Young Ethiopian women talk about efforts to end early marriage
11 March 2013
The International Development Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). On a recent visit to Ethiopia, made in connection with that inquiry, Members went to visit a project funded by the British government that works with local communities to challenge attitudes to early marriage
Girls and women in developing countries are vulnerable to particular abuses including domestic violence, female genital mutilation, forced and early marriage and violence within schools and workplaces.
The Department for International Development (DFID) has a stated intention to scale up its work on the issue and recently announced an ambitious £35 m programme to focus on reducing Violence Against Women and Girls.
In this film MPs from the International Development Committee hear first hand from young Ethiopian women what they stand to gain if they remain in education and pursue other life choices before they marry later as adults
Across the globe, one in three women will be beaten or sexually abused in their lifetime. Violence against women and girls occurs in all societies including the UK. Violence against women and girls is a violation of their rights that undermines women’s potential and ability to effect change in the world and holds back poverty eradication. Violence has long been prevalent in situations of conflict - where rape is often used as a weapon of war - and post-conflict, with far-reaching consequences for women that include sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, stigma, abandonment and increased poverty.
Made for the House of Commons by Peter Chinn, Grindstone Productions, 2013