MPs call for pressure on governments to fight violence against girls in Asia

MPs and parliamentary staff from Asia-Pacific address the three most prevalent forms of violence against girls in the region: early marriage, sexual violence and domestic violence. ©Reuters/Danish Siddiqui

Representatives of Asia-Pacific parliaments have agreed on the need to put pressure on governments to ensure existing laws on ending violence against girls make a real difference through effective implementation.

At a conclusion of a three-day meeting in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, on 25th September, MPs and parliamentary staff from 12 Asian and Pacific countries as well as representatives of national and international organizations, underscored that even the best legislation cannot stand on its own.

Accompanying measures across different sectors are needed to provide a successful response to the three most prevalent forms of violence against girls in the region – child marriage, sexual violence and domestic violence.

The meeting, Ending the cycle of violence against girls in Asia-Pacific, organized jointly by the Parliament of Bangladesh and IPU, produced a set of conclusions identifying priorities in legislation implementation, policy and actions for parliaments and parliamentarians.

Participants acknowledged important achievements in the region in legal and policy reforms to align national legislation with international human rights instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

However, many challenges and gaps remain in effective implementation of laws, particularly in service provision, funding, access to justice, social norms and attitudes.

MPs were called to adopt specific procedures and protocols in legislation and policies that amongst other things, avoid placing the burden of proof on the victims, provide easily accessible gender-sensitive support to women and girls and put an end to impunity by ensuring perpetrators are held accountable.

Specific strategies on delaying the age of marriage for girls and to keep them in school also needed defining and implementing.

MPs committed to fully exercising their legislative, oversight and representative role and stressed the need for laws to be accompanied by well-resourced action plans and policies at national level. . Acknowledging that violence against women and girls is a global issue, MPs called for the post-2015 development agenda to include a strong target to end the practice. MPs were also called upon to be agents of change on the issue and for male MPs in particular to speak out more against gender inequality and violence.

Conclusions from the event, funded by Worldwide Support for Development (WSD) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), will feed into a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in cooperation with IPU to review existing legislation in the region relevant to child marriage.