Day 4 of Mobilization – March 11th “”Violence Against Women”

Since the Beijing Conference, awareness of Violence Against Women (VAW) has increased, making it a priority issue at the global, regional and national levels. A growing number of governments have strengthened legal, policy and institutional frameworks to end violence against women and girls. However, despite advances, VAW remains a global pandemic with women and girls affected by violence in every region of the world and exacerbated by the persistent economic crisis, lingering food and fuel crises, and environmental factors:  diminishing resources, incidents of natural disasters, changing climate patterns, water scarcity, among others. 

Many barriers to ending VAW still exist, besides those related to the economic crisis and climate change.   One of the challenges has been working with our male colleagues, brothers and leaders to increase their awareness and support in the effort to end the violence. Certain steps have been taken by male leaders in recent months to change male attitudes about women.  In November of last year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the 10th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by launching a Network of Men Leaders to combat violence against women, a major new initiative bringing together current and former politicians, activists, religious and community figures to combat the global pandemic. (To the S-G’s credit, this is a more appropriate “boys club” network, as opposed to the all-male High Level Advisory Board on Climate Change Financing appointment by the Secretary-General (S-G) as reported in yesterday’s FTF 12 Days of Action alert).

The Network of Men Leaders to Combat VAW is part of the S-G’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, launched in 2008 as a multi-year effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls in all parts of the world.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has joined the call to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls, and has been very vocal, speaking directly to men and boys, as well as to the global community:

Violence against women cannot be tolerated in any form, in any context, in any circumstance by any religious leader, political leader or by any government. Violence and abuse affect all kinds of people daily. It doesn’t matter what type of race or culture you come from, how much money you have, how old you are or if you have a disability. Violence and the threat of violence can increase women and girls’ vulnerability to HIV by making it difficult or impossible by setting the terms of an unequal relationship.

You are a weak man if you use your physical superiority to assault and brutalize women.

A society that permits violence against women is a society that is on its way out.

--Archbishop Desmond Tutu, November, 2009

Take action

Watch video message by Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the 2009 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Last Tuesday, March 2nd at the 54th CSW, UNIFEM announced the first Say NO milestone – 183,132 actions recorded through this global advocacy and communications platform towards ending violence against women and girls. This tally far surpasses the initial goal for Say NO of stimulating more than 100,000 actions by International Women’s Day. Launched in November 2009 as a web platform to facilitate, showcase and count efforts to address gender-based violence by individuals, governments and civil society, Say NO is a direct contribution to the UN Secretary-General’s Campaign to end violence against women.

Sign the global call for action on www.saynotoviolence.org to tell governments around the world that you want them to make ending violence against women and girls a top priority.

Raise the profile of the issue - blog, tweet and chat about the issue in your social networking sites.

TODAY at the UN CSW - New York, UN Headquarters

Racism, Violence against Women and HIVAIDS Intersecting Risks

March 11 4:00pm, UN Church Center, 10th floor
Women of Color United

View the CSW LIVE webcast .

Flashback

Report by International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) on the PLATFORM FOR ACTION negotiations, Monday, September 18, 1995

Section D (Violence against women): In this Section, delegates
resolved that in “all” societies, to a greater or lesser degree, women
and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse.
Among the types of abuse that are identified are acts of violence in
situations of armed conflict (115) and forced sterilization, abortion
and forced use of contraceptives, prenatal sex selection and female
infanticide (115 bis).
Delegates identified as particularly vulnerable displaced women,
repatriated women, migrant workers, women living in poverty, and
those living under conditions of foreign occupation, wars of
aggression, civil wars, and terrorism, including hostage taking
(116). Delegates noted the adverse impact of images in the media
in paragraph 119.

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Feminist Task Force GCAP e-Campaign – 12 Days of Action on the 12 Critical Areas of Concern Mobilization March 8 – 19th

Commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW),  held in Beijing in 1995, and coinciding with the 54th UN CSW in New York, the e-Campaign will run 12 days from March 8–19th, each day highlighting one critical area of concern, beginning with Women & Poverty, and includin Education, Health, Violence Against Women, Armed Conflict, Economy, Decision-Making, Institutional Mechanisms, Human Rights, Media, the Environment and ending with the Girl Child.

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Contributed by FTF member, Rosa Lizarde