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	Violence against Women by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights   To combat the rising phenomenon of violence against women and girls, those committing the crimes must be prosecuted.   On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said most perpetrators of these crimes enjoyed impunity.   “This impunity is built on a foundation of discrimination and inequality. States have largely accepted the international human rights framework in place to prevent, condemn and punish discrimination against women. But unless these inequalities are addressed, including in the economic and social spheres, the violence will persist.”   Countless women and girls are killed, mutilated, beaten, raped, sold into sexual slavery or tortured every day in the world. Violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and sexual violence, is increasing.   Domestic gender-based violence is still, in some parts of the world, an issue that is confined to the private domain, and a symptom of how women are generally considered as objects. Men often use domestic violence to diminish women’s autonomy and self-worth.   “A woman is more likely to remain in a relationship in which she is the victim of domestic violence when the alternative is homelessness for herself and her children. A woman will not report rape if we continue to stigmatize the victims of violence rather than the perpetrators,” said the High Commissioner.   Violence against women is one of the most pervasive human rights violations. It devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development. At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime — with the abuser usually someone known to her, according to the In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary General, 2006.   Most of the survivors have little hope of seeing their perpetrators pay for their crimes, and so the violence perpetuates. States must ensure, under international law, that crimes of violence against women and girls are prosecuted and that the economic and social rights of the victims are protected. Putting such a system in place will bring perpetrators to justice, encourage victims and witnesses to testify, and put an end to impunity for crimes of sexual violence against women and girls, including rape. Visit the related web page
	Poorest suffer most from corruption, Transparency International study says by Associated Press   December 6, 2007   Some of the world''s poorest people in Africa and Asia are hardest hit by public corruption – forced to pay bribes for police protection, education and justice – according to a survey released Thursday.   Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International''s 2007 Global Corruption Barometer showed that as a region, Africa suffered the most public corruption. In the African countries surveyed, 42 per cent of people reported that they had been asked to pay a bribe to obtain a service during the previous 12 months.   The Asia-Pacific region was next with 22 per cent; then a grouping of Russia, Moldova and Ukraine with 21 per cent; Latin America with 13 per cent; southeastern Europe with 12 per cent; the European Union with 5 per cent; and North America with 2 per cent.   “Poor families are hit hardest by demands for bribes,” the organization said in a summary of its report. “This year''s Global Corruption Barometer has made it clear that too often, people must part with their hard-earned money to pay for services that should be free,” organization chairwoman Huguette Labelle said in a statement.   The survey of more than 63,199 people in 60 countries, compiled by polling agency Gallup, found that a majority believe corruption in general is on the rise, and they consider politics the most graft-ridden sector.   Some 54 per cent said they expect the level of corruption to increase in the next three years, 26 per cent said it would stay the same, while 20 per cent said it would decrease. Slightly less than 70 per cent said political parties were the most corrupt institutions, followed by about 55 per cent who said parliament or the country''s legislature was the most corrupt, narrowly trailed by just over 50 per cent citing police departments.   The figures total more than 100 per cent because people gave multiple answers about where they paid bribes.   Of the countries and territories where interviews were carried out, Cameroon fared the worst, with 79 per cent of respondents saying they had paid a bribe to obtain services. They were followed by 72 per cent of Cambodians, 71 per cent of Albanians, 67 per cent from Kosovo; both Macedonia and Pakistan registered 44 per cent.   Romania registered the highest levels of corruption inside the European Union, with one in three residents saying they paid bribes in 2007 – a higher rate than last year, before Romania joined the EU, when one in five said they paid bribes, said Victor Alistar, who heads the Romanian branch of Transparency International.   Canada, Japan, South Korea, Austria, France, Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland fared the best overall, with only 1 per cent of respondents saying they had paid a bribe. The United States, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain did only slightly worse with 2 per cent.   The study found overall that police departments were the most corrupt, with one in four respondents around the world who had contact with police being asked to pay a bribe – and one in six ending up paying.   Police departments were followed by the judiciary, permit and registration services, the education system and medical services.   “The fact that health and education and the judiciary and the police is where there is a great demand for bribes ... is something we need to look at and be very concerned about, because this is something that touches people every day,” Ms. Labelle told the AP.   “I think it is extremely worrisome and it is even dangerous to life if people are asked to pay bribes for essential services,” she said.   This years survey, the fifth since they began in 2003, was carried out between June and September. Visit the related web page
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