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Commentary
Decriminalisation of gender-based violence is a global health problem
  1. Jenevieve Mannell,
  2. Sarah Hawkes
  1. Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Jenevieve Mannell; j.mannell{at}ucl.ac.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000438

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    Summary box

    • In some countries we are seeing a recent roll-back of legislation protecting survivors of gender-based violence.

    • This is a global health problem because of the implications for the health of women, children and those with marginalised gender or sexual identities.

    • A growing body of evidence points to the serious consequences of gender-based violence for both physical and mental health outcomes, which is not being considered in these legislative changes.

    • The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals provide a key moment for ensuring that states uphold global commitments to gender equality and non-discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual identities.

    Introduction

    In July 2017 the member states of the United Nations (UN) came together to review progress towards six of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including goal 3 (health) and goal 5 (gender equality). The targets within goal 5 are broad and ambitious, incorporating a commitment to ‘end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere’ and also to ‘eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres’.1 Among other indicators, countries are being asked to report on the presence or absence of legal frameworks to enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as the proportion of women and girls who report suffering from violence. However, contrary to the ideals enshrined within Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, at the level of some individual states, there has been a rolling back of legislation protecting against violence and discrimination. This presents a global health problem because of the significant impacts the removal of this protective legislation has on the health of women, children and those with marginalised gender or sexual identities.

    Recent roll-back of legislation against gender-based violence

    In February 2017 the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed into law legislation that decriminalised a first offence of violence …

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