On this day we honour the women that have survived, the women we have lost, the women that empower one another and the ones that stand for eliminating violence against women. On the 25th of November, we unite to protect our women and girls from rape and sexual violence, all over the world.
"Sexual violence against women and girls is rooted in centuries of male domination. Let us not forget that the gender inequalities that fuel rape culture are essentially a question of power imbalances." — UN Secretary-General António Guterres
This year's theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is “Orange the world: Generation Equality Stands Against rape”, determined to prevent and end violence against women worldwide. Today, the 25th of November is the kick-off of the #16days of Activism campaign; “UNiTe” that will focus on rape as a specific form of harm committed in times of peace or war.
Today, several events have been organized such as colouring iconic buildings and landmarks 'orange to recall the need for a gender-violence free future. Join our campaign d by using the hashtags #GenerationEquality #OrangeTheWorld and #spreadtheword.
Violence against women and girls continues to be the most persistent and devastating human rights violations worldwide. These issues remain largely unreported due to cultural stigma, fear, silence and shame regarding sexual violence. The issue, ‘violence against women’ consists in many different forms such as physical, sexual and psychological.
Acts of violence can be identified through situations such as;
- Intimate partner violence (battery, marital rape, femicide
- Sexual violence and harassment (rape, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber-harassment)
- Psychological abuse and manipulation.
- Human Trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation)
- Female Genital Mutilation
- Child marriage
The Declaration on the Elimination of violence against women was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993 to define and act against “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (UN Women).
The consequences that derive from Violence against Women affect psychological, sexual and reproductive health. These lead to disadvantages present in their universal schooling and the right to education for girls. Violence is also to blame for restricting women’s access to higher education and limiting the opportunities in the workforce for women later in life.
Gender-based violence can happen to anyone, everywhere, no matter your background. However, some women and girls are particularly vulnerable such as individuals who identify as lesbian, bisexual transgender, migrants and refugees, indigenous women and ethnic minorities living in populations exposed to HIV, disabilities and humanitarian disasters.
The sustainable development goals (SDGs) promises to leave no one behind, but this cannot be fulfilled without eradicating violence against our women and girls. It is heartbreaking that violence against women continues to happen in our world today, violating their rights and a continuous barrier in achieving worldwide equality, development and peace.
To put this critical global issue into perspective, there are…
- “1 in 3 women and girls that experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner.
- Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care.
- Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday; while 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM).
- 1 in 2 women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2017; while only 1 out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances.
- 71% of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 of these women and girls are sexually exploited.
- Violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer, and a greater cause of ill-health than traffic accidents and malaria combined”.
(UN Women)
We must end rape. Rape is not an isolated brief act. The act is irreversible, the scars it leaves are forever and engraved in who we are. It can have life-changing effects such as pregnancy or transmission of diseases and long-lasting effect on the survivor, family and friends while shaping their decisions in everyday life, moving on from fear and stigma of survivors. Women and girls flee their homes and are at risk in insecure living conditions with a lack of locked doors, adequate lighting and proper sanitation facilities.
Girls continue to be married as children in the search for a security, causing unsafe conditions. Here, they are unable to receive support or advice that is in their best interest, granting them the opportunity to make their own decisions. In most countries, young girls are at most risk of sexual violence by close friends, partners or boyfriends. To what a lot of women and girls call ‘home, is frequently not a safe place while perpetrators of rape also go unreported and unpunished for their crimes. When reporting their case of sexual violence, they require an unimaginable amount of strength and resilience to re-live their experience, knowledge about who to go to for support and a certain degree of confidence responding to the services available. These services are overwhelmingly unavailable in a lot of countries, as survivors are more likely to be blamed than believed by reporting sexual assault while coping with an unright sense of shame and disbelief. This causes the silencing of women's voices regarding rape and letting their perpetrators walk freely.
We will be able to make a positive step towards ending rape and increase accountability by declaring rape universally illegal through strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officials to investigate these crimes and fully supporting survivors through justice processes. All survivors must receive access to legal aid, support of the police and justice services, as well as health and social services for women who care most vulnerable.
Progress requires that we tackle the structural barrier, patriarchal systems and stereotyping regarding all genders that belong to our society, national security, and justice institutions. The ones who commit rape know how powerfull and traumatizing their act is. They know how it suppresses voices and they know just deep the scars are, that they leave behind. Sexual violence is an intolerable cost to society that must be stopped. The generations after us must no longer fear sexual violence or struggle to confront the issue. Our generation will be the generation to end sexual violence and strengthen equality among all genders.
Join us and take a stance to ELIMINATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TODAY, once and for all!
Find more information on:
Comments