by a fellow woman. We can imagine a scenario of a
mother letting his son abused his wife, or a women become a punching bag of his
husband and their neighbor knows it but they keep distance to extend a help and an
instances that an adopted child was punish horribly by his parent and he dies, that child
innocent soul was grieving for justice. I just want to show that there are people who hide
behind the curtains and do nothing and that I realized that we all live in fear.

One third of women around the world, it is about 736 million women at the aged of 15-
30 have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or
both at least once in their life, imagine that numbers . Globally, it is estimated that up
to 1 billion children aged 2–17 years, have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional
violence or neglect in the past year. Experiencing violence in childhood impacts lifelong
health and well-being.

I asked you a while ago if there is any changes in women and children situation from
the past compare today, and the answer is no, it is actually getting worst everyday there
are new cases of abuse reported but there are million more cases that are were not
reported by the victims because of fear. Do they deserve it? It’s a big no, no one has the
right to say it because no one knows a person story unless she/he speaks for it.
We all know that we have to do much more to respond to the cries for
justice of women and children who have suffered violence. We have to
do much more to end these horrible abuses and the impunity that allows
these human rights violations to continue.
I think we can all agree that the time for complacency is long gone, has
passed and belongs to another era. The silence on violence against
women and children has been broken and now. Now is the time for
stronger action.
It is time for action when up to 70 per cent of women in some countries
face physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.
When one in three girls in developing countries is likely to be married as
a child bride; when some 140 million girls and women have suffered
female genital mutilation; when millions of women and girls are
trafficked in modern-day slavery; and when women’s bodies are a
battleground and rape is used as a tactic of war – it is time for action.
This violence against women and children has tremendous costs to
communities, nations and societies—for public well-being, health and
safety, and for school achievement, productivity, law enforcement, and
public programmes and budgets.
If left unaddressed, these human rights violations pose serious
consequences for current and future generations and for efforts to
ensure peace and security, to reduce poverty and to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals and the next generation of development
goals we are discussing .
The effects of violence can remain with women and children for a
lifetime, and can pass from one generation to another. Studies show
that children who have witnessed, or been subjected to, violence are
more likely to become victims or abusers themselves.
Violence against women and girls is an extreme manifestation of gender
inequality and systemic gender-based discrimination. The right of
women and children to live free of violence depends on the protection of
their human rights and a strong chain of justice.
Countries that enact and enforce laws on violence against women have
less gender-based violence. Today 160 countries have laws to address
violence against women. However, in too many cases enforcement is
lacking.
For an effective response to this violence, different sectors in society
must work together.
A rape survivor must have rapid access to a health clinic that can
administer emergency medical care, including treatment to prevent HIV
and unintended pregnancies and counseling.
A woman who is beaten by her husband must have someplace to go
with her children to enjoy safety, sanity and shelter.
A victim of violence must have confidence that when she files a police
report, she will receive justice and the perpetrator will be punished.
And an adolescent boy in school who learns about health and sexuality
must be taught that coercion, violence and discrimination against girls
are unacceptable.
I can tell you that momentum is gathering, awareness is rising and I
truly believe that long-standing indifference to violence against women
and children is declining.

Protecting human rights

When it comes to protecting rights, Governments are called on to review
national legislation, practices and customs and abolish those that
discriminate against women. Laws, policies and programmes that
explicitly prohibit and punish violence must be put into place, in line with
international agreements, and you as Members of Parliament can play a
key role.
Based on findings from UN Women’s 2011-2012 Progress of the World’s
Women report «In Pursuit of Justice », out of all the ACP countries, 37
have legislation against domestic violence, 34 have legislation against
sexual harassment, and just nine have legislation against marital rape.
Providing services

When it comes to providing services, the agreement calls for strong

action to improve the quality and accessibility of services so that women
have prompt access to services regardless of their location, race, age or
income.
These include: health-care services including post-rape care, emergency
contraception and abortion where legal; immediate and effective police
responses, psychological support and counselling; legal advice and
protection orders; shelter, telephone hotlines, and social assistance.
Responses must be timely and efficient to end a culture of hopelessness
and impunity and foster a culture of justice and support. In almost all of
the ACP countries comprehensive multisectoral services need to be put
in place and made accessible to all.
Prosecuting offenders
When it comes to the prosecution of offenders, we know that ending
impunity means that laws must be enforced.
Women must have access to the police to file a criminal report and
receive legal advice and protection orders. The response to violence
must be immediate, coordinated and effective so that crimes are
punished and justice is secured. This is true for times of peace and
conflict. There can be no lasting peace when women suffer sexual
violence.
Courts and the justice system must be accessible and responsive to
criminal and civil matters relating to violence against women. Women
must be informed of their legal rights and supported to navigate the
legal system.
And for this, we need more women police officers, prosecutors and
judges, because we know that women serving on the frontlines of
justice strengthen justice for women and children.
Preventing violence against women
When it comes to preventing violence, we must address the root causes
of gender inequality and discrimination.
Evidence shows that where the “gender gap” is greater—in the status of
women’s health, participation in the economy, education levels, and
representation in politics— women are more likely to be subjected to
violence. Especially important is economic empowerment as a prevention
strategy
This means that we need to take a long-term, systemic and
comprehensive approach that recognizes and protects women’s and
children’s full and equal human rights.
We must promote a culture of equality between men and women
through institutional and legal reform, education, awareness-raising and
the full engagement of men and boys.
Honourable MPs,
Ending violence against women is one of UN Women’s key priorities and
a critical part of UN Women’s mission to achieve gender equality and
women’s empowerment.
Having said that, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about
UN Women’s role in ending violence against women and some of our
achievements.
A top priority right now is working with countries to implement the
recent agreement from the Commission on the Status of Women.
I am very pleased that UN Women and the EU have agreed to work on
this together. We hope, with your support, to collaborate with more
regional and cross-regional bodies and groupings such as the African
Union, the Latin American and Caribbean States and the Pacific Forum to
follow up on the agreement from the Commission on the Status of
Women to end violence against women and girls.
Today UN Women is working in 85 countries, including in many ACP
countries, to prevent violence in the first place, to end impunity for
these crimes, to increase access to justice and to expand essential
services to survivors.
Through our global, regional and national programmes, we support the
development of laws, national action plans and policies, and training
programmes. We provide funding to NGOs and civil society, contribute
to advocacy and awareness-raising efforts, and support local initiatives.
We work together with UNICEF and UN Habitat on the Safe Cities
programme to promote the safety of women and girls in public spaces.
We now work in over 20 cities around the world, and this number
continues to rise. Let me share with you a few exciting examples.
of violence against women to the highest levels resulting in
strengthened national commitments throughout Africa.
In the Pacific Region, the campaign succeeded in securing the “Pacific
Members of Parliament UNiTE statement” – the first of its kind in the
region, tabled at the Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting in the Cook
Islands.

We must work together to seize the moment and move quickly so that
the momentum is not lost.