UN official commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women will begin today.
November 25, 2020, is the International Day to End Violence against Women and is turning orange to show that Generation Equality stands against gender-based violence.
This year’s global theme, “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!” seeks to amplify UN Women’s Generation Equality campaign and 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. The campaign is part of UN Women’s efforts for Beijing+25 and building up to launch bold new actions and commitments to end violence against women at the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico and France in 2021.
As doors closed and isolation began with the outbreak of COVID-19, reports of all forms of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence began to rise across the globe.
Even before COVID-19 hit, violence against women and girls had reached pandemic proportions. Globally, 243 million women and girls were abused by an intimate partner in the past year. Meanwhile, less than 40 percent of women who experience violence report it or seek help.
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. In others, formal reports of domestic violence have decreased as survivors find it harder to seek help and access support through the regular channels. School closures and economic strains left women and girls poorer, out of school, and out of jobs, and more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, forced marriage, and harassment.
Nigeria one of the countries hit by the ‘rape epidemic’ in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown had experienced widespread outrage following the grisly rape and murder of Uwavera Omozuwa a 22-year-old university student at a Redeemed church where she was studying in the southern city of Benin.
During the launch of the Generation equality campaign in Nigeria, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed, highlighted how the Beijing conference paved way for generation equality vision.
“Not to compete with us but as partners: as we moved to your side, we stand behind you and push you forward. Young women must take the stage now.” She said.
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, which goes until December 10, 2020, is an opportunity to take a stand against this horrific spike.
Watch the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raEa_fCZ1aU&feature=youtu.be