German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

GIGA Forum

Violence against Women – A Global Crisis

Date

06/03/2024

Start

06:00 p.m. (UTC)

End

07:15 p.m. (UTC)

GIGA Forum Violence Against Women - A Global Crisis

Violence against women is a recurring issue on the public and human rights agendas, and one from which there seems to be no respite. To this day, girls and women continue to face various pervasive forms of gender-based discrimination and exclusion from social, educational, and political life. This structural oppression is compounded by domestic violence, disappearances, torture, and even murder, as perpetrated both by those close to the victims but also state authorities and members of organised crime.

In Mexico, for instance, an average of 11 women are murdered every day and over 25,000 are currently reported missing. Similarly, in Kenya more than a dozen girls and women have been murdered in the last few weeks alone. Women who have fled from the violence in their home countries are also discriminated against, however, suffering harm in the very places they seek refuge.

This GIGA Forum brings together experts to discuss the gender-based violence faced by women in different countries of the Global South, as well as women living in exile. We will shed light on the threats these girls and women encounter, and how these differ across countries. Alongside examining how different geographic contexts affect women’s security, it will also be asked what local actors as well as Europe can do to contribute to women’s empowerment.

Speakers: Dr. Carlo Koos is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Department of Government of the University of Bergen.

Marcela Villalobos is a Doctoral Researcher at the University of México associated with the GIGA, an Activist, and a Human Rights Defender with Amnesty International.

Elizabeth Ngari is Representative of Women in Exile, Germany.

Dr. Julia Zulver is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow at the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas (UNAM, Mexico) and the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (Oxford, UK).

Moderator: Désirée Reder is a Research Fellow and Doctoral Researcher at the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies.

Organiser

Dr. David Kuehn

Senior Research Fellow / Coordinator GIGA Forum

Address

Online Event

Language

English

Videos of the series

Infographic | 02/2023

Policy Efforts on Gender-Based Violence during COVID-19

How government policies on gender-based violence (GBV) are implemented in terms of services for victims varies considerably across countries. We examine policy infrastructures, including helplines, support centres, and shelters since the pandemic’s onset. Our project identifies progress and challenges around the provision of services for GBV survivors.

Johanna Pieper

Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield

Asma Khalifa

Panel Discussion | 19/04/2022

Violence Against Women in Latin America

During the pandemic, violence against women and girls increased in Latin American countries. At this cooperation event, experts from Amnesty International and GIGA will discuss the scope of gender-based violence, the involvement of civil society and the responsibility of the state. The event will be held in Spanish with simultaneous translation into German.

GIGA Talk | 20/10/2021

The Shadow Pandemic: Policy Efforts Addressing Gender-Based Violence During COVID-19

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the risk of gender-based violence, especially within the home, has further increased. Governments around the world are addressing this problem quite differently. In this GIGA Forum/GIGA Talk, experts will discuss the effect of related government responses and offer policy recommendations.

In Brief | 23/05/2023

Latin America Researchers Sharing Research Findings at LASA 2023

GIGA researchers visited this year’s LASA International Congress in Vancouver, Canada, to shed light on pressing issues such as COVID-19 vaccination policies, government initiatives against gender-based violence, migrants’ political practices, and the role of judicial power in Latin America.

GIGA Focus Global | 6/2021

The Shadow Pandemic: Policy Efforts on Gender-Based Violence during COVID-19 in the Global South

With the pandemic, the risk of violence against women and children, especially within the home, increased further as people sheltered at home at the same time that they faced great financial and emotional stress. The authors of this GIGA Focus assess government efforts to address and treat gender-based violence.

Prof. Dr. Merike Blofield

Asma Khalifa

Nancy Madera

Johanna Pieper

Infographic | 02/2023