A reflection on women, girls and armed violence

Abstract

The 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action is marked by discussion of the post-2015 development framework, prominently featuring achieving gender equality, empowering all women and girls and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies among its goals (Goals 5 and 16 respectively, see UNDESA, Open Working Group Proposal for Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, 2014). The focus on the Sustainable Development Goals and the recent developments in the policy and research agendas on ending violence against women may represent a unique opportunity for converging efforts towards effective prevention and reduction of many forms of violence impacting on women and girls, in both conflict and non-conflict settings, including firearm violence. This contribution analyzes patterns of female violent deaths and firearm victimization, provides an overview of promising prevention policies and programmes, as well as challenges for monitoring and evaluating progress.