The non-governmental organization Equality Now has released a report on how laws around the world are insufficient to combat sexual violence that is “inflicted on women and girls in epidemic proportions.” The report, called “The World's Shame: The Global Rape Epidemic,” urges governments to “fix” their laws on rape and sexual assault to incorporate plans to prevent sexual violence; ensure that victims have access to justice and appropriate social services; and, strengthen criminal sanctions against perpetrators of rape and sexual abuse. Otherwise, according to the report’s authors, “we are unlikely to see an end to the worldwide abuse of women and girls anytime soon”
Equality Now prepared its report by compiling information on the laws on sexual violence in multiple jurisdictions around the world and compared them against benchmarks established by UN Women’s Virtual Knowledge Centre to end violence against women and girls.
Compiled from: The World’s Shame: The Global Rape Epidemic, How Laws around the World are Failing to Protect Women and Girls from Sexual Violence (2017).