VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS DOES AFFECT THE ECONOMY.

 

According to a United Nations report, it estimated that throughout their life, 1 out of every 3 women experiences physical abuse or sexual violence from their intimate relationship or from a non-partner.

 As the world marked the International day for Elimination of Violence Against Women on 25^th November, it is not lost to the world over, that the lockdowns necessitated by the pandemic led to an increase in cases of Violence Against Women (VAW). This point is buttressed by a recent UN women research based on information from 13 nations that shows that 2 out of every 3 women have faced some type of abuse since the start of the pandemic. In Nigeria, the number of reported cases of gender-violence linked to lockdowns increased by more than 130% while reported cases in Croatia jumped by a whopping 228% during the first five months of 2020 compared to 2019.

The ramifications of VAW are wide and far reaching. Not only does VAW imperil the welfare of women, girls and their families, it also poses considerable threat to the economic development of a country. A 2014 KPMG study found that gender based violence costs South Africa between 0.9 and 1.3% of GDP annually, while another study revealed that violence against women and girls costs the Ghanaian economy around 0.9% of GDP.A recent IMF working paper report indicates that an increase in violence against women by 1% is associated with a 9% lower level of economic activity.

According to the IMF paper, the impact of violence against women and girls to the health of an economy is twofold: short-term and long-term. For the short-term, women from abusive households are likely to work fewer hours and be less productive when they do so. In the long-run, lofty levels of domestic violence can lower the number of women in the labour force, hamper human capital formation as well as result to less public and private investment as more public resources are channeled to health and judicial services.

The paper further suggests that countries that experience an increase in natural resources are more likely to report a higher number of cases of violence against women and less female employment in consequence. As per the paper, the revenues from natural resources tend to crowd-out low-wage and export oriented factories, consequently leading to a reduction in female economic power and their dependence on their partners. In such an environment where women’s dependence is high, domestic violence skyrockets leading to adverse economic impacts.

Economic downturns have also been pointed out as a reason for the increase in violence against women. The paper argues that the direct experience of job losses and material affliction increases abusive behavior- men come down under the weight and stress of challenging economic times and result to abusive behavior. Additionally, worsening macro-economic conditions aggravate abusive behaviour by driving up dubiety and trepidation among large segments of the population.

Previous research works have linked unbalanced decision making power and gender gap in education in a household to prevalence of VAW in such households. In households were women have limited decision-making power, they are more likely to be subjected to domestic violence. Moreover, high educational achievement is negatively associated with being both a victim and a malefactor of abuse. To this end, researchers have argued that “Education affects behavior via identity and learning about the normative foundations of society, and it may expand horizons, as well as increase exposure to global discourses rejecting partner violence.”

The IMF paper proposes that countries should expedite their efforts to strengthen law and protections against domestic violence. As per the paper, strong laws would be imperative in discouraging violence against women and girls, protecting victims of domestic violence and promoting women’s participation in the workforce. Furthermore, the paper stresses that improving education opportunities for girls is an important step in the long-term. Inhibiting the gender education gap would give women more economic freedom and less ability to be influenced and controlled by men.