International Day For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women 2019: Let Us Orange The World

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Women are said to be the most beautiful creations. We worship them in the form of Goddesses and yet it is them who are most unsafe today. The gender-based violence is inflicted upon them in the form of molestation, domestic violence, physical and verbal abuse and much more. On 25 November 2019, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, let us talk about this day and the reason behind celebrating it.

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History Of This Day

It was on 20 December 1993, when the United Nations General Assembly chose to adopt the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. The Declaration defines the violence against women as, "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." ^[1]

But it was on 7 February 2000 when the General Assembly officially declared 25 November to be observed as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Various NGOs, governments and international organisation were also invited to join hands together to fight against the crime against women. On this day, various activities are organised to spread awareness among people about crimes against women and to encourage people to create a safe environment for women. ^[2]

Since 1981, 25 November has been observed as a day against gender-based violence by women activists all over the world. For that reason, on 25 November 1960, with the orders of Rafael Trujillo, Mirabal Sisters, the three political activists from the Dominican Republic were murdered mercilessly.

Some Facts And Figures Of Violence Against Women

According to a global study conducted by the WHO (World Health Organisation) in the year 2013, about 35 percent of women have had experienced physical and/or sexual violence. It also states that one out of every three women goes through violence at least once in their entire lifetime. You don't have to get surprised by this because violence is not a thing that is inevitable. It can be easily prevented if society and the people join hands to make the world a safe living place for women. ^[3]

In a post by Forbes, about 200 million females that you see alive today have gone through Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Around 71% of human trafficking victims are young girls and women. The shocking fact is three out of these every four, girls and women are sexually exploited. These facts are enough to say what women are going through and it is high time when we need to clear the air. ^[4]

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is considered to be the most persistent, widespread and devastating violence of human rights. This comprises of all kinds of physical, sexual and psychological violence, including:

• intimate partner violence (battering, psychological abuse, marital rape, etc.)
• sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber- harassment)
• human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation)
• female genital mutilation and
• child marriage. ^[2]

What adds to this heinous crime is the stigma and humiliation of society. It doesn't matter who violates a woman's modesty, society never fails in blaming the woman, as if it was she who invited the mishappening.

Nonetheless, to say, anyone can fall prey to gender-based violence however elder women, young girls, women identify themselves as trans genders, lesbians, intersex, bisexual, refugees are quite vulnerable to such violence.

There is no denying that it is the violence and crime against women which acts as an obstacle in letting women pursue their dreams, enjoying equality, peace and various other rights. Isn't it surprising that people want their women to be safe and sound while some of these people do not give a second thought before molesting them?

The theme of this year's celebration has been kept as 'Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape". This theme is intended to raise awareness among people against rape. Rape is not only about a forced sexual assault, it is in fact an act that breaks a woman's soul. You can understand rape as a crime that is widespread in every corner of the world and seems to be deeply influenced by the patriarchal mindset where women are mere objects.

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One must understand violating a woman's dignity and modesty is violating mankind's dignity and therefore, we need to put a stop on it. Often women are referred to as Goddesses but then we must realise that it is a sin to greed for a woman.