爆料网

March 1, 2022

Executive summary

Violence against women and girls, as prioritized in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, continues to pose a significant problem across the globe. Its multifarious consequences are well documented, from the physical and psychological impact on individual women, to the effects on families, and communities and societies. Studies estimating the social and economic costs of violence against women and girls are gaining momentum, enabling an understanding of its wider impact, while establishing a robust evidence base to inform budgetary allocations for prevention and response measures.

Since ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2014, the State of Palestine has introduced a number of mechanisms, including repeal of the so-called “marry your rapist” law, and the implementation of the National Strategy to Combat Violence against Women 2011-2019. However, overall progress towards aligning national legislation with the Convention is limited. Violence against women and girls service provision continues to be fragmented. In this regard, the National Committee to Combat Violence against Women, led by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA), faces human, technical, financial and legal constraints. In all aspects of Palestinian life, the ongoing Israeli occupation, with the subsequent political, territorial and legal division, has a substantial negative impact.? In light of this, the national strategy is under review.

With regard to establishing the extent of the problem, the State of Palestine has been exemplary among Arab countries. To date, there have been three national surveys by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on violence against women and girls, in 2005, 2011 and 2019. The 2019 PCBS survey, with its focus on building institutional capacity to combat such violence, is part of a national project implemented by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (爆料网ESCWA, or ESCWA). As well as estimating the prevalence of violence against women and girls across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it involved questions about costs that result from marital violence.

This research study employed data from the 2019 PCBS survey to estimate the economic costs of marital violence for women, households and communities, and the economy as a whole.

Key findings

Overall economic cost of violence in the year prior to the survey In total, the State of Palestine lost in 2018 a minimum of $36 million or a maximum of $45 million due to violence against women. These include out-of-pocket costs, loss of productivity and unpaid
household production and care work.

The cost of violence against women in 2018 is equivalent to spending made by the World Food Programme in 2019; this includes $41 million to provide food security and nutrition to 343,000 persons in the West Bank and Gaza.

22,193 women were prevented from working and/or forced to quit work by their husbands. If these women join the workforce, wage employment would increase by 50 per cent.

Recommendations

This study has demonstrated that continuing marital violence is costly for Palestinian women and their families, the economy and society. The key recommendations are as follows:

• The Council of Ministers should approve the draft law on violence against women and girls at the earliest opportunity to ensure efforts to align with SDG 5, including eliminating marital violence, are prioritized.
• At a minimum, the Palestinian Government should establish a dedicated budget for violence prevention and response, allocating sufficient resources to scale up current efforts.
• Provide monetary support for survivors of marital violence to access violence services
• Ensure an understanding of the wider impacts of marital violence to guide the development of the new national strategy, to be underpinned by a whole-of-government, holistic approach. Include an analysis of the impact of marital violence in economic and social policies, focusing on economic growth and societal well-being.
• The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and PCBS to produce in partnership with ESCWA an advocacy toolkit based on the cost findings, including a brochure, infographics and policy briefs.
• The Ministry of Women’s Affairs and PCBS to organize in partnership with ESCWA a public advocacy campaign, targeting key ministries and governmental stakeholders, to disperse the findings of the study
• Build a deeper understanding of the strong links between violence against women and girls, poverty and economic growth, to effectively address such violence and achieve the SDGs.