ABSTRACT

Violence is firmly established as an important development issue. This is due to global increases in everyday violence, the globalization of crime and violence, and the recognition that violence undermines sustainable development (Moser and McIlwaine 2006). An important dimension of these debates is gender-and age-based violence, usually involving violence against women and children, but less frequently involving men and the elderly. While these types of violence are now widely recognized as restricting women’s and young people’s freedom of participation in society, impeding the efficiency of development interventions and eroding their human rights, the international community has been slow to respond. Indeed, only in 1989 were the rights of children to protection from various forms of violence recognized in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Similarly, the elimination of violence against women was only formally called for in 1993 through a United Nations declaration. This relates to the invisible nature of much gender-and age-based violence, the fact that it is often accepted as ‘traditional’, occurs in the private sphere, and is associated with high levels of fear and stigma.