Women’s rights activists across the world have been observing November 25 every year as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women since 1981.
One in three women is said to experience physical or sexual violence during their lifetime. Because this violence starts early, even a girl child is susceptible to the crime that needs to be eliminated.
“Violence against women is endemic in every country and culture, causing harm to millions of women and their families, and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
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UN Chief Antonio Guterres has said, “Women and girls face rampant violence with one woman or a girl getting killed every 11 minutes by a family member or an intimate partner.” The numbers are alarming and while a lot is being done the world over to control this crime, fact remains that much more remains to be done.
Let’s take some examples from closer home. Look around and see for yourself. Most of the time a woman is physically or sexually exploited, and the blame falls on her. She gets shamed and even if she does manage to gather some sympathy, she is asked to stay hush and not ‘create an issue’ out of it. If married, they are asked to suck it up and compromise.
Somewhere deep inside the psyche of most people, one thing firmly resides – women can be abused, and it’s okay. There exist many people who might never be violent to women, but if they see another woman face violence, they choose silence or look the other way. This is the main reason (apart from the perversion of the mind that believes violence against women is their birthright) that the elimination of violence against women is such a challenge world over.
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UN Secretary-General and UN Women have been holding a 16-day activism campaign called UNiTE since 2008. The campaign aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world. It calls for global action to increase awareness, promote advocacy, and create opportunities for discussion on challenges and solutions. The campaign ends on December 10 which is Human Rights Day.
We are currently on a timeline where every morning we wake up to multiple news of gender-related heinous crimes against women, unimaginable violence which one would think are not humanly possible, but ARE.
Instances of domestic violence have increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic. A home that is supposed to be a safe space for everybody suddenly stopped being so for many girls and women around the country. There is a LOT of dialogue that needs to happen. We must encourage conversations around gender-based violence against women, including men in these conversations and urge them to talk about it with their male friends and family members.
Mutual respect for each other is the only way to co-exist and it’s time that women stop getting disrespected for their gender. When someone known to us confides about the violence they have faced, the only way to go ahead is to be an ally and give them our support. Believe the victim, and then investigate if you need to.
