Fact: Statistics on Violence Against Women and Girls

   
Between 15 and 76 percent of women are targeted for physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, according to the available country data. Most of this violence takes place within intimate relationships, with many women (ranging from 9 to 70 percent) reporting their husbands or partners as the perpetrator.

Femicide
- In Guatemala, two women are murdered, on average, each day.
- In India, 8,093 cases of dowry-related death were reported in 2007; an unknown number of murders of women and young girls were falsely labeled ‘suicides’ or ‘accidents’.
- In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, between 40 and 70 percent of female murder victims were killed by their intimate partners.
- In the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, 66 percent of murders of women were committed by husbands, boyfriends or other family members.

Violence and Young Women
- Worldwide, up to 50 percent of sexual assaults are committed against girls under 16.
- An estimated 150 million girls under the age of 18 suffered some form of sexual violence in 2002 alone.
- The first sexual experience of some 30 percent of women was forced. The percentage is even higher among those who were under 15 at the time of their sexual initiation, with up to 45 percent reporting that the experience was forced.

Harmful Practices
- Approximately 100 to 140 million girls and women in the world have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, with more than 3 million girls in Africa annually at risk of the practice.
- Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18, primarily in South Asia (31.3 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (14.1 million). Violence and abuse characterize married life for many of these girls. Women who marry early are more likely to be beaten or threatened, and more likely to believe that a husband might sometimes be justified in beating his wife.

Trafficking
- Women and girls are 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked across national borders annually, with the majority (79 percent) trafficked for sexual exploitation. Within countries, many more women and girls are trafficked, often for purposes of sexual exploitation or domestic servitude.
- One study in Europe found that 60 percent of trafficked women had experienced physical and/or sexual violence before being trafficked, pointing to gender-based violence as a push factor in the trafficking of women.

Sexual Harassment
- Between 40 and 50 percent of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at work.
- Across Asia, studies in Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea show that 30 to 40 percent of women suffer workplace sexual harassment.
- In Nairobi, 20 percent of women have been sexually harassed at work or school.
- In the United States, 83 percent of girls aged 12 to 16 experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools.

Violence Prevention Workshops A Fighting Success

As you may have recently read on our blog, website and other social media outlets Bridge to Freedom Foundation recently launched a new Violence Prevention Program.  We have been excited to be able to bring the life saving techniques of Krav Maga -a real life self-defense system- to survivors of human trafficking.

Our first survivor workshop was held just last month in Kansas City, Missouri, and we are excited to announce that they were a fighting success!   On October 24rd, I traveled to Kansas City to run our first official Violence Prevention Workshop Fundraiser for the community. Which  I am very excited to report back to you that it was a great successes and funded the next phase of  my journey to train local survivors of sex trafficking.  This trip was important in so many ways, one I was getting to return back to my hometown and begin to see my dream and life's work go full circle.  It was also exciting -and a bit nerve racking- to finally be able to share my love of Krav Maga with many of my family and friends.  It was defiantly an interesting experience teaching a class with siblings, parents, childhood friends and all their friends, but so great to let them see first hand what I have been talking about and training so hard on.  Not to mention I want to ensure that everyone has access to true and easy to implement self-defense training, as my motto for self-defense -and much of life- is "Don't be Surprised for Surprises"!

On that note I am without words to really tell you how excited I am to report back that our first workshop(s) with the amazing survivor lead organization in Kansas City, MO, Veronica's Voice on the 24th of October, was an amazing success.  First of all I have to thank everyone at Veronica's voice for all the hard work you do everyday and allowing us to be part of your family and for seeing the value in every aspect of survivors lives -including their personal safety.  Most of all I have to thank the amazing women who spent the day learning, laughing, sharing, bonding and most of all learning some...well shall we say it....Kick Ass Self-Defense techniques!  These life saving skills we hope will keep all of these women out of harms way and empowered to fight should they have to!

Our mission at BTFF is to see that all survivors of modern slavery have the tools and resources to lead thriving lives and we know that this includes developing the mental mindset of a fighter.  Our Violence Prevention Program, does just that and we hope you will help support us on this journey and consider sponsoring a survivor or workshop here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Violence-Prevention-Self-Defense-Workshops.

If you are a survivor and would like to inquire about free training or would like to book a self-defense workshop for your clients or outreach team, please contact us at info@btff.org and we will contact you with more information and to schedule your training.  Additionally if you would like to host a community self-defense workshop and not only ensure your community is equipped for any situation, but also raise funds for free survivor training please contact us to book a workshop.

Paving the Way for Collaboration

In 2012, the CDC reported that 19% of undergraduate women experienced either attempted or completed sexual assault since entering college, making this a matter in need of drastic action. September was National Campus Safety Awareness Month, and PAVE: Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment hosted a National Campus Sexual Assault Summit at Georgetown Law on September 27th. The summit, which was also broadcast live to more than 300 colleges, forms part of the Safe Campus, Strong Voices campaign, a partnership between PAVE and the Clery Center for Security on Campus.

Male survivors, Title IX legislation, and the interests of the underrepresented (such as the LGBT community) are some of the themes that were expertly covered by the speakers. The summit succeeded in bringing together an interesting array of contributors, from academics, to activists and survivors. The following speakers led the discussions:

• Angela Rose, Survivor and Activist, and Founder of PAVE 
• Laura Dunn, Survivor and Activist, PAVE
• Wendy Wyler, Survivor and Activist
• Nancy Chi Cantalupo, Research Fellow at Victim Rights Law Center and Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law
• Jen Luettel Schweer, Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Services Coordinator, Georgetown University
• Chris Anderson, Executive Director, MaleSurvivor 
• Anya Lakner, National Training and Policy Attorney, American Bar Association’s Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence 
• Rhett Walker, Sexual Assault Prevention Specialist and Former Campus Training Coordinator, Men Can Stop Rape 
• Tim Stephens, Alumnus and Former Inter-Fraternity Council Vice President for Judicial Affairs, Delta Tau Delta and George Washington University 
• Sarah Rice, Survivor and Activist, and Former Star of The Real World: Brooklyn 

The PAVE summit highlighted that there is a strong need for collaborative action in order to reach a larger audience and represent all survivors. It is clear that the survivor community has many faces. One often makes the mistake of associating sexual assault with women, omitting the large number of male survivors, as well as other underrepresented groups who often find it harder to come forward or even seek help after being assaulted. A united front that brings together all of these perspectives and interests is most certainly a step in the right direction. In the past few years, PAVE has lived up to its name in not only promoting awareness, but also empowering victims. Its founder and sexual assault survivor, Angela Rose, has established herself and the organization as a beacon of hope for survivors. The BTFF team gained a lot of insight on assault specifically on campuses at the summit. This is especially useful as we have just started our Violence Prevention Program, which is aimed at mentally and physically preparing individuals for a surprise attack

BTFF Executive Director, Cassandra Clifford, with fellow Krav Maga
Instructors, Mike Coffin (left) and Mike Burkhouse (right). Mike Coffin
is also the PAVE's Board President.

FACT: 2.5 Million People are in Forced Labor

Image from Little Hands Blog

An estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labor (including sexual exploitation) at any given time as a result of trafficking.Of these:

•  1.4 million – 56% - are in Asia and the Pacific
•  250,000 – 10% - are in Latin America and the Caribbean
•  230,000 – 9.2% - are in the Middle East and Northern Africa 
•  130,000 – 5.2% - are in sub-Saharan countries  
• 270,000 – 10.8% - are in industrialized countries
•  200,000 – 8% - are in countries in transition

Among the victims:

•  The majority of trafficking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age.
•  95% of victims experienced physical or sexual violence during trafficking (based on data from selected European countries).
•  43% of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation, of whom 98 per cent are
• women and girls.
•  32% of victims are used for forced economic exploitation, of whom 56 per cent are women and
• girls.
• Many trafficking victims have at least middle-level education.

Data Source:

1. International Organization for Migration, Counter-Trafficking Database, 78 Countries, 1999-2006 (1999)
2. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Stolen smiles: a summary report on the physical and psychological health consequences of women and adolescents trafficked in Europe (London, 2006)
3. International Labour Organization, Forced Labour Statistics Factsheet (2007)