Friends,

Today is the 25th of November and United Nations General Assembly has designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The very purpose of the day is to raise awareness around the world that women are subjected to rape, domestic violence, and other forms of violence; Furthermore,  this is to highlight that the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden.

Brief history: 

Women’s rights activists have observed 25 November as a day against gender-based violence since 1981. This date was selected to honor the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered in 1960 by the country’s ruler, Rafael Trujillo.

On 20 December 1993, the General Assembly adopts the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, and finally, on 7 February 2000, the General Assembly adopts  25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

They also invited governments, international organizations, and NGOs to join together and organize activities designed to raise public awareness of the issue every year on that date.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, It is revealed from the data that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, have intensified.

 We need a global collective effort to be done to prioritize addressing violence against women after the effects of COVID-19.

Activism against Gender-Based Violence

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual campaign, which begins today i.e. the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and will last on 10th December, which is International Human Rights Day.

Yes, this year, the UN marks these 16 Days under the theme “UNiTE!  to end violence against women and girls”.

Violence against Women & Girls

• More than 1 in 3 women experience gender-based violence during their lifetime.

• In 2021, nearly 1 in 5 women aged 20-24 were married before turning 18.

• Less than 40 percent of women who experience violence seek any sort of help.

• 85% of women globally have experienced or witnessed digital violence against other women.

• eighty-four laws and policies were passed and more than 650,000 women and girls were able to access gender-based violence services, despite restrictions related to the pandemic.

Violence against women and girls remains the most pervasive human rights violation around the world. Already heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, its prevalence is now being further increased by the intersecting crises of climate change, global conflict, and economic instability.

Yes, this is one of the most widespread, persistent, and devastating human rights violations in our world today and remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma, and shame surrounding it.

In general terms, Violence against women and girls manifests itself in physical, sexual, and psychological forms, encompassing:

• Intimate partner violence (battering, psychological abuse, marital rape, femicide);

• Sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances,

• Child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking.

• Human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation);

• Female genital mutilation; and

• Child marriage.

While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere. Some women and girls are particularly vulnerable – for instance,

• young girls and older women,

• women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or intersex,

• migrants and refugees,

• indigenous women and ethnic minorities, or

• women and girls living with HIV and disabilities.

Me Too movement

#Me Too movement# was started in the year 2006,  founded by activist Tarana Burke. It exploded and sparked continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, and peace as well as to the fulfillment of women’s and girls’ human rights.

 All in all, the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals  – to leave no one behind – cannot be fulfilled without putting an end to violence against women and girls.

Let’s consign violence against women and girls to the history books

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