Women, girls and sexual violence: what is the responsibility
of business?
The stats
Sexual violence is often
under-reported by victims, as well as by state authorities. Under-reporting is
especially likely in countries where local culture leads families and
communities to shun victims, or where state institutions are dysfunctional due
to conflict or widespread corruption. Consequently, in some countries, low
rates of reported sexual violence may simply indicate that victims are not free
or encouraged to report. In contrast, a higher reported rate may reveal a
functional and tolerant reporting environment.
According to UN Women, one
in three women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence. The majority of cases – up
to 70% in some countries - are perpetrated by intimate partners such as
husbands and boyfriends or ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends. Physical and sexual
violence against women and girls occurs in every country around the world. For
instance, in Equatorial Guinea, 31.9% of women report experiencing sexual
violence at least once in their lifetime. This is also the case for 38.9% of
women in Mexico, 35.6% of women in Fiji and 19.5% in South Korea. The US and
Australia also record significant levels of sexual violence. In both countries,
19% of women have experienced it in their lifetime. However, given global data
reflects reporting rates, the real level of violence that women and girls
experience is likely to be higher.
Although reported rates of sexual
violence all fall below 20% in the European Union, there is considerable
variation within the region. The bigger northern economies tend to record
higher rates of sexual violence. At 19%, Denmark reports the highest percentage
of women who are victims of sexual violence; in the UK, the rate is 14%. Rates
fall below 10% in more than half of all the EU countries listed, including Ireland,
Slovenia, Spain and Greece. The lowest rates of sexual violence – those under
5% – are found in Portugal, Poland, Croatia and Cyprus.
Statistics also show a high prevalence
of physical and sexual violence against women and girls in Africa. Conflict and
population displacement are major drivers of such abuses. A recent
study found that physical and sexual violence against women is double the
global average in South Sudan, which is about to enter its fifth year of civil
war. Rape and other severe physical and sexual abuses are often used as weapons
of war by opposing forces, to the detriment of women and girls. The study
revealed that approximately 65% of women and girls interviewed in South Sudan
reported experiencing sexual or physical violence, and 50% reported having
suffered domestic abuse.
Such abuses are also driven by discriminatory
attitudes towards women and girls, which can result in forced and early
marriages, polygamy and social acceptance of domestic abuse. In patriarchal
societies, where men hold the balance of power and women are largely confined
to the traditional roles of wife and mother, violence is often accepted as an
inevitable fact of life. Where women perceive their status as being lower than
that of men, many believe that their husbands are justified in beating them.
This is particularly common in African countries, where 75.9% of women in the
DR Congo, 92.1% of women in Guinea and 84.8% of women in the Central African
Republic believe that their husbands are right to use physical violence against
them.


Impact on business
High levels of physical and sexual
violence in society have a direct negative impact on the workforce. Experiencing
violence during adolescence may disrupt girls’ attendance at school and
negatively affect their educational attainment. In the long term, this means
that more girls are likely to be excluded from the pool of qualified workers
available, restricting many to lower skilled and lower paid work. A 2011
study by researchers in the United States found that sexual abuse, and rape,
in particular, had a negative effect on children’s education and on their
future employment performance and earnings. In 2008, violence and abuse
accounted for approximately 37.5%
of all health costs in the US, or about USD750 billion.
Women who are subject to physical
and sexual violence as adults are more likely to miss work, or to quit or lose
their jobs as a result of the trauma suffered. Not only does this mean that workforce continuity
or productivity will be disrupted, but in cases where women perform important
roles or highly skilled tasks, the business is at risk of losing valued
employees. A
2016 study by McKinsey found that violence against women could cost the
United States USD500 billion annually. This includes USD4.9 billion in direct costs including medical bills, lost productivity and loss of earnings. Factors
such as pain and suffering and lower quality of life contribute to the overall
cost of USD500 billion.
Likewise, a 2013 study by UN
Women found that, in Vietnam, out-of-pocket expenses and lost earnings
related to violence against women represented nearly 1.4% of total GDP. The
study also found that women experiencing violence tend to earn 35% less than
those who do not, suggesting that those who are abused find it more difficult
to enter higher skilled and higher paid positions. Similarly, a study by the Open University
found that the cost of domestic violence in the UK is as much as 10% of GDP, a much
higher estimate than previously thought. Additionally, according to the UK
government, sexual violence costs the economy approximately GBP3 billion (USD4 million) every year, with half accounting for employees’
lost wages and half borne by employers for sickness absences.
The threat of sexual violence may
also have wider ripple effects on the workforce, especially where businesses
are reliant on lower skilled women, but fail to provide a safe environment. For
example, in many low-skilled manufacturing jobs in the developing world, women
are often physically and sexually abused at the hands of male managers and
supervisors.
Business solutions
Businesses have a responsibility
to provide a safe and secure environment for women in the workplace. By
conducting proper due diligence of their sites to understand the types of risks
that women may encounter, companies can take the necessary actions to protect
their female employees. This will also enable them to meet a number of the
Sustainable Development Goals, including target two of SDG 5 on
the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls in the public
and private sphere.
Training is a key tool by which
safety can be strengthened in the workplace. For example, the HERproject led by Business for
Social Responsibility (BSR) helps to reduce the risk of sexual violence by
training factory workers, line supervisors, clinic nurses and human resources
staff in all aspects of feminine health and wellbeing, including harassment and
abuse. The HERproject derives its success from the empowerment of women by
sharing knowledge and transforming them into health ambassadors.
Sexual violence in society also
has a direct impact on workers, and there is a strong imperative for businesses
to invest in programmes that are designed to improve the safety of women
outside the workplace. Examples of societal initiatives include the programme
led by LifeWater International, which provides schools with proper toilet facilities
so that girls do not drop out once they begin menstruating. The organisation
also provides safe water sources to rural villages in Ethiopia,
Uganda and Cambodia so that women and young girls do not have to travel for
miles each day, and risk being attacked, to collect water. In larger urban areas, companies can support
initiatives such as ActionAid’s
Safe Cities for Women. This campaign challenges governments and businesses
in 20 countries to make cities safer, better enabling women and girls to live
and work without fear.