DEVELOPMENT
ZERO
TOLERANCE
TO VIOLENCE
AGAINST
WOMEN
PHUMZILE
MLAMBO-NGCUKA
UN Under-Secretary-
General and Executive
Director of UN Women
70
The issue of violence against women
and girls has topped headlines and
discussions for decades, yet it persists
in every country in the world, with one
in three women experiencing physical
or sexual violence at some point in
her lifetime, mostly by an intimate
partner. Gender-based violence robs
women and girls of their human rights,
and keeps us from achieving our
critical goals of gender equality
and sustainable development.
UN Women is working toward
“zero tolerance” for violence against
women and girls. But what does zero
tolerance look like?
Firstly, it means moving from talk
to action on eliminating violence
against women and girls. This includes
addressing all forms of gender-based
violence, including domestic violence
and femicide. It is estimated that almost
half of all women who were the victims
of homicide globally in 2012 were killed
by intimate partners or family members.
Zero tolerance includes tackling
the high levels of sexual violence
in confl ict and in refugee camps.
An estimated one in fi ve displaced
women in humanitarian settings have
experienced sexual violence. It means
ending harmful practices such as
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which,
according to one estimate, impacts at
least 200 million girls and women in
30 countries, and child, early and forced
marriage, which is expected to aff ect
more than 140 million girls between 2011
and 2020. It also requires addressing
sexual violence on university campuses.
A study from the US Department of
Justice shows that as many as one in
four women are sexually assaulted in
college in the US. And it means facing
new forms of cyber-violence such as
online harassment, threats, bullying and
stalking. In the European Union, one in
ten women report having experienced
cyber-harassment since the age of 15.
This violence is pervasive, but it is
not inevitable.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, which was adopted
by Member States in 2015, includes
targets specifi cally dedicated to ending
violence against women and girls
(Target 5.2) and other related targets.
It reaffi rms that violence against women
is an impediment for gender equality
and sustainable development and
emphasizes the principle of leaving
no one behind, ensuring that our