RESOLUTION Accepted by the FIGO General Assembly, Copenhagen, Denmark 1997
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The FIGO General Assembly,
Considering that violence against women in all its forms is widely prevalent throughout and that it is a gross violation of women’s human rights;
Recognizing that it has serious adverse consequences on the physical, mental and reproductive health of women and can also have serious effects on the health of their infants and children (particularly when they are also victims or in the case of children witnesses);
Recognizing the need for developing special expertise and specialized care for meeting the needs of women who suffer violence; and
Recalling the 1993 UN Declaration on Violence Against Women and the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women;
Supporting the Recommendations reached by the FIGO Committee for the Study of Ethical Aspects of Human Reproduction
1. Invites Member Societies to:
(1) Urge their governments to implement the recommendations made by the Beijing Platform for Action and to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of ALL Forms of Discrimination Against Women if they have not already done so, and to ensure its implementation if they have already ratified it.
(2) Urge their governments to take legal and other measures needed to make violence against women unacceptable to all groups in society.
(3) Ensure that violence against women is included in the curricula of all reproductive health care providers, in the specialist training of ob/gyns and in programs for continuing education and that the health system does not in any way contribute to the victimization of women.
(4) Collaborate with national authorities, non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations and the media to promote and support measures to prevent and address the consequences of violence against women, and to communicate with the appropriate bodies to provide an effective safety net for women suffering from violence.
2. Recommends that obstetricians and gynaecologists:
(1) Educate themselves, other health professionals and community workers about the extent, types, and negative consequences of violence against women.
(2) Increase their ability to identify women who are experiencing violence and to provide supportive counselling and appropriate treatment and referral.
(3) Work with others to better the understanding of the problem by documenting the determinants of violence against women and its harmful consequences.
(4) Assist in the legal prosecution of cases of sexual abuse and rape by careful and sensitive documentation of the evidence.
(5) Support those who are working to end violence against women in their families and in communities.
WHO Reproductive Health Strategy
A new publication from WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research: The Reproductive Health Strategy: to accelerate progress towards the attainment of international development goals and targets is now available in print and can be downloaded from the web link listed below.
This is the World Health Organization’s first global strategy on reproductive health. It was adopted by the 57th World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2004. The strategy was developed as a result of extensive consultations in all regions with representatives from ministries of health, professional associations, non-governmental organizations, United Nations partners and other key stakeholders. It lays out actions needed for accelerating progress towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other international goals and targets relating to reproductive health, especially those from the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994, and its five-year follow-up (ICPD+5).
It can be downloaded from:
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/strategy.pdf Hard copies in English are now available. Hard copies in French will also be available by the end of 2004. Translations of this document in Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese will also be available before the end of 2004 on the WHO website.
Additional copies can be ordered from:
Documentation Centre, Department of Reproductive Health and Researchm World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Direct Fax +41 22 791 4171 Phone +41 22 791 4447
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