The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”

Violence against women, or gender-based violence, includes many types of abuse, ranging from physical, sexual, and emotional violence to female genital mutilation and trafficking.

Worldwide, nearly 1 in 3, or 30%, of women have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or non-partner sexual violence or both.

A 2020 study found that 44% of African women, or more than two in five, have been subjected to gender-based violence, which is higher than the global average of 30% reported by the UN.

According to the statistics available at the Accra Regional Office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), as of August 2020, 31.9% of Ghanaian women have faced at least one form of domestic violence – physical, economic, psychological, social or sexual.

Violence against women and girls is a major public policy and human rights concern. The persistence of domestic violence threatens the achievement of gender equality, and the empowerment of women as defined in the Millennium Development Goals.

At Born Equal we are working collectively with Government agencies, civil society, community groups and the private sector to enhance education, outreach and awareness efforts, data collection and analysis to provide a deeper understanding and insight of the causes, consequences and impact of gender based violence and the most effective approaches to stop the violence and protect women.

Our work also focuses on education for early prevention and the continued development of services to support women in the ways they need support.

Research from the United Nations Broadband Commission for Digital Development reports that 73% of women have already been exposed to or have experienced some form of online violence.

Violent online behaviour ranges from online harassment and public shaming to the desire to inflict physical harm including sexual assaults, murders and induced suicides. With the proliferation of the Internet, online violence against women has taken on a global dimension. Online crimes are not a ‘first world’ problem; they seamlessly follow the spread of the Internet.

The digital revolution and the uptake of online information and communications technologies have both positive and negative gendered impacts. On the one hand, online spaces and digital tools can facilitate access to essential information and services, unleashing educational and employment opportunities for women and girls. But on the other hand, for those who are online and do have access, a growing body of evidence sheds light on the ways in which the digital revolution has exacerbated existing, and even created new, forms of gendered inequalities and oppression, including technology-facilitated violence against women.

(Technology-facilitated violence against women: Taking stock of evidence and data collection. Publication year: 2023, UN Women)

Maternal/newborn care is a woman’s ability to have a safe and healthy pregnancy, delivery and post delivery period. Complications associated with pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries.

Maternal mortality represents one of the greatest health disparities between the rich and poor and almost all maternal deaths occur in developing countries where poor women are particularly vulnerable.

In June 2009, the UN Human Rights Council passed a landmark resolution that recognizes “preventable maternal mortality and morbidity as a pressing human-rights issue that violates a woman’s rights to health, life, education, dignity and information”.

Some 830 women still die every day from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth. This is about one woman every two minutes. And for every woman who dies, 20 or 30 encounter complications with serious or long-lasting consequences. Most of these deaths and injuries are entirely preventable.

Developing regions account for approximately 99% (302 000) of the global maternal deaths in 2015, with sub-Saharan Africa alone accounting for roughly 66% (201 000), followed by Southern Asia (66 000). In sub – Saharan Africa, a woman’s maternal mortality is 1 in 30, compared to 1 in 5,600 in developed regions.

Every year nearly 41% of all under-five child deaths are among newborn infants, babies in their first 28 days of life or the neonatal period.

Of the 8.2 million under-five child deaths per year, about 3.3 million occur during the neonatal period —in the first four weeks of life. 98% of those deaths are in developing countries.

The majority – almost 3 million of these – die within one week and almost 2 million on their first day of life. An additional 3.3 million are stillborn.

The three major causes of neonatal deaths worldwide are infections (36%, which includes sepsis/pneumonia, tetanus and diarrhea), pre-term (28%), and birth asphyxia (23%). 

In developing countries nearly half of all mothers and newborns do not receive skilled care during and immediately after birth.

Up to two thirds of newborn deaths can be prevented if known, effective health measures are provided at birth and during the first week of life.

With West Africa suffering some of the worst maternal mortality rates in the world (Ghana’s 380 deaths per 100,000 live births compares to 8 per 100,000 in the UK), Born Equal is currently working in Ghana to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity.

To significantly improve maternal, newborn and reproductive health our programmes aim to address the following identified needs: 

1. Access to family planning (counseling, services, supplies), education and lifesaving information
2. Access to quality care for pregnancy and childbirth with a renewed focus on antenatal care, skilled attendance at birth including emergency obstetric and neo natal care and immediate post-natal care for mothers and newborn
3. Access to more health professionals
4. Greater financial resourcing
5. Access to essential, life saving equipment and supplies on maternity and labour wards and neonatal units.
6. Greater political commitment and collaborative partnerships between governments, donors and civil society