Published by: Aliyah Margareth Imbat
Date Published: November 25, 2022
Time Published: 2:25 PM
In commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which marked the first day of the 16-day activism against gender-based violence, several United Nations (UN) entities called on everyone to ‘UNiTE’ to end violence against women and girls.
In a joint statement dated November 25, 2022, UN entities mentioned how global emergencies, crises, and conflicts further escalated violence against women and girls (VAWG), citing that at the start of COVID-19, 45 percent of women reported they or a woman they know experienced a form of VAWG.
Also cited were natural disasters that intensified gender-based VAWG, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the recent bushfires in Australia during 2019–2020.
The statement recognized the sprout of new forms of VAWG in the online landscape.
“In a context of rapidly expanding digitalization, online and technology facilitated violence against women and girls are exacerbating existing forms of violence and leading to the emergence of new patterns and forms of VAWG,” the statement read.
Recently, a global study found that 38 percent of women have personal experiences of online violence, while 85 percent of women who are online witnessed online violence against other women.
“At the same time, there has been a rise in anti-rights movements including anti-feminist groups resulting in shrinking space for civil society, a backlash against women’s rights organizations and a rise in attacks against women human rights defenders and activists,” it added.
The statement provided measures for “large-scale” reductions in violence against women and called on governments and partners to show solidarity and act to end violence against women through increased long-term funding and support to women’s rights organizations, resist the rollback on women’s rights, amplify the voices of women human rights defenders, and feminist women’s movements in their diversity and mobilize more actors, promote the leadership and participation of women and girls, and strengthen protection mechanisms to prevent and eliminate violence against women’s rights defenders.
“Today, we call upon everyone to play their part. Everyone can make a difference. Be an activist. UNiTE to end violence against women and girls,” it read.
UNiTE was established in 2008 to support the civil society-led 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence campaign around the world.
REFERENCES:
Accelerating efforts to tackle online and technology facilitated violence against women and girls (VAWG). (2022). UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/.../Accelerating-efforts-to...
Measuring the prevalence of online violence against women. (2021, March 1). The Economist Intelligence Unit. https://onlineviolencewomen.eiu.com/
Statement: Call to Action — UNiTE! Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls. (2022, November 25). UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/.../Statement-Call-to-action...
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