TODAY IS THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

“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

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is an occasion for governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations to raise public awareness of violence against women. 

We, at Euro Weekly News, encourage everyone to participate and say STOP to violence against women. Small actions can make big impacts to stamp out rape culture.

Use the colour orange and join the conversation on social media using #orangetheworld and #generationequality.

Historically, the date is based on the date of the 1960 assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic; the killings were ordered by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo (1930–1961). In 1981, activists at the Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encuentros marked November 25 as a day to combat and raise awareness of violence against women more broadly and has been observed by the UN since 2000.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today.

In brief, as stated by UN Women, it 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, cyber- harassment);
• Human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation);
• Female genital mutilation; and
• Child marriage.

Tragically many of these violations remain largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding them

This year’s (2019) theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is ‘Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape’.

Today, as in previous years, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women will mark the start of 16 days of activism, concluding on December 10, which is International Human Rights Day.