UN to step up efforts to empower women

On International Women's Day, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, calls on States to promote the social, cultural, and economic rights of rural women. "Violence against women results from a complex interplay of individual, family, community and social factors. I have emphasised the need for a holistic approach that does not treat all women homogenously, but recognizes that discrimination and violence affect women in different ways depending on how they are positioned within different social, economic and cultural contexts", said the UN expert in a press release on the occasion of the International Woman's Day on the 8th March. "In my numerous country visits I have witnessed first-hand the multiple forms of discrimination and inequality that rural women experience. Rural women are discriminated against in accessing assets and resources, and, they are more likely to be involved in unpaid family related work or in low paid work", she added. They are also at higher risk of being subjected to violence, with far less access to remedies and redress for the human rights violations they suffer. Furthermore, economic and financial crises, like those that the world is currently experiencing, tend to exacerbate the multiplicity of discriminatory practices that rural women have to face. The realization of economic and social rights for rural women, increased and equal access to assets and resources, including equal inheritance rights, is a necessary step to sever the dependence of women on their spouses and families. Legal and policy environments which are responsive and promote independence and empowerment of women, is also essential for women to seek remedies for violations of rights. The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women calls upon States and other stakeholders to step up efforts aimed at empowering women, particularly rural women. "The active participation of women in development and poverty reduction programmes is an issue of utmost importance to tackle and eliminate the structural causes of violence against women," she said.