Gender-based violence is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity right now. Millions of girls are subjected to harmful practices like female genital mutilation. Almost 250 million boys and girls are abused and harassed on their way to or in school every year, with girls being very vulnerable. The good thing is that there is still hope, and there are ways by which those in positions of leadership can help reduce this tragedy.
Provision of More Funding for Female Participation
Women are known for being very active in different areas of civil society and they have been incredibly helpful in shaping national, regional, and international treaties, legislation, and agreements that focus on gender development.
Women exert a lot of pressure when it comes to the implementation of these protocols but there is a limit to what they can do as a result of lack of funding. Leaders should make more funding available so that a lot more women can take part in different aspects of civil society.
Prevention
It is said that prevention is better than cure and the same applies when trying to tackle violence. It is important to work on prevention efforts to tackle the unfair gender power relations that form the crux of gender-based brutality itself.
Good programs have been put in place to analyze gender norms and how they connect to inequities in power systems, violence, and various kinds of harmful practices. These programs work with several stakeholders in different fields but that is not enough. There has to be an increase in the evaluation of the programs so that a lot more can be done and there can be a bigger impact on society.
Increasing Access to Healthcare
Gender-based violence health services must be provided at even the lowest levels of the communities. In most cases, such health services are available only in major health centers in urban areas and that means many people will not get the healthcare that they need even when they fall victims to violence.
Most people who approach the health centers of the urban areas usually do so late and cannot benefit when they need services like HIV post-exposure prophylaxis and emergency contraception in rape cases. If there is going to be the provision of quicker access to health for the people, then leaders have to make sure that important health centers are also constructed in rural areas. This makes sense as in most nations, a huge or dominant proportion of the population is found in the rural areas.
Meeting the Needs of the Child Survivors
Some have survived such violence as a child, and it is vital to meet their needs alongside ensuring interventions that would serve as a disruption to the cycle of violence. It is a common sight in shelters and centers for women also to see children who are in safe houses or waiting rooms. What is not common is to see these kids getting help, especially when they have suffered a lot of trauma. Many children are victims, and many have also experienced violence at home between their parents. There is the need to have well-trained experts and professionals who work with and help these children who have faced violence; this is particularly true in cases where the perpetrators were either family members or even parents.
Establishing Systems for Eradicating Gender-Based Violence
This is another step that can be taken by the leaders. They can come up with guidelines and systems that can confront gender-based violence on all fronts. This will include establishing global standards for the provision of shelters and even professional training for those working as counselors. There is no practical and comprehensive guide for the overall system that is meant to tackle gender-based violence.
Conclusion
There has been a lot of progress made when it comes to the tackling of gender-based violence. We are now more sophisticated when it comes to defining cases, sorting and collecting data, and finding evidence to sort workable solutions. There has also been a remarkable and noticeable rise in the quality of the services on offer.
But not even these advances have been able to eradicate gender-based violence in different parts of the globe. The most significant cause of this tragedy is a set of inequitable gender norms. Until this is tackled by leaders in various parts of the world, there will be no end to gender-based violence.
