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64-704: Equality Now's four main issue areas are ending sexual violence , ending harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation , ending sexual exploitation including the trafficking of women and girls, and ending discrimination in law, including the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the United States. As of 2019, the organization has offices in New York, United States , Nairobi, Kenya , London, United Kingdom , and Beirut, Lebanon . Gloria Steinem serves as

128-414: A sexual assault or as a result of an honor killing in response to a sexual assault is also a factor of sexual violence. Though women and girls suffer disproportionately from these aspects, sexual violence can occur to anybody at any age; it is an act of violence that can be perpetrated by parents, caregivers, acquaintances and strangers, as well as intimate partners. It is rarely a crime of passion , and

192-498: A coercive environment or such person's or persons' incapacity to give genuine consent. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on systemic rape sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict, in a report in 1998, stipulated that sexual violence is "any violence, physical or psychological, carried out through sexual means by targeting sexuality". This definition encompasses physical as well as psychological attacks aimed at "a person's sexual characteristics, such as forcing

256-411: A combination thereof. Moreover, men may be reluctant to talk about being victim of crimes of sexual violence. In this regard, the way in which societies construct the notion of masculinity plays a role. Masculinity and victimization may be considered incompatible, in particular in societies where masculinity is equated with the ability to exert power, leading to non-reporting. The incompatibility between

320-549: A community-oriented approach encourages not just victims and advocates to spread awareness and prevent sexual violence, but allocates responsibility to wider community to do so as well. The CDC's report on Sexual Violence Prevention: Beginning the Dialogue suggests following its four step model. Child sexual abuse prevention programmes were developed in the United States of America during the 1970s and originally delivered to children. Programmes delivered to parents were developed in

384-678: A crime against humanity. Sexual violence is further explained in the ICC's Elements of Crimes, which the Court uses in its interpretation and application of Article 7. The Elements of Crime establishes that sexual violence is: An act of sexual nature against one or more persons or caused such person or persons to engage in an act of sexual nature by force, or by threat of force or coercion, such as that caused by fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power, against such person or persons or another person, or by taking advantage of

448-401: A family member, an intimate partner, an acquaintance, or they may be a complete stranger. While it is estimated that 93% to 97% perpetrators of sexual violence are men, sexual violence is often erroneously dismissed as a women's issue . The primary motivators behind sexually violent acts are believed to be power and control, and not, as it is widely perceived, sexual desire . Sexual violence

512-438: A greater risk of sexual violence, including prostitution. Explaining sexual violence is complicated by the multiple forms it takes and contexts in which it occurs. There is considerable overlap between forms of sexual violence and intimate partner violence . There are factors increasing the risk of someone being coerced into sex, factors increasing the risk of an individual person forcing sex on another person, and factors within

576-480: A historical perspective, sexual violence was considered as only being perpetrated by men against women and as being commonplace and "normal" during both war and peace times from the Ancient Greeks to the 20th century. This led to the negligence of any indications of what the methods, aims and magnitude of such violence was. It took until the end of the 20th century for sexual violence to no longer be considered

640-648: A job or of not obtaining a job that is sought. It may also occur when the person being attacked is unable to give consent – for instance, while drunk, drugged, asleep or mentally incapable of understanding the situation. Such broader definitions of sexual violence are found within international law. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has established in article 7(1)(g) that "rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity" constitutes

704-531: A minor issue and to gradually become criminalized. Sexual violence is still used in modern warfare as recently as in the Rwandan genocide and in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war , targeting both Israelis and Palestinians . The World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2002 World Report on Violence and Health defined sexual violence as: "any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against

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768-425: A person to strip naked in public, mutilating a person's genitals, or slicing off a woman's breasts". The Special Rapporteur's definition also refers to situations "in which two victims are forced to perform sexual acts on one another or to harm one another in a sexual manner". The WHO lists a number of examples of circumstances that sexual violence can be committed: A thorough definition is necessary in monitoring

832-406: A person's sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work". WHO's definition of sexual violence includes but is not limited to rape, which is defined as physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration of the vulva or anus , using a penis , other body parts or an object. Sexual violence consists in

896-450: A person’s right to be free from exploitation. These treaties and standards include: The fight for civil and political rights , and for economic, social and cultural rights , all relate to the underlying struggle for justice and equality. Equality Now's work in this area addresses the organization's goal of reforming discriminatory laws and practices, and bringing justice and equality to women and girls. Equality Now leads and participates in

960-447: A purposeful action of which the intention is often to inflict severe humiliation on the victims and diminish human dignity. In the case where others are forced to watch acts of sexual violence, such acts aim at intimidating the larger community. Other acts incorporated in sexual violence are various forms of sexual assaults , such as forced contact between mouth and penis, vulva or anus. Sexual violence can include coerced contact between

1024-496: A range of activities and campaigns that aim to hold governments accountable to the pledges they have made to protect the fundamental rights of women and girls around the world. Every five years since 1999 Equality Now has released their Words and Deeds report, highlighting a selection of the sex discriminatory laws still in place around the world. Their latest report was released in March 2020. Equality Now has expressed its outrage at

1088-401: A range of violent acts or instances ritual discrimination that are primarily committed against women and girls and have become culturally normalized. Among the harmful practices Equality Now works to end are: Child marriage is defined as a formal marriage or informal union before the age of 18 and disproportionately affects girls around the world. Every year 12 million girls are married before

1152-484: A result of their trauma may seek psychological counseling and therapy. Informal treatment, or support, includes social support, which can provide avenues for social justice engagement. Themes of self-reflection, social support, and activism aimed at supporting other survivors and preventing sexual violence are associated with improved functioning and facilitating positive change post trauma. Involvement in anti-sexual violence activism can aid survivors in making sense of

1216-444: A strategy to destabilize communities and demoralize other men. The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war was widespread conflicts such as Rwanda, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Kosovo. The perpetrators of female-directed violence in times of conflict are often armed groups and local men. As with sexual violence against women, sexual violence against men can take different forms, and occur in any kind of context, including at home or in

1280-585: Is a serious infringement upon a child's rights, and one which can result in significant physical and psychological trauma to the victim. A 2002 WHO study approximated that 223 million children have been victims of sexual violence involving physical contact. Yet, due to the sensitivity of the issue and the tendency of the crime to stay hidden, the true figure is likely to be much higher. Girls are more frequent targets for sexual abuse than boys. The WHO study found that 150 million girls were abused compared to 73 million boys. Other sources also conclude that girls face

1344-552: Is a serious public health problem and it has both short and long term negative physical and psychological effects on health and well-being. There is evidence that male and female victims of sexual violence may experience similar mental health, behavioral and social consequences. Watts, Hossain, and Zimmerman (2013) reported that 72.4% of the survivors had at least one gynecological complaint. 52.2% had chronic lower abdominal pain, 27.4% had abnormal vaginal bleeding, 26.6% had infertility, 25.3% had genital sores, and 22.5% had swellings in

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1408-506: Is also a neglected area of research, thus deeper understanding of the issue is imperative in order to promote a coordinated movement against it. Domestic sexual violence is distinguished from conflict-related sexual violence . Often, people who coerce their spouses into sexual acts believe their actions are legitimate because they are married. In times of conflict, sexual violence tends to be an inevitable repercussion of warfare trapped in an ongoing cycle of impunity. Rape of women and of men

1472-399: Is also post-catastrophe sexual opportunism. Sexual opportunism during and after catastrophic events is largely unreported. Massive spikes in human trafficking of girls and other humanitarian abuses has been reported in events such as after the devastating April 2015 Nepal earthquake . Perpetrators may come from various backgrounds, and they may be someone known by the victim like a friend,

1536-452: Is as relevant as ever, and we hope that this global movement around The Testaments continues the momentum to fight for gender equality around the world. Although Gilead and The Testaments are fictional, they hold a mirror up to the state of women’s rights today. Gilead depicts a dystopian future in which women are enslaved, married off, raped and denied their most fundamental human rights. The patriarchal and discriminatory practices of Gilead are

1600-467: Is considered a tendency to hide sexual assaults directed at men as something else, and it is believed to contribute to the poor- or lack of reporting of such crimes, and can arise from the belief that sexual violence is a women's issue and that men cannot be victims of sexual assaults. Sexual violence against children is a form of child abuse . It includes harassment and rape, as well as the use of children in prostitution or pornography. Sexual violence

1664-684: Is considered abuse even if the victim may have previously engaged in consensual sexual activities with the perpetrator. Men and women can both fall victim to this type of abuse although women are more often the victims than men, and men perpetrate more often than women. Moreover, lesbian , bisexual , and trans women are more likely than cis and heterosexual women to experience intimate partner violence, which includes sexual violence. Male persons are more likely to commit domestic sexual violence regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. A 2006 WHO study on physical and sexual domestic violence against women conducted across ten countries found that

1728-410: Is estimated that more than 200 million girls and women around the world have undergone genital mutilation . At least two million girls are at risk every year. The cutting, which is generally done without anesthetic, may have lifelong health consequences including chronic infection, severe pain during urination, menstruation, sexual intercourse, and childbirth, and psychological trauma. Some girls die from

1792-408: Is not well known. Early interventions and the provision of psychological support may prevent or minimize many of the harmful and lasting psychological impacts of sexual assault. The interventions that have been developed can be categorized as follows. There is also a public health approach to prevention. Because sexual violence is widespread and directly or indirectly affects a community as whole,

1856-403: Is often used as a method of warfare ( war rape ), as a form of attack on the enemy, typifying the conquest and degradation of its women or men or captured male or female fighters. Even if strongly prohibited by international human rights law , customary law and international humanitarian law , enforcement mechanisms are still fragile or even non-existent in many corners of the world. From

1920-446: Is possible for individuals to be targeted based on sexual orientation or gender-exhibiting behaviour. Such attacks, which are often called " corrective rapes " have been performed to conform an individual to a heterosexual orientation or to more accepted notions of behaviour for the perceived gender of the victim; asexual individuals are also particularly targeted. Domestic sexual violence includes all forms of unwanted sexual activity. It

1984-450: Is rather a violent, aggressive and hostile act aiming to degrade, dominate, humiliate, terrorize and control the victim. Some of the reasons for committing sexual violence are that it reassures the offender about his sexual adequacy, it discharges frustration, compensates for feelings of helplessness, and achieves sexual gratification. Data on sexually violent men are somewhat limited and heavily biased towards apprehended rapists, except in

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2048-423: Is rather an aggressive act that frequently aims to express power and dominance over the victim. Sexual violence remains highly stigmatized in all settings, oftentimes dismissed as a women's issue , thus levels of disclosure of the assault vary between regions. In general, it is a widely underreported phenomenon, thus available data tend to underestimate the true scale of the problem. In addition, sexual violence

2112-466: Is when someone abuses or attempts to abuse another person’s vulnerability or their own position of power or trust for sexual purposes. They may benefit from the exploitation of the other person through making money, political or social gains, or in other ways. Sexual exploitation occurs on a continuum that includes many forms of coercion and predatory actions including trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. International human rights law protects

2176-586: The Donald Trump administration military trans exclusion memo . In June 2018, it was announced Equality Now would partner with Hulu 's The Handmaid's Tale to release the Hope Lives In Every Name Campaign. At the time of the campaign's release, Handmaid's Tale executive producer Warren Littlefield said, "We are honored to partner with Equality Now to help raise awareness of the vital work they do for women and girls around

2240-665: The Global Platform to End FGM/C. In 2020, Equality Now, in partnership with the U.S. End FGM/C Network and the End FGM European Network, released Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Call For A Global Response , a comprehensive report calling for global action to end FGM/C by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals . Equality Now also sits on the steering committee of the U.S. End FGM/C Network. Sexual exploitation

2304-950: The International Gender Equality Prize from the Finnish Government in 2019. Equality Now works to achieve its mission of ending violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world across four broad areas. Sexual violence is perpetrated around the world on girls and women of all ages and all backgrounds. Systemic and structural inequality leaves women and girls particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. Many countries have discriminatory laws around sexual violence, including: Equality Now works to end such violence by advocating for strong laws and practices in line with international standards, including non-discriminatory implementation, as well as legal systems that support survivors and prevent re-victimisation . Harmful practices encompasses

2368-408: The U.S. and the U.K. In August 2019, Equality Now revealed the organization had been selected as the official charity partner for the release campaign of Margaret Atwood 's novel The Testaments , the highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale . In a statement, Equality Now said they were "honored" to serve as the event's charity partner and went on to say, The rollback of women’s rights

2432-434: The United States, where research has also been conducted on male college students. Despite the limited amount of information on sexually violent men, it appears that sexual violence is found in almost all countries (though with differences in prevalence), in all socioeconomic classes and in all age groups from childhood on. Data on sexually violent men also show that most direct their acts at women whom they already know. Among

2496-1119: The abdomen. 18.7% of the participants also had severe psychological and surgical morbidity including alcoholism. 69.4% showed significant psychological distress, 15.8% attempted suicide, 75.6% had at least one surgical complaint. 4.8% of the participants had a positive HIV status. In child sexual abuse (CSA) cases, the child may develop mental health disorders that can extend into adult life especially if sexual abuse involved actual intercourse. Studies on abused boys have shown that around one in five continue in later life to molest children themselves. CSA may lead to negative behavioral patterns in later life, learning difficulties as well as regression of or slower development. The table below gives some examples of possible physical and psychological consequences of sexual violence: Examples of fatal outcomes related to sexual violence Examples of non-fatal outcomes related to sexual violence Physical consequences Psychological consequences In some cases victims of sexual violence may be stigmatized and ostracized by their families and others. Societal perceptions that

2560-404: The age of 18. It is a human rights violation that legitimizes abuse and denies girls' autonomy under the guise of culture, honor, tradition and religion. When young girls are forced to marry, they are essentially subject to state-sanctioned rape and are at risk of increased domestic violence, forced pregnancy and negative health consequences while being denied education and economic opportunity. It

2624-414: The assault. The prevailing view amongst scientists is that this form of tonic immobility occurs in humans when no other options to avoid the sexual violence are available anymore, and the brain paralyses the body in order to allow it to survive with minimal damage. The following are individual risks factors: The following are relationship risk factors: The following are community factors: There

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2688-629: The chair emeritus of the board. Equality Now was founded in 1992 in New York by attorneys Jessica Neuwirth of the United States , Navanethem Pillay of South Africa and Feryal Gharahi. The founders believed that acts of violence against women were violations of the fundamental human rights guarantees as stated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that the human rights movement to that point had neglected women's rights, dismissing these violations as "cultural" or "private." At

2752-421: The conventional understanding of masculinity and victimization can arise both with regard to the attack itself and when coping with the consequences of such crimes. Because of under- and non-reporting on sexual violence against men, the little evidence that exists tends to be anecdotal. In the case that sexual violence against males is recognized and reported, it is often categorized as "abuse" or "torture". This

2816-594: The cutting, usually as a result of bleeding or infection. In November 2013, a coalition of Royal Colleges, trade unions and Equality Now launched a report at the House of Commons titled, "Tackling FGM in the UK: Intercollegiate recommendations for identifying, recording and reporting". In 2019, Equality Now joined with other organisations working to end FGM at the Women Deliver conference to launch

2880-466: The factors increasing the risk of a man committing rape are those related to attitudes and beliefs, as well as behavior arising from situations and social conditions that provide opportunities and support for abuse. "Sexual and gender-based violence destroys people, it destroys local communities and it is extremely difficult to mend the damage. That's why we have to do more to prevent it." — Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide Sexual violence

2944-399: The great majority of victims of sexual violence and live with the possibility of falling victim in common life situations. For instance, a 1987 study concluded that college women reported being the victims of unwanted sex that was the result of men using verbal coercion and physical force to manipulate them into it, and alcohol or drugs to intoxicate them into it. Sexual violence is one of

3008-418: The most common and widespread violations that men subject women to during wartime. It also figures among the most traumatic experiences, both emotionally and psychologically, women suffer during conflict. Sexual violence, in particular rape, is often considered as a method of warfare: it is used not only to "torture, injure, extract information, degrade, displace, intimidate, punish or simply destroy," but also as

3072-540: The most common diseases like chlamydia , gonorrhea , trichomoniasis and bacterial vaginosis ) and a blood serum is collected to test for STIs (such as HIV , hepatitis B and syphilis ). Any survivor with abrasions are immunized for tetanus if five years have elapsed since the last immunization. Short-term treatment with a benzodiazepine may help with acute anxiety and antidepressants may be helpful for symptoms of PTSD , depression and panic attacks. Sexual violence survivors who have lasting psychological symptoms as

3136-436: The mouth and penis, vulva or anus, or acts that do not involve physical contact between the victim and the perpetrator—for example, sexual harassment, threats, and peeping. Coercion, with regard to sexual violence, can cover a whole spectrum of degrees of force. Apart from physical force, it may involve psychological intimidation , blackmail or other threats – for instance, the threat of physical harm, of being dismissed from

3200-424: The network received campaign briefings and were urged to take action against human rights violations against women and girls by writing letters of protest directly to government officials, sharing information about these violations within their communities and taking other steps to support the struggle to end violence and discrimination against women. The founders also hoped to build the organization's presence around

3264-517: The opening of its first office in New York, Equality Now began to identify groups whose work matched its own mission and to consider how to support and reinforce the actions those groups were already taking. Equality Now helped to build public consciousness on women's rights as human rights and to channel concern into strategic action through the Women's Action Network, an alliance of organizations working to achieve their common goals. Supporters who joined

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3328-624: The organization opened its fourth office in Beirut in 2019. The organization also has additional outposts in Amman, Jordan , Tbilisi, Georgia , Delhi, India and Washington, DC . In 2011, Yasmeen Hassan , author of the first ever study on domestic violence in Pakistan, became Global Executive Director of Equality Now. She led the organization for over a decade, quadrupling their income and staff during her tenure. Under her leadership Equality Now won

3392-532: The physical pain caused, sexual violence against men can also exploit local ideas of gender and sexuality to cause tremendous mental and psychological anguish for survivors that can last for years following the attack. Male-directed sexual violence is more significant than is often thought. The scope of such crimes continues, however, to be unknown largely because of poor or a lack of documentation. The under- or non-reporting of sexual violence against males may often be due to fear, confusion, guilt, shame and stigma, or

3456-477: The practices Equality Now tackles every day. Through a statement, Atwood said she was "delighted" the events surrounding the novel's release would be working in partnership with the organization. Sexual violence Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted sexual act —or attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion —or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent , by any individual regardless of their relationship to

3520-446: The prevalence of domestic sexual violence ranged, on average, between 10% and 40%. Domestic sexual violence is also considerably less common than other forms of domestic violence. The variations in the findings across and within countries suggest that this type of abuse is not inevitable and can be prevented. Sexual violence against women and girls can take many forms and is carried out in different situations and contexts. Women comprise

3584-931: The prevalence of sexual violence and studying trends over time. In addition, a consistent definition helps in determining the magnitude of sexual violence and aids in comparing the problem across demographics. Consistency allows researchers to measure risk and protective factors for victimization in a uniform manner. This ultimately informs prevention and intervention efforts. A distinction is made between conflict-related sexual violence and domestic sexual violence: All people can fall victim to sexual violence. This includes women, men, children, and people who define themselves in other terms, e.g., transgender or non-binary individuals. Most research, reports and studies focus on sexual violence perpetrated against women and in armed conflicts. The majority of victims are women, but men and children are also victims of sexual violence. The crime may be committed in peacetime or during conflict. It

3648-439: The social conditions that contributed to their violation, recover self-confidence, and facilitate peer support, however survivors have also identified burn out to be prevalent in activist work. The number of initiatives addressing sexual violence is limited and few have been evaluated. The approaches vary with most interventions being developed and implemented in industrialized countries. How relevant they may be in other settings

3712-435: The social environment including peers and family influencing the likelihood of rape and the reaction to it. Research suggests that the various factors have an additive effect , so that the more factors present, the greater the likelihood of sexual violence. In addition, a particular factor may vary in importance according to the life stage. Some 70% of people who experienced sexual violence were paralyzed before and during

3776-487: The time, issues such as domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and reproductive rights were not part of the agendas of established human rights organizations. Neuwirth, Pillay and Gharahi envisioned an organization that would work closely with grassroots women's organizations in every region of the world, sharing and receiving information on the status of women and violations of their rights, and mobilizing public protest in response. Immediately after

3840-669: The victim provoked sexual violence lead to a lack of disclosure of sexual assault which is associated with even more severe psychological consequences, particularly in children. Thus, more interventions are needed in order to order to change societal attitudes towards sexual violence as well as efforts designed to educate those to whom the survivors may disclose the assault. In the emergency room , emergency contraceptive medications are offered to women raped by men because about 5% of such rapes result in pregnancy. Preventative medication against sexually transmitted infections are given to victims of all types of sexual assault (especially for

3904-580: The victim. This includes forced engagement in sexual acts, attempted or completed, and may be physical, psychological, or verbal. It occurs in times of peace and armed conflict situations, is widespread, and is considered to be one of the most traumatic , pervasive, and most common human rights violations. Sexual violence is a serious public health problem and has profound short- and long-term physical and mental health impacts such as increased risks of sexual and reproductive health problems, suicide , and HIV infection. Murder occurring either during

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3968-444: The workplace, in prisons and police custody, and during war and in the military. The practice of sexually assaulting males is not confined to any geographical area of the world or its place of commission, and occurs irrespective of the victim's age. The various forms of sexual violence directed against males include rape, enforced sterilization, enforced masturbation, and genital violence (including genital mutilation ). In addition to

4032-464: The world by setting up offices in different regions. They hoped this would facilitate stronger relationships with the local groups and regional networks best places to know the most effective actions to be taken to end violence and discrimination against women and girls in their communities. Equality Now opened its Africa Regional Office in Nairobi , Kenya in 2000. A London office followed in 2004 and

4096-451: The world...Their efforts of addressing and helping correct inequality and injustice where it exists for girls and women especially resonates with the message of our show, and we are proud to be part of this campaign." One year later, in June 2019, Equality Now unveiled its second partnership with The Handmaid's Tale , The World I Want To Live In, which ran in tandem the series' third season in

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