Women and girls will be better protected against violence and abuse thanks to a new international coalition. The International Coalition to End Violence against Women and Girls brings together eight countries that will work together so that women and girls can live free from fear, the home secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured) announced last week.
South Africa, Brazil, Morocco, Spain, Jamaica, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Australia will join the UK in “driving practical action to prevent domestic abuse and sexual violence, which affects one in every three women globally, as well as tackling online abuse”, the home secretary announced in a joint statement with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Natalie Fleet MP.
The countries will share expertise and develop national action plans to scale up work to “prevent violence, protect women and girls, and hold perpetrators to account,” the statement explained.
Cooper added: “Violence against women and girls is a global emergency, not just a national emergency. We are determined to work across borders to ensure women’s safety is a worldwide priority.
“From the UK, to Brazil, to South Africa and beyond, women deserve to live free from fear of violence. And because there can be no peace, security, or prosperity for any of us until they do.
“I visited the Sudanese border in February, and I heard girls speak of rape, abduction and abhorrent sexual violence. I will make sure their voices are heard and fight to end violence for every single one of them – and for the one in three women globally who will experience sexual or physical abuse in their lifetime.”
Natalie Fleet, the new minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said: “Tackling this issue requires more than warm words. To create a world where women and girls feel safe from harm, we must build a united, global front.”
The government said the initiative mirrored its mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and which included “the largest crackdown on violence against women and girls in British history, committing to halve these horrific crimes within a decade and introducing lifesaving policies like Raneem’s Law, which has seen domestic abuse specialists embedded in 999 control rooms”.
The launch, it said, came “alongside the publication of the UK’s new International Strategic Framework on Women and Girls, which sets out how the UK will defend the rights of women and girls across the world, embedding this across diplomacy, trade, security, and development, using UK partnerships and resources to drive progress.”
