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Over the past twenty-something years, an annual ritual has emerged, one to which Medfeminiswiya would like to pay tribute: wherever we are in the world, we must remember that women suffer from multiple types of violence, ranging from mental harassment to physical beatings, from rape to femicide, from the prevalence of domestic violence to the no less monstrous and pervasive eviction of women from the economic and political fields.
Every 25th of November, breaking the silence that surrounds this violence has become expected, even recognized by the media. We can at least take pleasure in this since now there is no State, no political party, no institution, no individual that can ignore this reality any longer. But we can also find fault in it since it is still true that annual reports are piling up in many countries around the Mediterranean and every three days a woman still dies at the hands of her partner. Despite the warnings that are repeated one year after the other, the rate of femicides is not going down.
It is even going up.
And femicide is only “the tip of the iceberg,” Cristiana, an Italy-based expert, notes with bitterness. One in three women worldwide are victims of physical or sexual violence during their lifetime, according to the World Health Organization. And despite the reports widely disseminated by major international organizations, despite the #MeToo movement, despite the energy deployed by feminist organizations in the Maghrib, the Middle East, Turkey, the Balkans, societal awareness is not accompanied by strong policy.
Women remain the first victims of male violence, and this becomes all the more acute in times of war. Since October 7, the specter of crimes against humanity has returned in full force: as committed feminists, we stand in solidarity with all the women victims of these crimes and all the women who have suffered from rape as a weapon of war—this ancient form of barbarism that persists through the centuries without ever dying out.
How to prevent violence? Education and awareness-raising among the youth is crucial to prevent stereotypes and sexism from taking root at an early age.
More visibility, with financial and material resources that are still derisory
Certainly, increased visibility has made it possible to identify the mechanisms of violence perpetrated against women. Medfeminiswiya will continue to echo this and denounce the glaring gaps, the abuse, the distortions of family law.
But we will also highlight progress when there is any. For women living in Europe or those who seek refuge there, there has been at least one ray of progress: in 2023, the “Regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border trafficking implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights” was adopted. This is a first step to call on EU states to adopt legislation that incorporates an abolitionist model criminalizing all forms of pimping—which is not yet the case in Spain or the Netherlands, where pimps are considered “industrialists” …
But it is not enough to protect the victims and condemn the perpetrators. Efforts to combat violence against women must be intensified, otherwise all measures taken will go to waste. Unless the origins of violence are addressed, the criminal acts committed against women will persist, even increase.
How to prevent violence? Education and awareness-raising among the youth is crucial to prevent stereotypes and sexism from taking root at an early age. This could be bolstered by schools offering education courses on sexuality, consent, respect, and equality. Internet regulations could also prevent the propagation of scenes of violence as part of ordinary life, as these fuel male aggression as if it were the rule. And last but not least, the iniquitous legal systems that make women minors for life, that leave them behind and disinherit them, must be changed.
The Vilnius Institute (EIGE*) has established that violence in the EU costs €289 billion per year, taking into account psychological damage, health care, lost earnings in the labor market, etc. For comparison purposes, the European budget for 2022 is €170 billion. This gives a sense of proportion and should make it possible to change society’s perspective. Strong, long-term prevention actions need to be undertaken to stop all violence against women.
