Elimination of violence against women

November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a U.N. day designated to highlight the issue of violence against women and girls and to call for more action to combat it.

Globally, 35.6% of women experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence, or sexual violence by a non-partner in their lifetime, and almost 40 per cent of female homicides are at the hands of victims’ male partners.

In Australia alone, a woman is subjected to domestic or family violence every four minutes, and a woman is killed as result of that violence every week.

This violence is undeniably gender based: women are nearly 4 times as likely as men to experience violence at the hands of a partner and nearly 5 times as likely as men to experience sexual violence.

“I am shocked and saddened by what it has taken to get the issue of violence against women on the national agenda. I cannot accept that violence against women is inevitable, and am committed to raising awareness, challenging attitudes and personally investing in organisations that are working to eliminate violence against women.” said Julie McKay, Executive Director Australian National Committee for UN Women.

“I hope that between the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women on the 25th of November and International Women’s Day on the 8th of March, we can reach into homes, into companies and into governments – to engage the heads and hearts of individuals in how they can make a personal difference of changing the violent experience of far too many women in our region.” she continued.

Useful links

UN Women Australia

1800Respect

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