According to one United Nations estimate, 113 to 200 million women are “demographically missing” from the world today. That is to say, there should be 113 to 200 million more women walking the earth, who aren’t. By that same estimate, 1.5 to 3 million women and girls lose their lives every year because of gender-based neglect or gender-based violence and Sexual Violence in Conflict. We can point a finger at poverty. But poverty alone does not result in these girls and women’s deaths and suffering; the blame also falls on the social system and attitudes of the societies. India alone accounts for more than 50 million of the women who are “missing” due to female foeticide - the sex-selective abortion of girls, dowry death, gender-based neglect and all forms of violence against women. The decline in the sex ratio and the millions of Missing Women are indicators of the feudal patriarchal resurgence. Violence against women has gone public – whether it is dowry murders, the practice of female genital mutilation, honour killings, sex selective abortions or death sentences awarded to young lovers from different communities by caste councils, rapes and killings in communal and caste violence, it is only women’s and human rights groups who are protesting – the public and institutional response to these trends is very minimal. Most of the values are insufficiently imagined and fundamentally flawed. More than two-thirds of the women’s populations don’t have access to the financial system. Poor women are not considered credit worthy. Every human being should have the “right to credit” because if people have money, they can change their lives. It is true for women. Nearly half the world’s population live in poverty, 70% are women. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Unite To End Violence Against Women! Educate & Empowered Women for a Happy Future !!!!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* www.un.org/womenwatch/ www.un.org/women/endviolence/ www.saynotoviolence.org/ www.unaids.org www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ Photo: Firoz Ahmad Firoz

1. SocialGe graphic
Violence against women stands in direct contradiction to the promise of the United Nations Charter to “promote social progress
and better standards of life in larger freedom.” The consequences go beyond the visible and immediate. Death, injury, medical
costs and lost employment are but the tip of an iceberg. The impact on women and girls, their families, their communities and
their societies in terms of shattered lives and livelihoods is beyond calculation. Far too often, crimes go unpunished, and
perpetrators walk free. No country, no culture, no woman, young or old, is immune.
---Ban Ki-moon, March 2009

2. According to one United
Nations estimate, 113 to 200
million women are
“demographically missing”
from the world today. That is to
say, there should be 113 to
200 million more women
walking the earth, who aren’t.
By that same estimate, 1.5 to
3 million women and girls lose
their lives every year because
of gender-based neglect or
gender-based violence and
Sexual Violence in Conflict.

3. Still, every day, more than 50,000 people die as a result of extreme poverty and
nearly one billion people go hungry each day, 70% are women and girls.

4. In addition to torture,
sexual violence and
rape by rebels and
occupation forces, a
great number of
women and girls are
kept locked up in their
homes by a very real
fear of abduction and
criminal abuse. In war
and conflicts, girls and
women have been
denied their human
right, including the
right to health,
education and
employment.

5. According to the UNAIDS around 17.3
million, women (almost half of the
total number of HIV-positive) living with
HIV . While HIV is often driven by
poverty, it is also associated with
inequality, gender-based abuses and
economic transition. The relationship
between abuses of women's rights and
their vulnerability to AIDS is alarming.
Violence and discrimination prevents
women from freely accessing HIV/AIDS
information, from negotiating condom
use, and from resisting unprotected
sex with an HIV-positive partner, yet
most of the governments have failed
to take any meaningful steps to
prevent and punish such abuse.

6. Millions of young women disappear in their
native land every year. Many of them are found
later being held against their will in other places
and forced into prostitution. According to the
UNICEF, Girls between 13 and 18 years of age
constitute the largest group in the sex industry. It
is estimated that around 500,000 girls below 18
are victims of trafficking each year. The victims
of trafficking and female migrants are
sometimes unfairly blamed for spreading HIV
when the reality is that they are often the victims.

7. United Nations agencies estimated
that every year 3 million girls are at risk
of undergoing the procedure which
involves the partial or total removal of
external female genital organs that
some 140 million women, mostly in
Asia and Africa, have already endured.

8. Millions of women suffer from
discrimination in the world of
work. This not only violates a
most basic human right, but
has wider social and economic
consequences. Most of the
governments turn a blind eye to
illegal practices and enact and
enforce discriminatory laws.
Corporations and private
individuals engage in abusive
and discriminatory practices
without fear of legal system.
Sexual harassment and
violence in the workplace are
common and constant threats
to working women's lives and
livelihoods.

9. More than two-thirds of the women's populations don't have access to the
financial system. Poor women are not considered credit worthy. The idea of the
business is only maximisation of profit. That is too narrow an interpretation of a
human being. Every human being should have the “right to credit” because if
people have money, they can change their lives. It is true for women.

10. Since the late
1970s when the
technology for
sex determination
first came into
being, sex
selective abortion
has unleashed a
saga of horror in
India.

11. In some parts of the
country, the sex ratio of
girls to boys has dropped
to less than 800:1,000. It's
alarming that even
liberal states like those in
the northeast have taken
to disposing of girls.

12. Worryingly, the trend is far stronger in
urban rather than rural areas, and
among literate rather than illiterate
women, exploding the myth that
growing affluence and spread of basic
education alone will result in the
erosion of gender bias.

13. Over the years, laws have been made stricter and the punishment too
is more stringent now. But since many people manage to evade
punishment, others too feel inclined to take the risk. Just look at the
way sex-determination tests go on despite a stiff ban on them. The
United Nations has expressed serious concern about the situation.

14. India alone accounts for more than 50 million of the women who are “missing”
due to female foeticide - the sex-selective abortion of girls, dowry death, gender-
based neglect and all forms of violence against women.
We can point a finger at poverty. But poverty alone does not result in these girls
and women’s deaths and suffering; the blame also falls on the social system and
attitudes of the societies.

15. The decline in the sex ratio
and the millions of Missing
Women are indicators of
the feudal patriarchal
resurgence. Violence
against women has gone
public – whether it is dowry
murders, the practice of
female genital mutilation,
honour killings, sex
selective abortions or
death sentences awarded
to young lovers from
different communities by
caste councils, rapes and
killings in communal and
caste violence, it is only
women’s and human rights
groups who are protesting –
the public and institutional
response to these trends is
very minimal.

16. Unite To End Violence Against Women and girls!
Say No To Sex Selection and Female Foeticide!
Educate & Empowered Women for a Happy Future !
We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues of
humanitarian and ecological significance. The images on this presentation are not necessarily
those of survivors of violence and human rights abuse.
© Social Geographic Foundation
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reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission.
Photo & design: Firoz Ahmad Firoz E-mail: socialgeographic@gmail.com