Activists Fuel Global Movement to Fight Violence Against Women

This year marks 30 years of fighting to live free of gender-based violence through the 16 Days of Activism campaign, which commences every November 25 on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Since 1991, organizations and countries around the globe have come together to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. However, the numbers paint a disturbing picture on the situation for women and girls around the world, with UN Women estimating that one in three women aged 15 years and older have faced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, nonpartner, or both at least once in their lifetime. This does not account for the other forms of violence that women and girls face, such as being denied reproductive choice, being subjected to violence on online platforms, or being denied the right to education or work.

Over the course of this year, women have continuously taken their fight to the streets. With one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world, South African women took to the streets asking “#AmINext,” while in Spain feminists marched highlighting their reality under the slogan “We are not dying, they’re killing us.” In Pakistan, women asserted their bodily autonomy, chanting “Mera jism, Meri marzi” (my body, my choice), while in the United States women continue to fight back against restrictive abortion laws, telling far-right religious groups and their government to “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries.”

Yet, instead of recognizing and addressing their demands, governments that are already failing to ensure protection have also chosen to invalidate women’s lived experiences and respond with even more violence by detaining protesters and using excessive force. Additionally, many governments have recently passed restrictive legislation that limits women’s bodily autonomy, or failed to prevent dangerous actions by nonstate actors such as far-right religious groups who attack women during protests. This trend is part and parcel of the ongoing threats to civic freedoms around the world, as documented by the CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform that tracks threats to civic freedoms, such as the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

Despite these restrictions on civic freedoms, women have fought back against an increase in domestic violence and femicide during the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the withdrawal of key protection mechanisms; and called for the right to work and education.

In March, women in the U.K. held a vigil following the murder of Sarah Everard by a police officer, to show solidarity with “all women who feel unsafe.” Police responded by detaining protesters, with women being aggressively pinned to the ground and handcuffed. Feminists gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, during June to protest against the government’s decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. During protests, police responded by setting up barricades to block protesters, using tear gas and rubber bullets. On International Women’s Day in Pakistanthis year, women staged the “Aurat March” protesting against the “patriarchy pandemic.” Days before the march activists faced smear campaigns, religious right-wing groups accusing the marchers of “vulgarity” and “obscenity” for demanding equal rights. Organizers in Karachi faced “serious death threats'' online. Last weekend, women in Francestaged protests against gender-based and sexual violence, noting that at least 101 women have been killed by their partners or former partners in France this year. They called on President Emmanuel Macron’s government to dedicate 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) annually to fight violence against women.

In some countries, women have called for legislative reforms and the ratification of protection mechanisms. In April, feminists in Sudan staged protests against gender discrimination and violence, calling on the government to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty signed by 189 countries that focuses on attaining gender equality in all areas of life. Later that month, the Sudanese government ratified CEDAW, but with reservations to crucial articles on gender equality. In Senegal, women protested in July at the Place de la Nation in Dakar calling for the implementation of a law, adopted in January 2020, that qualifies rape as a crime with prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life.

The surge in violence against women during COVID-19 lockdowns took center stage in protests. During 2021, women in the sex industry in Malawi staged protests over “targeted police brutality” which comes as a result of police conducting raids at bars, where they frequently work, to enforce COVID-19 regulations. Women in the sex industry say that regulations are used as pretext to abuse them but have also impacted their livelihoods. In Austria, women’s rights organizations staged protests calling for more funding as femicide rates increased during the pandemic.

Women and girls have also protested for the right to work and education. Following the Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan, after the government collapsed and U.S. troops withdrew from the country, women's rights remain severely under threat. On September 30, a women's rights demonstration took place in Eastern Kabul demanding the right for girls to return to secondary school, with the women holding banners reading “Don't break our pens, don't burn our books, don't close our schools." However, the Taliban violently cracked down on the protests, firing shots into the air and pushing back protesters.

Governments have continued to impose restrictions on reproductive rights. Earlier this month, thousands took to the streets in Poland over the near-total abortion ban under a banner proclaiming, “Not One More” (#AniJednejWięcej), following the death of a young woman, named Izabela, after she was denied a lifesaving abortion. The government has responded to ongoing protests by criminally charging organizers, while nonstate actors have repeatedly threatened activists' lives. Anti-women’s rights groups are proposing an absolute prohibition on abortion which will be heard in the Polish Parliament next month.

During October in Bolivia, feminist groups protested in front of the offices of the Episcopal Conference in La Paz to demand respect for the right to safe and legal abortion. Protests were sparked by a case in which a lawyer from an organization linked to the Catholic church convinced a pregnant 11-year-old girl to back down from a decision to end the pregnancy, which is permitted by law in Bolivia in cases of rape. In the same month, protests against state restrictions on abortion were staged in multiple cities in the United States, sparked by a Texas law that bans abortions after cardiac activity is detected in the embryo, usually at about six weeks of pregnancy.

These examples are a stark reminder of the violence faced by women and girls around the world, with indigenous, migrant, Black, and transgender women facing multiple inequalities and oppressions.

Despite the ongoing crackdown on women-led protests, there have been some major victories. In Argentina, feminists celebrated in December 2020 after the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy (IVE) bill was passed, making abortion legal up to the 14th week of pregnancy. In Chile, in September the lower chamber approved a bill that would decriminalize voluntary abortion within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. In the same month, Mexico’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that criminalizing abortion is unconstitutional, setting a precedent that could lead to legalization of pregnancy termination procedures in the country. These victories reinforce that resilience is power and that activism is one of the biggest drivers of change.

Patriarchal governments and far-right groups that undermine women’s rights have used the COVID-19 pandemic as a “smokescreen” to erode gender rights globally. Similarly, governments have used the pandemic as an excuse to crack down further on civic freedoms globally, and this works in tandem with violating women’s rights.

Knee-jerk reactions and empty promises which result in little to no systemic change have become a trend in the response of some governments. Women will keep fighting back. To sustain this fight we need resources, care, protection, and solidarity. With the pandemic, many civil society organizations doing the crucial work on the ground are feeling the brunt of budget cuts. Yet without this work millions of women will be left in the lurch. Thus, we need concrete financial commitments from governments to truly ensure systemic change in tackling gender-based violence. Additionally, activists need protection from harassment and intimidation (increasingly perpetrated through online platforms) from both state and nonstate actors. With activism comes emotional and mental burnout, so we need to practice care and empathy among fellow activists. Lastly, there is power in international solidarity among feminist who unite in the face of global struggles. We are facing the same storm, albeit in different boats.