Women Fight to Put Violence on Global Agenda
RIGHTS: Women Fight to Put Violence on Global Agenda
By Monika Manke
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 17 (IPS) - Joyce and Tanya — two women of different ages, nationalities, cultures and religions — share something: both became victims of a missing goal.
Combating violence against women is what Ines Alberdi, executive director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), calls the missing goal, because it is not an issue addressed by the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
But it is an issue with a lot of faces, like Joyce, who was raped during the post-election violence in Kenya, and Tanya, who is a survivor of domestic violence in New York City.
“My husband beat me when I was pregnant with his son. He isolated me from my family and held me like a hostage in our home,” 42-year-old Tanya told IPS. After about four years of fear and suffering, when her husband killed the dog and threatened her children, she left.
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He threatened me when I asked to use birth control, and always refused to use condoms after we became exclusive. When we decided to continue the pregnancy and marry, the overt abuse started within days of our wedding."
