“Feminism has from the start, been deeply concerned with the body”

(Price & Shildrick, 1999, p. 2)

Second Wave Feminism and Feminist Theories of Female Bodies

The phrase “the personal is political” is rooted in feminist movements. Coined in 1969, it highlights the ways that “personal” problems of gender oppression could be addressed not only on an individual basis, but through political measures and public institutions as well (Mann, 2012, p. 78), establishing a connection between public and private. Issues associated with gender violence—such as rape, sexual harassment, and interpersonal violence—finally moved into the public eye.

At this time, the term “sexual harassment” joined public discourse to finally name the gender-based oppressions women and people of other gender minorities were experiencing at work. The feminist movement in the 1970’s (sometimes also called the “second wave”) is frequently credited with bringing issues related to bodies into focus, for both activists and academics (Schiebinger, 2000, p. 1). Topics related to female bodies included sexuality, menstruation, aging, and—our focus in this book—violence against female bodies (Schiebinger). Feminism continues to illustrate that there is nothing more personal, and political, than the body.

Feminism “involves the implicit claim that the prevailing conditions under which women live are unjust and must be changed” (McCann & Kim, 2016, p. 1), and theory refers to ways people “organize what they perceive as reality in ways that make it intelligible” (Mann, 2012, p. 8). Feminist theory, then, helps us understand the “prevailing conditions” of women’s lives, how they affect women’s embodied experiences—and how we can examine these experiences as a way to understand gender violence.

The deep and various connections of female bodies to feminist activism and scholarship are beyond the scope of this chapter; here we examine how female bodies can serve as a framework for understanding gender violence. Connections between key feminist concepts like patriarchy and capitalism are important for examining the issue of gender violence. Patriarchy refers to socially constructed gender norms that attach power to men more than everyone else (Holleb, 2019, p. 195), and capitalism names an economic system driven by hierarchical, competitive private and corporate interests in profit.

In a capitalist-patriarchy culture, power traditionally is viewed as power over someone or something. (In contrast, feminist conceptions view power as something to be shared.) Patriarchy and capitalism both position female bodies, including their labor and sexuality, as commodities (that is, goods and services to be bought, sold, and controlled), within these hierarchical systems of power, creating numerous opportunities for exploitation and perpetration of violence.

Not all female bodies are the same, and females reside in a variety of power structures. As we will see, women’s experiences related to gender are shaped by their existence at the crossroads of their combination of identities, including race/ethnicity, sexual identity, age, ability and appearance, social class/caste, and other unique markers.

Hierarchies and Binaries

Traditional classical views of human bodies divide them into “rational” and “irrational,” or “mind” and “body.” This binary is very much a part of patriarchal social structures and typically carries the following associations: mind = male; body = female. As feminism points out, traits associated with masculinity are valued more highly than traits associated with femininity. This hierarchy sets up other binaries that are used to justify systemic oppressions: thinking over feeling; heterosexual over homosexual; white over black; rich over poor; and perhaps others you can think of.

In addition to positioning men at the top of a hierarchy, patriarchy also establishes gender roles, socially constructed beliefs and expectations governing which spaces men and women will occupy, what sorts of work they will do, what social interactions they will have, how they will look, and more; based on the sex they are assigned at birth. Gender expectations are powerful societal norms, and when people (women, men, and those who do not fit neatly into one of these categories) deviate from these expectations, compliance may be enforced by violence. As O’Toole et al. state, “[w]e understand violence as the extreme application of social control. . . .  [M]uch of the violence in contemporary society serves to preserve asymmetrical gender systems of power” (1997, p. xii). In other words, violence is used by those in power to maintain their power.

However, it is crucially important to remember that violence is often inflicted upon the bodies of women, children, and other gender minorities simply because of their membership in an undervalued group. They need not have broken any expectation or rule; they have not “brought it on themselves.” Feminist scholar Victoria Bromley states that “violence is gendered which means that the violence that is frequently committed against women and girls happens because they are female” (2012, p. 199). When people are valued differently, it is easy to dehumanize them, treat them as “less than,” and from that mindset—whether consciously or not—to inflict violence upon them.

Understanding the concepts of binaries, hierarchies, and the differential valuing of people based on their identities, including their bodies, can help us understand the issue of gender violence. As Price and Shildrick explain, “the body . . . is an indicator of position in hierarchies of power” (1999, p. 18), with female and non-cis bodies at the bottom. Feminist theory challenges these binaries and hierarchies and works to reduce the rank-ordering of people based on their membership in artificial binary groups.

Intersectionality: Identity and Types of Violence Against Women

Feminist legal scholar and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” to emphasize the multiple categories of identity (rather than simple binaries) that shape people’s lived experiences. Rooted in Black feminist thought, this strand of feminist theory centers the intersections of race and gender. Understanding that the system of gender bias is deeply connected with other systems of oppression, such as racism, classism, religious discrimination, ableism, and colonialism, “enables us to recognize the fact that perceived group membership can make people vulnerable to various forms of bias, yet because we are simultaneous members of many groups, our complex identities can shape the specific way we each experience bias” (African American Policy Forum, n.d.). In the next section, we will examine some of the ways in which violence against female bodies is perpetrated differently based on their membership, in one or more of these identifying categories. Examples will show that different bodies experience gender violence differently.

Types of Violence Against Women, Girls, and Other Gender Minorities

Feminist scholarship tells us that gender violence happens across “all racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, socioeconomic, and age groups, including all sexualities. Gender violence is one of the most pervasive, yet least prosecuted, human rights violations in the world” (Duncan, 2022). Gender violence can also be defined as “any interpersonal, organizational, or politically oriented violation perpetrated against people due to their gender identity, sexual orientation, or location in the hierarchy of male-dominated social systems such as families, military organizations, or the labor force” (O’Toole et al., 1997, p. xii). This broad description shows how varied the experience of gender violence can be, and highlights that it can occur in any type of relationship.

Global Frequency and Statistics

As has been discussed, gender violence is a frequent and worldwide phenomenon. According to UN Women (n.d.):

• Globally, an estimated 736 million women—about 30% of women aged 15 and older—have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life. Rates of depression, anxiety, unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and other long-lasting health problems are higher in women who have experienced violence compared to women who have not.
• Most violence against individual women is committed by current or former husbands or intimate partners. More than 640 million women aged 15 and older have been subjected to intimate partner violence.
• Almost one-quarter of adolescent girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband.

Importantly, accuracy of available data may be artificially low, due to obstacles (such as access to a reporting organization, or feeling safe to report) that affect the collecting and reporting of incidents of violence.

Women and Global, Ethnic, and Regional Violence

As we have stated, violence against female bodies takes different forms depending on their identities and circumstances. Some of the common types of violence, both global and regional, are described below:

Intimate Partner Violence. Refers to behavior by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and controlling behaviors. Also called interpersonal violence or domestic violence. This is one of the most common forms of violence experienced by women globally.

Acquaintance Rape, or “Date Rape.” Related to the above is “date rape,” also sometimes called “acquaintance rape,” in which a person (most often a woman, whether straight, lesbian, bisexual, trans, etc.; but also includes girls, boys, and adult males of any gender identity and sexuality) is forced or coerced into unwanted sexual activity (that is, sexual activity without consent) by a friend, acquaintance, or peer through any of various methods, including violence or the threat of violence, verbal pressure, misuse of authority (such as by a boss or mentor), or use of drugs, alcohol, or other means to incapacitate the victim (such as if she is unconscious or restrained) (Dude, 2014).

Sexual Violence. Any sort of harmful or unwanted sexual behavior that is imposed on someone. It includes acts of abusive sexual contact, forced engagement in sexual acts, attempted or completed sexual acts with a person without her consent, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, threats, exposure, unwanted touching, incest, and others.

Reproductive Violence. Another way violence is inflicted is through legislation that seeks to restrict bodies. For example, in the United States, policies are continuing to be passed that limit access to healthcare services such as abortion and gender-affirming care, including hormones and surgery. Passed through state and federal legislatures, these policies are enacted on human bodies, and ultimately uphold systems of power and control over them.

Racial Gendered Violence. Bodies are racialized as well as gendered, and both systems play a role in how female and non-cis bodies experience gender violence. Whiteness is depicted as the standard condition and establishes socially constructed norms that makes it seem like non-white female bodies are less beautiful, less sexually pure, and less valuable than white ones (although all women’s bodies are considered less valuable than white men’s bodies). One example of the way Black women experience racialized gender violence is explained by the Say Her Name movement, which highlights the specific experiences of police brutality that Black women face. Also, feminist scholars such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Angela Davis, and Dorothy Roberts have written on the ways that Black women’s bodies have been treated as property, where race and gender both affected the experiences of Black enslaved women (Price & Shildrick, 1999).

Another issue that highlights the ways that race and gender intersect related to gender violence is disproportionate number of missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW). The murder rate for Indigenous women is 10 times higher than the national average (in the Unted States) and murder is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women (Native Hope, 2024). Investigating the connections between gender and race help understand the distinct dimensions of GV that Indigenous women face. In 2017, the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI) conducted a study that sought to understand the number of and factors contributing to this issue. Based on research in 71 cities, they found 506 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; 280 cases of murdered Indigenous women; and 128 cases of missing Indigenous women. The researchers wanted to understand why the data around MMIW was so difficult to obtain, how that data is tracked, and how media reports on MMIW cases (Urban Indian Health Institute, 2017). The study by the UIHI intended to “provide a comprehensive snapshot of the MMIWG crisis in urban American Indian and Alaska Native communities and the institutional practices that allow them to disappear not once, but three times—in life, in the media, and in the data” (para 3). The study highlights the ways that harmful stereotypes about Indigenous women and people, lack of resources for reporting, and challenges communicating across agencies precariously positions Indigenous women and girls as targets of gender violence. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement aims to bring awareness to and end this form of gender violence.

Violence during Migration. Women leave their counties of origin for various reasons—to find better opportunities for themselves and their families, leave conflict zones, or escape threats of gender violence. But as they seek supports and better opportunities, migrant women are susceptible to gendered violence, including, among other dangers, sexual assault and human trafficking.

A policy briefing by UN Women outlines the increased risk of gender violence that migrant women face and highlights that migrant women experience violence in all stages of the migration process: from the country of origin, to the transport process, arrival at the destination, and sometimes, the return; gender inequalities increase the risk of gender violence (UN Women, 2021). UN Women report that 83% of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation are women and girls, 35% of those trafficked for forced labor are women, and 60 to 80% of migrant women and girls travelling from Mexico to the U.S. are raped at some point in their journey (UN Women, 2020). Gender and economic inequalities that forced women to leave their countries of origin affect their migration experiences as well, making them more vulnerable to sexual exploitation by smugglers, human traffickers, and police and border guards.

Violence against Trans Women. In our binary-driven culture, people are assigned either male or female at birth. Examining the experiences of trans (transgender) people with gender violence shows how violence may be used to punish bodies that defy constructed ideas of gender. For example, in 2021, a study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law reported that transgender people are more than four times more likely to experience violence such as rape, sexual assault, or physical assault (Flores et al, 2021) than are other women.

Frequency and types worldwide. In a recent report, Transrespect vs. Transphobia documented the murders of over 300 trans and gender-diverse people worldwide. Of these, 94% were trans women or trans feminine people, 80% were affected by racism, and, in Europe, 45% of those murdered were immigrants or refugees (TVT, 2023). In the U.S., 47% of all trans respondents to an online survey reported being sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime; among Black respondents, the rate was 53%, and among people with disabilities it was 61%. Respondents also reported high rates of intimate partner violence, involvement in sex work, and experiences of homelessness (James et al., 2016).

Gender policing in sports. Gender policing in women’s sports is not a new phenomenon. Caster Semenya and her treatment by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) is a good example of how female bodies have been targeted for surveillance and violence (Reid & Worden, 2023). During her career, she has been the target of gender testing by the IOC, which tracked levels of hormones such as testosterone in female athletes. This hormone testing is a way to police certain bodies in competition and continue to enforce rigid gender roles, disguised as protecting the integrity of sports.

As women’s sports continue to grow in popularity, a great deal of attention has been focused on trans women’s participation. For example, swimmer Lia Thomas made headlines as the first trans athlete to win a Division I individual title (Almasy & Sterling, 2024). Her eligibility to compete in women’s sports has been debated for various reasons, but a primary claim is that trans women have an unfair biological advantage in sports. While this is still debated, what is established in this conversation is the tracking and monitoring of female athletes’ bodies. It is worth noting that the attention given to trans men athletes is not the same, sometimes leaving trans men athletes to compete without debate. The goal of surveilling the bodies of trans women athletes is to maintain stereotypical ideas of what female sports figures should look like.

Human Trafficking. This is a global crime that trades in people and exploits them for profit. Physical and sexual abuse, blackmail, emotional manipulation, and the removal of official documents are used by traffickers to control their victims. Exploitation can take place in a victim’s home country, during migration, or in a foreign country.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM). This nonmedical practice involves cutting, scraping, or removing all or part of a girl’s, teen’s, or adult female’s external sexual organs. Reasons given for the practice include that it makes girls more marriageable, controls their sexual appetites, and keeps them virgins until marriage. However, human rights organizations label it “an extreme form of gender inequality” (Farouki, et al., 2022) that has harmful mental and physical effects including, among others, “menstrual difficulties, infertility, urinary problems, mental health problems, pregnancy complications, severe pain, infection, septicemia, and even death” (Farouki, et al., 2022). Although the prevalence of FGM is declining in some countries, in others such as Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, Guinea, and Mali, it persists. UNICEF estimates that over 230 million women around the world are living with the results of this gender-based violent procedure (UNICEF, 2024).

Femicide. The intentional killing of a woman or a girl because she is a woman or a girl. The gender-related motivation of the killing may range from stereotyped gender roles, discrimination towards women and girls, to unequal power relations between women and men in society. This may also refer to the selective abortion of female fetuses, due to male/son preference in some societies.

Acid Attacks. In deliberate attempts to do physical, psychological, and cultural/social harm, acids of various kinds are thrown at women’s bodies, especially their faces, in many countries where gender discrimination is high, especially South Asian countries such as India—but all over the world, including the U.K. Usually committed by men, as revenge or punishment for some issue in which a woman has gone against what a man feels she ought to do—refusing a marriage offer or a sexual advance, in a dowry dispute, or business or property disputes. These attacks leave lasting psychological, physical, and social/economic scars on the survivors and their families who support them. Categorized as discrimination under CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women), and gender violence under international law, attacks are perpetrated indoors and outdoors, by family or by acquaintances; and are made easier by the ease of purchasing acids, the relative lack of laws to track down and punish offenders, and the continued inequalities of gender, class, race, ability, and other markers of identity (Hameed & Bhattacharya, 2022).

Rape as a Tool of War. Sexual violence is often an intentional strategy and tactic of war to create fear, control populations, and destroy communities. Statistics are alarming. According to data from UN Women:

[b]etween 250,000 and 500,000 women and girls were raped in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, more than 60,000 in the civil war in Sierra Leone, between 20,000 and 50,000 in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and at least 200,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996.”

(UN Women, n.d.)

While this data is alarming, there are many more assaults that go unreported or undocumented. Rape as a tool of war is now recognized as a war crime and a crime against humanity (UN Women, n.d.). As noted by UN Women, “in June 2008, the United Nations Security Council adopted the landmark Resolution 1820, establishing for the first time that sexual violence during conflict and its consequences pose a threat to international peace and security” (n.d.). This Resolution is one of many intended to end rape as a tool of war, but in addition to policies, mindsets around sexual assault must also change.

Resistance, Activism, and Positive Examples of Change

Social justice movements seek social, economic, and political equality for everyone. In doing so, activism and resistance become critical to creating change. Activism can be defined as “a practice or philosophy of action, in support of, or in opposition to, a political issue” (Holleb, 2019, p. 19). Activism occurs through direct actions such as protesting, and also happens through collaborations and coalitions.

Organizations around the world engage in activist work every day, and this section highlights just a couple of them that are focusing on gender violence and making a positive impact. It is important to point out that these organizations are grounded in the communities they serve. Community connection is important because it centers victims of gender violence by performing the work in the specific cultural, historical, and economic contexts of the regions in which the organizations work.

The Transrespect vs. Transphobia (TVT) worldwide organization is a research project initiated by Transgender Europe. The TVT project highlights connections among gender violence, misogyny, and racism. In particular, the statistic that 94% of victims were trans women or trans feminine demonstrates the ways femininity is monitored, and how violence is used as a tool to maintain control over bodies and to maintain constructed ideals of gender in a patriarchal society.

Another example of a global feminist organization focused on ending gender violence is Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ). This organization is “a Global South-led transnational feminist alliance committed to fostering stronger communities by building trust, nurturing solidarity, and sharing power” (RESURJ, n.d.b.). As they state, “Our work seeks to challenge the status quo, whether in feminist organizing or by applying a justice approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights. These are our main, and often overlapping, areas of work” (RESURJ, n.d.c.), which include: organizing young feminists from the global south, advocacy, creating and joining campaigns that support their mission, coalition building, and generating and sharing feminist knowledge and resources.

RESURJ offers numerous resources for addressing the issue of gender violence. For example, in 2020, they collaborated on a report examining rape as a systemic human rights violation and form of gender violence, written in response to a call for submissions by the UN (RESURJ, 2020). RESURJ also created a 13 Point Action Agenda for sexual and reproductive justice (RESURJ, n.d.a.).

A highlight of the work RESURJ is doing is their report on technology related and online violence and harassment that women experience. As social media continue to grow, addressing the harms that women and girls experience online is an important component of activism against gender violence. RESURJ defines technology related violence against women as:

[a]cts of gender-based violence that are committed, abetted or aggravated, in part or fully, by the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as phones, the internet, social media platforms, and email. Technology-related violence against women is part of the same continuum as violence against women offline.

(RESURJ, n.d.)

Their report describes the various experiences of online gendered violence women around the world experience. In the end, they offer several recommendations, which include: a feminist internet, legislation and policymaking that centers the most vulnerable and marginalized in experiences of online GV. This report is helpful for continuing resistance to technology related and online harassment and violence experienced by women, trans, and gender non-conforming people. RESURJ is just one of many organizations working to address social, economic, and political inequalities for women, girls, and gender non-conforming people throughout the world.

While the organizations mentioned above are important to activism and strategies to create change, another form of resistance occurs through larger campaigns, such as 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. According to the International Labour Organization (2024), this campaign occurs annually from November 25th through December 10th to promote awareness and action to eradicate all forms of gender violence. As with many activist efforts, the dates of this campaign are tactical, and strengthen the messaging that feminist activism highlights on this issue; November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and December 10th is Human Rights Day. The 16 Days of Activism campaign runs parallel to other global campaigns against gender violence in order to create a multi-faceted platform that illuminates the interconnected ways that GV is prevalent in all facets of women’s and girls’ lives, including the private and public spheres (International Labour Organization, 2024).

References

African American Policy Forum. (n.d.) A primer on intersectionality. 62e126_19f84b6cbf6f4660bac198ace49b9287.pdf (aapf.org)

Almasy, S., & Sterling, W. (2024, June 12) Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas loses challenge of rules barring her from elite women’s races. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/12/sport/lia-thomas-world-aquatics-transgender-swimmer/index.html

Bromley, V. L. (2012). Feminisms matter: Debates, theories, activism. University of Toronto Press.

Dude, A. (2014, December 4). Date rape. Britannica. Date rape | Definition, Drugs Used | Britannica

Duncan, P. (2022). Gender-Based Violence Worldwide. Women Worldwide.

Flores, A. R; Meyer, I., Langton, L. L., & Herman, J. L. (2021, March 10). Gender identity disparities in criminal victimization: National crime victimization survey, 2017–2018. American Journal of Public Health, 111(4), pp 726-729. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/ncvs-trans-press-release/

Holleb, M. L. E. (2019). The A-Z of gender and sexuality: From ace to ze. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

International Labour Organization. (2024, November 25). 16 days of activism against gender-based violence: A global movement for change. 16 days of activism against gender-based violence: A global movement for change | International Labour Organization

James, S. E., Herman, J. L., Rankin, S., Keisling, M., Mottet, L., & Anafi, M. (2016). The report of the 2015 U.S. transgender survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality. USTS-Full-Report-Dec17.pdf

Mann, S. A. (2012). Doing feminist theory: From modernity to postmodernity. Oxford University Press.

Native Hope. (2024). Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. https://www.nativehope.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-mmiw/

O’Toole, L. L., & Schiffman, J. R. (Eds.). (1997). Gender violence: Interdisciplinary perspectives. NYU Press.

Price, J., & Shildrick, M. (Eds.). (1999). Feminist theory and the body: A reader. Taylor & Francis.

resurj. (2020). Joint Submission to UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. https://resurj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SRVAW-Submission-Amnesty-CREA-IWRAWAP-RESURJ_Yale_FINAL_21-May-2020_0.pdf .

resurj. (n.d.) Submission on Technology-Related and Online Violence Against Women. https://resurj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Resurj-submission-on-online-violence-against-women_0.pdf.

Schiebinger, L. (Ed.). (2000). Feminism and the body. Oxford University Press.

Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide. (2023). Trans murder monitoring 2023 global update. https://tgeu.org/trans-murder-monitoring-2023-global-update/

UNICEF. (2024). Over 230 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital mutilation. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/over-230-million-girls-and-women-alive-today-have-been-subjected-female-genital

UN Women. (n.d). Rape as a Tactic of War. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Media/Publications/UNIFEM/EVAWkit_06_Factsheet_ConflictAndPostConflict_en.pdf

UN Women (n.d.) What we do: Ending violence against women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures#83917

UN Women (2020). Explainer: How migration is a gender equality issue. https://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/explainer/migration/en/index.html

UN Women. (2021). From evidence to action: Tackling gender-based violence against migrant women and girls. https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2021/Policy-brief-From-evidence-to-action-Tackling-GBV-against-migrant-women-and-girls-en.pdf

Urban Indian Health Institute. (2017). Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls: A snapshot of data from 71 urban cities in the United States. https://www.uihi.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/2/

Further Learning

Farouki L, El-Dirani Z, Abdulrahim S, Akl C, Akik C, McCall SJ (2022) The global prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting: A systematic review and meta-analysis of national, regional, facility, and school-based studies. PLoS Med 19(9): e1004061. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004061

Hameed, Shaheema and Bhattacharya, Bhupal (2022) “Scarred for Life: Thoughts on Legal Perspectives of Acid Attacks in Selected Countries with a Focus on India.” Journal of International Women’s Studies: Vol. 23: Iss. 1, Article 12. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol23/iss1/12

Reisel, D., & Creighton, S. M. (2015, January). Long term health consequences of female genital mutilation (FGM). Maturitas, (80)1, pp 48-51. Long term health consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – Maturitas

UN Women. (2024, June 27). FAQs: Types of violence against women and girls. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/faqs/types-of-violence

UNICEF. (2024, March). Female genital mutilation (FGM). Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Statistics – UNICEF Data