November 25, 2020
November 25, 2020 is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Why is this important, many will ask? Here are just a few facts provided by the United Nations.
- Alarming Figures 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner
- Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use, and health care
- Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday, while 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM)
- 1 in 2 women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2017, while only 1 out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances
- 71% of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 of these women and girls are sexually exploited
- Violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer, and a greater cause of ill health than traffic accidents and malaria combined
We are in 2020 and these are facts that women are still facing daily. We all have a role to play in ending gender-based violence against women, girls and LGBTQ2+ individuals. It is time to join the uncomfortable conversations around what is violence towards women and how to be part of the solution.
Becoming an Ally to Women!
- Listening: be open to learning from the experiences of others
- Believing: support survivors and those affected by violence
- Speaking out: add your voice to call out violence
- Intervening: find a safe way to help when you see acts of gender-based violence
- Acting: give your time to organizations working to end violence
We need to start somewhere, and this is the one place I am passionate about – Not only because I am a woman, BECAUSE I am a woman. No woman should feel powerless, EVER! We are not the weaker sex. We are just as powerful as men in different ways!
EMPOWERED WOMEN EMPOWER WOMEN!
No woman should ever feel powerless! I grew up being told I was strong, smart, beautiful and I could be anything I wanted, and I only owned my body. Listen to your gut, it never lies to you. I have been lucky. I am sure I have put myself in places I should not have. I have never been a survivor of violence; here I have been blessed.
I have, like all other women, had attention and things said to me that should never have been said to me growing up. Not knowing how to handle it or what to say or do. Being told it is just the times or just part of the job. I worked as a waitress in bar, all was part of getting tips.
Awhile ago, a friend of mine showed me a picture of a woman holding a sign and on it was a sentence crossed out and below was another. The one below was powerful and true!
She was raped.
He raped her.
This sign changed how I looked at the words we say and how we view them. What they say are powerful tools to fight against violence towards women. I went searching for more examples and found many others.
We have all heard the saying” Stick and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you.” This is so not true. When these statements are what you see and what you hear, society believes them and passed on and it becomes the norm. Let us start by breaking that cycle.
Here are a few more things we need to change:
Educate our sons
Will fight for our safety until we get it!
No such thing, an underage woman is a child. Children cannot give consent. They are RAPED, rape victims, sexual assault victims, sexual assault SURVIVORS!
This is a polite weasel word for RAPE and rapists do not deserve politeness. Victims deserve validations for what they have been through.
Will be held accountable for their actions. This is not an excuse! (Just like girls are).
Clothes are just clothes; they do not talk! No girl, woman or LGBTQ2+ individuals asks to be RAPED!
I am not naïve to know that violence towards women, girls and LGBTQ2+ individuals will stop over night just by changing a few sentences though it is a great first conversation. It is a step forward in understanding how we look at women, blame them for the violence against them, and how we usually victimize the victim in the crime. This is a necessary element to highlight in the elimination process of violence against women. It is a step in the right direction to stop this preventable epidemic.
Diana Walker
UNE National Equity Representative for Women