The Every Woman Treaty - Update

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(Please scroll down for information on the Every Woman Treaty)

Update - Release of Safer Sooner Report
1,700 leaders. 843 organizations. 128 countries.
It's time to level the law for survivors worldwide.

On February 20, 2020, the Every Woman Institute released its first-ever Safer Sooner Report<https://everywoman.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Safer-Sooner-Report-FInal.pdf>. The Safer Sooner Report identifies gaps under current international systems in addressing and preventing violence against women and girls, and maps out a path to a world where every woman can claim her right to live free from violence.

This report reflects over six years of research and dialogue with 1,700 leaders and 843 organizations from 128 countries. These experts, organizations, and community leaders all came to the consensus that the Every Woman Treaty<http://www.everywoman.org/>, a standalone treaty to end, and prevent, violence against women and girls, is the best next step.

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Globally at least 1 in 5 women are raped, beaten or assaulted in their lifetime.  That’s 35% of all women or 1.3 billion women worldwide.

Violence against women and girls is a global pervasive human rights violation.   The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”

According to the Copenhagen Consensus Center, the cost of violence against women is estimated at a staggering 5.5 percent of the global economy or 4.7 trillion dollars per year. 

The 1993 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the General Recommendations to the 1979 women’s equality treaty (the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW), surfaced the issue and a global conversation began. 

A working group and global experts on violence against women and girls and gender equality in 128 countries studied recommendations from the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and academic research on how to solve the problem of violence against women and girls and concluded that a treaty has the power to address an issue of this magnitude.

Lead by a global steering committee of core advocates, along with a coalition of more than 1,700 women’s rights activists including 840 organizations in 128 nations, the Every Woman Treaty was born. The global treaty to end violence against women will mandate that nations enact interventions proven to lower rates of violence.  This includes:

  • Legal – Laws that increase mortality rates for women

  • Training & accountability – For police, judges, nurses, doctors and professionals, which lead to increased prosecution of perpetrators and better treatment for survivors

  • Violence prevention education – To shift boys’ and men’s attitudes and actions and encourage women and girls to demand their rights.

  • Services for survivors – Ensuring survivors receive treatment & protection and other ways of seeking justice

  • Funding – Treaties often catalyze funding and the Every Woman Treaty aims for US $4 billion annually, or 1 dollar for every woman on earth.

 The LCCEWA has signed the treaty and encouraged individuals and member organizations to do the same.  Join the call for a global treaty to eradicate violence against women and girls.  Stand in solidarity with individuals around the world who believe in a life free from all forms of violence for every woman and girl.

 Individuals, organizations and groups are being encouraged to sign the treaty to show solidarity

 Visit the website to learn more & to sign the treaty - https://everywoman.org/