1.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to give evidence to the International Development Committee. My point to the Committee is the overwhelming need to earmark resources to support the needs of women and children experiencing violence: lobby for improved legislation, policy and practice to promote protection for women; and support innovative initiatives to tackle the causes of violence against women in the third world and particularly women and children living in rural areas.

  2.  I welcome the priority given by the International Development Committee and International Funding Agencies to Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health. However there is a need to recognise that domestic violence has a huge negative impact on the sexual and reproductive health of women. And yet domestic violence does not feature as a high priority among International Donor agencies nor is there much activity amongst International Agencies working overseas except in the action research/academic area. Whilst I affirm that the reduction of poverty remains the best route towards women's empowerment, I recognise that there is an opportunity to support the needs of women experiencing domestic violence (which is known to escalate during pregnancy) through Reproductive and Sexual services.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE STATISTICS

  3.  Domestic violence accounts for about half of all violent incidents against women reported in the UK. The Women's Aid Federation of England admitted 54,500 women and children to refugees during 1997-98. Approximately 32,017 were children and 22,492 were women. Over the year it was estimated that calls to refuges and support services for women experiencing violence totalled 145,317. The National Helpline based at the National Office in Bristol receives 18,000 calls for help each week. (Women's Aid Annual Report 1997-98).

  4.  Unfortunately such statistics are unavailable in most third world countries. Figures on the incidence, extent and nature of domestic violence are virtually nonexistent. Awareness around the causes and needs of and issues affecting women is sadly lacking. For example the new Constitution of Uganda cites "refusing to cook food or denying sex" as a cause of domestic violence. The danger of citing issues that exacerbate violence as their underlying causes runs the risk of masking and thereby perpetuating the real causes of domestic violence that lies in gender inequality and women's social and economic lack of empowerment.

  5.  While it is well established that violence against women has serious physical and psychological consequences, far less is known about these effects on the reproductive and sexual health of women. Reproductive health goals for women include freedom from unwanted pregnancy, freedom from violence during pregnancy, informed choice in the use of family planning (facilitated by good communication between partners), non coercive sex inside and outside marriage, and non risky sex. Research that exists on these problems is scanty and of variable quality. (Heise, et al, 1993).

  6.  The Platform for Action of the Beijing World Conference on Women (1995), called for all countries to promote "research and data collection on the prevalence of different forms of violence against women, especially domestic violence, and researching the causes, the nature and the consequences of this violence. In articulating the goals for the improvement of reproductive health world-wide, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified the avoidance of injury related to sexuality and reproduction, and the receipt of appropriate counselling, care and rehabilitation when needed as one of four primary aims (WHO).

  7.  In England, following evidence from the USA of massive costs to the Health Service of domestic violence, the Women's Aid Federation has worked with the Department of Health and developed and delivered training to Health professionals, nurses, midwives, GPs, etc. And much effort has gone into training personnel at accident and emergency departments to recognise signs of domestic violence and offer counselling, care and support.

  8.  Because of the gender sensitive nature of domestic violence, (the overlap between the public and the private [indeed political] domains of life) and the cultural and traditional reasons and practices that keep women in positions of subordination, the reproductive health route is one of the most sensitive ways in which women's needs in the face of violence can be supported. It is an obvious route into the domestic violence awareness and zero tolerance campaign that is part of the increased global awareness of Women's Rights as Human Rights.

RECOMMENDATION

  9.  I would like to recommend that given the priority on Sexual and Reproductive health, such services should be widely interpreted to incorporate domestic violence and that funding priorities and policy should be developed to encourage pioneering initiatives that seek to develop intervention strategies to combat domestic violence through the sexual and reproductive health approach.

ABOUT PROMPT

  The author of this letter has a legal background and a Masters in Women's Studies and is the editor of Building Blocks, a comprehensive text on developing and managing Women's Aid services.

  She is also a member of PROMPT a third world development agency based in Bristol but working with rural communities in the East of Uganda on education, health and micro-credit enterprises. PROMPT is currently working on establishing a Domestic Violence Community Campaign Pilot Project based on the basic principle of the Duluth Model (Minnesota USA) that the perpetrator of violence must be held accountable for the abuse and that the burden of abuse must rest with the community and not with the victim. This will be a combined effort involving the Gender and Development Ministry, Women's Organisations (eg ACFODE) working in the field of violence, FIDA the Women Lawyers Association, a locally established Community Safety Forum and local women's groups.

  PROMPT is also hoping to develop work with young people and adolescents on preventative work to encourage non violent forms of resolving conflict in relationships. The project also aims to promote children's rights by protecting them from domestic violence.

Atuki Turner

Prompt

January 1999