New York: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed on 25 November every year to highlight the issue of violence against women.
The United Nations aims to raise awareness about gender-based violence against women.
This year’s campaign is a 16-day initiative starting on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women and concluding on International Human Rights Day on December 10.
The 2022 theme of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is ‘UNITE! Activism to End Violence against Women and Girls.’ According to the United Nations’ official website, this campaign will be an initiative of 16 days of activism starting from November 25 and concluding on International Human Rights Day on December 10.
The campaign “will aim to mobilize all society to become activists for the prevention of violence against women, to stand in solidarity with women’s rights activists and to support feminist movements around the world to resist the rollback on women’s rights and calling for a world free from VAWG.”
History
The date of 25 November has been observed as a day against gender-based violence by women’s rights activists since 1981. This day was marked for honouring Mirabal sisters. They were three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were murdered brutally by the order of country’s ruler, Rafael Trujillo in 1960.
On 7 February 2000, the UN General Assembly officially declared 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Significance
Here are some of the crucial facts, according to the UN, which makes us understand the significance of this day better:
Since the start of the pandemic, 58 percent of women reported that they, or a woman they know, has experienced a form of violence.
Seven in 10 women believe that physical or verbal abuse has gotten more common since the beginning of pandemic.
Three in five women believe that sexual harassment in public places has gotten worse.
