International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – 25 November
Calls for action to ‘Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence against Women and Girls’
“Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, public health pandemic and serious obstacle to sustainable development. It imposes large-scale costs on families, communities and economies. The world cannot afford to pay this price.”
— Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General
The situation
One in three women around the world experience violence in their lifetime, often in the hands of someone they know, love and trust. Of all women who were victims of homicide globally in 2012, almost half were killed by intimate partners or family members.
Violence against women and girls, a gross human rights violation, devastates lives, causes untold pain, suffering and illness. It also incurs high economic costs. A recent study estimated that the cost of intimate-partner accounted for 5.2 per cent of the global economy [ ].Beyond the direct medical and judicial costs, violence against women takes a toll on household and national budgets through lost income and productivity.
Deep-rooted inequality in the roles, rights and opportunities of men and women, and attitudes and social norms that condone or normalize such violence, have made the problem tenacious, but not inevitable. With laws to protect women and punish perpetrators, services to rebuild women’s lives and comprehensive prevention that starts early, ending violence against women and girls can become a reality. Yet, robust funding for efforts to end this violence remains woefully insufficient.
Why This International Day?
• Violence against women is a human rights violation.
• Violence against women is a consequence of discrimination against women, in law and also in practice, and of persisting inequalities between men and women.
• Violence against women impacts on, and impedes, progress in many areas, including poverty eradication, combating HIV/AIDS, and peace and security.
• Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. Prevention is possible and essential.
• Violence against women continues to be a global pandemic.
UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign
Launched in 2008, the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign aims to raise public awareness and increase political will and resources for preventing and ending all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world. It calls on all governments, civil society, women’s organizations, men, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN system to join forces in addressing this global pandemic.
The global vision of the UNiTE campaign is a world free from violence against all women and girls. This vision can only be realized through meaningful actions and ongoing political commitments of national governments, backed by adequate resources.
This year, for the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, the UN Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women’s call for action is themed ‘Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence against Women and Girls’, to amplify and address the funding shortfall.
Why money matters in ending violence against women and girls
When world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, they recognized that ending violence against women and girls is a pre-requisite for the achievement of the development agenda. Goal 5 on gender equality includes a specific target to end all forms of violence against women, including trafficking, other forms of sexual violence and harmful practices. Yet, the resources dedicated to addressing the issue do not match the scale of the challenge.Allocating adequate resources to prevent and address violence against women is not only a legal obligation and a moral imperative, but a sound investment too.
