Officials have said the government and civil society need to join hands to spread the message of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence– an international campaign being launched by the UN– and make it sustainable.
The campaign kicked off on Nov. 25 to mark the sixth International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women. The campaign will conclude on the International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10).
This year, the theme of the 16-day long campaign is, “For the Health of Women, For the Health of the World: No More Violence.” It also points towards the relationship between women rights violation and the transmission of the HIV/AIDS.
Violence Against Women (VAW) is the most invasive violation of human rights that is happening around the world. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, one among every four women is being subject to violence including rape, physical torture and various types of abuses during their life time, regardless of the development around the globe.
Regional director of UNIFEM for South Asia, Chandani Joshi
Regional director of UNIFEM for South Asia, Chandani Joshi
Talking to Nepalnews, Chandani Joshi, regional director for United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in South Asia, said, “Conveying message through public speech and dialogue is not enough to catch the attention of masses. We have found illustration prepared by artists as an effective way to move human heart. For example, a beautiful woman depicted in a portrait had no lips and in another painting a woman was tied with a chain. This is how the message is conveyed that women do have body but without lips as they have a right to live but no right to speak”.
“Our 16-day campaign is like knocking on the door of organisations working for women rights and to revitalize them with the new energy so that they can give pace to their activities. This type of campaign can help accelerate the regular ongoing works initiated by various organizations. In fact, the NGOs like SAATHI are doing their best in Nepal carrying out awareness programs through TV and street dramas,” said Joshi.
She said that this year UNIFEM is collecting data on HIV/AIDS.
A survey undertaken by UNIFEM on HIV/AIDS in India revealed that women are the one who suffer the most from this pandemic. Even housewives are the victim of the disease simply because women cannot negotiate for safe sex and also due to marital rape. The most damaging thing is that when once women are discovered sero-positive, she is kicked out of the house. On the other hand, if a man is infected he is looked after by the three generations of women– his mother, wife and sisters.
UN officials say during the on-going campaign, refugee women, displaced women and women affected by the ongoing conflict are being accorded priority. The message is loud and clear: There should be zero tolerance for violence against women.
But experts warn that the message of the campaign might get lost on the way if a community-level mechanism is not developed to address the issue, for redress and support the victims of this heinous crime.