EU to fund local NGOs to fight domestic violence

In a message, on Thursday, to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, Biesebroek said, the EU was already directly funding a number of local NGOs doing pioneering work in tackling these issues.

Noting that the EU was taking concrete actions globally to address the issue of violence against women, and gender equality, he said, “We have created a 100 million euro fund specifically to promote gender equality across the world.” In addition, he said, the EU will be promoting women and girls in all elements of its external activities whether they relate to environment, crime and security, or economic support.

Noting also that one in three women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence, and that it is everyone’s problem, he said, “This staggering statistic betrays a pervasive human rights violation that does not discriminate according to nationality, economic status, sexual identity, race, religious affiliation, age or culture.” In the EU, he said, a third of women have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15, while 75 per cent of women in a professional job or in top managerial positions have experienced sexual harassment.

It is estimated that 500,000 women and girls in the EU have suffered female genital mutilation, he said.

The EU and TT, he noted, were not immune to the pandemic of domestic violence.

In 2015, he said, there were 625 reported instances of crimes related to sexual assault and domestic violence, a decrease from 825 in 2014, but it was still an increase from the 2013 figure of 551.

Children were not exempt from violence, he said noting that the Children’s Authority reported 4,158 cases of children in need of care and protection within its first nine months of operation.

Of these cases, he said, the highest reported types of abuse related to sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect.