The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign to highlight the prevalence of violence against women globally and emphasize that this violence is a violation of Human Rights. The campaign begins on November 25 with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and runs through December 10, International Human Rights Day.
This year’s theme is “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World.” The theme focuses on militarism as a creation and normalization of a culture of fear that is supported by the use or threat of violence, aggression, as well as military intervention in response to political and social disputes or to enforce economic and political interests.
To ensure sustainability of The Hunger Project’s community building programs, we do not work in conflict zones. While there are no overt national conflicts in our program countries, gender-based violence continues in the form of discrimination, dowry murder, acid attacks, honor killings, sexual harassment and abduction.
The World Health Organization estimates that at least one of every three women globally will be beaten, raped or otherwise abused during her lifetime. In most cases, the abuser is a member of her own family. Gender-based violence happens everywhere – at home and at work, on the streets and in schools, during peacetime and in conflict. Violence against women is a pervasive human rights violation, a public health crisis, and an obstacle to equality, development, security and peace.
Unfortunately, because much of this type of abuse happens behind closed doors and at the hands of husbands, family members or people close to the victim, it is often difficult to address in public. On average, at least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by an intimate partner in the course of her lifetime.
And, more often than not, cases of violence against women go unreported. For example, a study based on interviews with 42,000 women across the 28 Member States of the European Union revealed that only 14 percent of women reported their most serious incident of intimate partner violence to the police, and 13 percent reported their most serious incident of non-partner violence to the police.
For this reason, the 16 Days Campaigns seeks to us highlight the issue globally with the hope that anyone with knowledge of abuse – women, men, children – will have the courage to stand up and speak out against it.
From November 25 through December 10, lend your voice to the outcry. Make it known that you are aware of victims of abuse and that you stand with them – we all do.
What can you do?
- Invest now in The Hunger Project’s work to empower women worldwide and end all forms of discrimination against women and girls. Take action here.
- Share 16 Days of Activism messages from our Facebook and Twitter
- Follow our 16 Days of Activism Pinterest board
Learn More
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