International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Women’s rights activists have observed 25 November as a day against gender-based violence since 1981. This date was selected to honour the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country’s ruler, Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).

On 20 December 1993, the General Assembly adopts the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women through resolution 48/104, paving the path towards eradicating violence against women and girls worldwide.

Finally, on 7 February 2000, the General Assembly adopts resolution 54/134, officially designating 25 November as the International day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and in doing so, inviting governments, international organizations as well as NGOs to join together and organize activities designed to raise public awareness of the issue every year on that date.

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Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified.

This is the Shadow Pandemic growing amidst the COVID-19 crisis and we need a global collective effort to stop it. As COVID-19 cases continue to strain health services, essential services, such as domestic violence shelters and helplines, have reached capacity. More needs to be done to prioritize addressing violence against women in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

As countries implemented lockdown measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, violence against women, especially domestic violence, intensified – in some countries, calls to helplines have increased five-fold.

The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, a multi-year effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls, will focus on amplifying the call for global action to bridge funding gaps, ensure essential services for survivors of violence during the COVID-19 crisis, focus on prevention, and collection of data that can improve life-saving services for women and girls.

This year’s theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”.Like in previous years, this year’s International Day will mark the launch of 16 days of activism that will conclude on 10 December 2020, which is International Human Rights Day.

Several public events are being coordinated for this year’s International Day. Iconic buildings and landmarks will be ‘oranged’ to recall the need for a violence-free future.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.

In general terms, 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.

To further clarify, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women issued by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines violence against women as “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.”

The adverse psychological, sexual and reproductive health consequences of VAWG affect women at all stages of their life. For example, early-set educational disadvantages not only represent the primary obstacle to universal schooling and the right to education for girls; down the line they are also to blame for restricting access to higher education and even translate into limited opportunities for women in the labour market.

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, and those living through humanitarian crises.

Violence against women continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace as well as to the fulfillment of women and girls’ human rights. All in all, the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – to leave no one behind – cannot be fulfilled without putting an end to violence against women and girls.

Webinar: End Militarism to Stop Climate Change

Communities across the U.S. and across the world have been devastated by military occupation, war, and state-sanctioned police violence. The U.S. military is also the single largest consumer of fossil fuels in the world and has served as the enforcer of the occupation of Indigenous sovereign lands while upholding violent resource extraction across the world. Addressing climate change requires ending the military-industrial complex. At the same time, increasingly militarized police forces perpetrate harm in Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Pacific Islander communities, poor, and marginalized people, and violence against women, and gender non-conforming peoples.

A Just Transition to a Regenerative Economy must end wars, military culture, and the violence of militarized forces and police in our communities and across the world.

Anti-militarism and Abolitionist movements in the U.S. and delegates from our communities will convene in a virtual town hall with our international allies in the Global south while participating in the 2021 UNFCC in Glasgow, Scotland.

We will hear testimonies from communities resisting militarism and occupation in their communities both inside and outside the U.S. and ultimately call on U.S. elected officials to take action to move away from funding unending wars and military presence and prioritize investing in regeneration and repair for communities impacted by militarism in the U.S and all over the planet.

Speakers will include:

Participants at the COP26 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Glasgow:

• Alejandria Lyons – Southwest Organizing Project
• Ramon Mejia – GGJ Alliance
• Sheila Babauta – Micronesia Climate Change Alliance
• Sharif Zakout – Arab Resource & Organizing Center

Testimonies from international allies from the Global South and frontline community leaders in the U.S.:

• Seydi Sarr – African Bureau of Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA)
• Kyle Kajihiro – Oahu Water Protectors
• Youkyoung Ko – WILPF, Korea Peace Now!
• Sha Merirei Ongelungel – Indigenous Environmental Network

Our speakers will discuss a just transition to a regenerative economy, alternatives to policing and military intervention, and a pledge for U.S. Members of Congress to sign on.

Can you support this event with a simple tweet? Click here for sample tweets to share on your social media accounts.

Women for peace: Greenham Common