Violence Against Women in Africa: a Situational Analysis
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa African Centre for Gender and Social Development (ACGSD) VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN AFRICA: A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Table of Contents Background Methodology Common Abbreviations Situation Analysis of Africa Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo Cote D’Ivoire Djibouti Democratic Republic of Congo Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Bissau Guinea Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Background Violence against women is perhaps the most widespread and socially tolerated of human rights violations, cutting across borders, race, class, ethnicity and religion. The impact of gender-based violence (GBV) is devastating. The individual women who are victims of such violence often experience life-long emotional distress, mental health problems and poor reproductive health, as well as being at higher risk of acquiring HIV and intensive long-term users of health services. In addition, the cost to women, their children, families and communities is a significant obstacle to reducing poverty, achieving gender equality and ensuring a peaceful transition for post-conflict societies. This, in conjunction with the mental and physical health implications of gender-based violence, impacts on a state or region’s ability to develop and construct a stable, productive society, or reconstruct a country in the wake of conflict. Gender-based violence in Africa, as elsewhere in the world, is a complex issue that has as its root the structural inequalities between men and women that result in the persistence of power differentials between the sexes.
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