(CNN Español) – “My body belongs to me.” The new United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report claims women’s right to autonomy over their own bodies, but the conclusions about the levels of self-determination of women in the world are shocking.
How many women and girls can freely claim that their bodies belong to them? Ask UNFPA, which is the United Nations agency for sexual and reproductive health.
“Millions of people are denied the right to say ‘no’ to sex, to choose who to marry or to have children when they see fit. Many are denied this right because of race, gender, sexual orientation, age or ability, ”the report said.
And as Dr. Natalia Kanem, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNFPA Executive Director, writes, the report “reveals many gaps in bodily autonomy; many of them have worsened due to the pressure of the covid-19 pandemic. Right now, for example, the number of women and girls exposed to gender-based violence and harmful practices, such as early marriage, is reaching unprecedented levels.
Moreover, “it is estimated that only 13% of countries have a budget set aside for the collection and analysis of gender statistics”.
Women have on average only 75% of the legal rights of men
“Women have no limits,” says a protester at the Women’s Day March in Santiago, Chile, in March 2021. (Photo: MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP via Getty Images)
According to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2020 and, according to the UNFPA report, “despite the fact that in many countries there are constitutional guarantees regarding gender equality, globally women have, on average, only 75% of the rights men’s legal issues.
“In many cases, women and girls lack the power to challenge these disparities because their participation in political and other decision-making is still low,” UNFPA said.
Only half of adolescents and women can make their own decisions about body autonomy
The UNFPA report presents the information obtained so far in 57 countries on Indicator 5.6.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. Most of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Although the data currently covers only 1 in 4 countries in the world, they show an alarming picture of the state of bodily autonomy of millions of women and girls: only 55% of them can make their own decisions in the three dimensions of bodily autonomy,” she says. UNFPA.
In other words, 1 in 2 women and girls can decide if they want sexual and reproductive health care, if they want to use contraception, or if they want to have sex with their partner.
And the percentage varies by region.
«While 76% of adolescent women and women in East and South-East Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean make autonomous decisions [sobre su cuerpo]”This figure is less than 50% in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South Asia,” the report said.
However, in Mali, Niger and Senegal, the percentage of women who can make autonomous decisions “is less than 10%”.
Moreover, according to UNFPA, in the last 10 years, “women’s power to oppose sexual intercourse has decreased by 20%.”
217 million women are still unable to meet their contraceptive needs
“My body, my choice”, a Women’s Day march in Rennes, France, in March 2021. (Photo: DAMIEN MEYER / AFP via Getty Images)
“While the use of modern contraceptives has more than doubled since 1994, 217 million women worldwide are still unable to meet their contraceptive needs,” says UNFPA.
In addition, the report notes that “quantitative surveys indicate that between 4% and 29% of women who use contraception do so without their husbands or partners knowing”.
“Although indoor contraceptive use is an individual choice, women generally describe this experience as negative and powerless,” explains UNFPA.
Educational level is a key factor in bodily autonomy
“A woman with a lower level of education than her husband or partner is more likely to suffer sexual violence than a woman whose level of education is more or less the same as that of her husband,” the report said.
In turn, girls and women in the two quintiles of wealth are more likely to have unwanted sex.
“No female sexual mutilation” and “Stop violence against women” say the T-shirts worn in Marseille, France, on March 8, 2021. (Photo: NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP via Getty Images)
4 million girls at risk of female genital mutilation
“In 2020, 4 million girls were still at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation,” the report said. Today, about 200 million women and girls live with the consequences of genital mutilation.
UNFPA estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic “could lead to 2 million cases of female genital mutilation that would otherwise have been prevented.”
“When will the women be safe ?! He says a banner in London on March 14, 2021. The one on the right crosses the phrase “Protect your daughter” and corrects it with “Educate your son! ”(Photo: Hollie Adams / Getty Images)
Violence against girls and young people with disabilities
According to UNFPA, girls and young people with disabilities “are more likely to experience violence than any of their peers with disabilities or girls and young people without disabilities.”
“Girls and boys with disabilities are almost three times more prone to sexual violence, and girls are most at risk,” the report said.
“None the less.” March “Las Catrinas CDMX 2020” against femicide in November 2020 in Mexico City. (Photo: CLAUDIO CRUZ / AFP via Getty Images)
Assassinated for gifted insufficiency and for “honor”
As UNFPA explains, “child marriage is a form of gender-based violence” and “is a huge limitation on the decision-making capacity of women and girls, as it forces them to maintain subordinate relationships for life.”
According to the latest estimates from UNFPA and UNICEF, “there are 650 million living women who were married before the age of 18 and every year another 12 million girls were married before reaching adulthood.”
In some countries, in addition to children’s marriage, the practice of dowry is also used, through which the bride’s family pays the groom in money or in kind to marry her.
UNFPA explains that this practice “directly or indirectly affects women” and “encourages children’s marriage, as families pay lower dowries for younger brides.”
In addition, it can lead to violence: “In India alone, there are about 8,000 crimes every year because they do not have enough facilities in which women are killed because families do not receive the expected amount, according to the National Bureau of Crime Statistics . [de la India]»Says the UNFPA report.
On the other hand, the report also exposes crimes of “honor” that take place in communities where the “honor” of the family is considered more important than the life of the person, usually a woman, who has violated certain standards or codes “.
And while UNFPA says it’s not possible to know the actual number of “honor” crimes, “it’s estimated at 5,000 a year, especially in the Middle East and South Asia.”
“The kidnapping of the bride”
“According to a 2016 UNFPA study in Kyrgyzstan, the tradition of kidnapping the bride persists, despite the fact that it is illegal,” says the agency’s new report.
As UNFPA explains, “According to this custom, a man can kidnap a woman or a girl from home, school or work and take her to his family home, where he is often forced to write a letter in which he to ask his consent. The letter is accompanied by the payment of the bride’s price by the groom’s family. Less than 1 in 10 of these “proposals” are rejected by women’s or girls’ families. “
According to a study conducted by the UNFPA Office in the Kyrgyz Republic, “almost a fifth of marriages in Kyrgyzstan follow the traditional practice of” kidnapping “and it is estimated that a quarter of them take place without the” consent “of the bride.”
“Even my dog understands when I say ‘No! “” Read a banner at a March 15 rally in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: WILLIAM WEST / AFP via Getty Images)
Modern slavery
“Out of every 1,000 people in the world, more than five are victims of modern slavery,” the report said.
According to UNFPA, “1 in 4 victims is a child and more than 7 in 10 are women.”
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The benefits of gender equality for men and the economy
“My body does not want your opinion”, march for Women’s Day in Barcelona, in March 2020. (Photo: Mariana Toro Nader)
“If gender discrimination in income were eliminated, it would generate a staggering $ 172 trillion in capital and could help millions out of poverty,” the report said, citing the UN secretary-general in 2020.
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UNFPA also highlights a regional study conducted by WHO in Europe, which found that gender equality also benefits men.
This is because it helps lower the mortality rate, reduces the chances of men suffering from depression and reduces the risk of dying violently by 40%.