Agencies such as public health and United Nations in Bhutan called for the need to step up efforts to address violence against women and girls in the country, at the launch of the state of the world report 2019. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched the report in Thimphu yesterday.
While Bhutan is doing considerably well in terms of improving lives of women and girls especially in maternal death, a lot of work still needs to be done when it comes to addressing violence against women and girls.
The maternal death rate has reduced to 89 from 380 per 100 thousand live births in 1994.
However, many women and girls still fall victim to various forms of violence with a global average of one among every three women experiencing some form of violence in their lifetime.
“What we still continue to see as a challenge is violence. It is as challenging as global aspects indicated. This is one area that Bhutan really needs to look at,” Yeshi Dorji, the Assistant Representative of UNFPA Bhutan, said.
“Gender-based violence (GBV) is definitely an area we have not addressed in a better way. We, in the health service, are also learning from our partners like NCWC, RENEW, from their studies and trying to develop our capacity to deal with issues of GBV. There is also a need to create awareness among health workers, CSOs and NGOs,” Dr Karma Lhazin, the Director of DoPH, said.
” I think one of the things we can start to do is identify the economic cost of GBV. I was just looking at a study from a country in Africa, and it’s estimated that GBV is costing 1 per cent of GDP. So if we are able to see GBV not just as an issue of compassion, but also as an economic issue then I believe the policymakers will be able to see the need to take faster action to build a society based on the pillars of GNH for everyone,” Gerald Daly, the Resident Coordinator of UN Bhutan, said.
The recently released report of the national survey on the prevalence of violence against women and girls says that at least two in every five women experience violence. It is also found that almost 50 per cent of the population in the country feels it’s okay for women to deal with gender-based violence.
Last year alone, more than 500 women reported to the NCWC and RENEW of having experienced some form of violence.
