International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women: Call for Activism

Photo by the Author

Content warning: This article includes discussions on sexual assault, domestic violence, and harassment. Reader’s discretion is advised. 

To seek the support of activism within the legalities of women’s rights should be urgent. Violence against women is far more heinous now due to global affairs. 

Violence against women isn’t cultural, it’s criminal. Equality cannot come eventually, it’s something we must fight for now. — Samantha Power 

Organizations, institutions, and individuals continue to fight for equality in the face of gender-based violence, eminently towards women. However, the lining issues of assault seem to entangle themselves in the crises of climate change, global conflict, and economic instability; which are all heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the United Nation’s July 2022 report, migration and forced displacement are one of the impactful consequences of the climate crisis. The sum of climate refugees is 80% women. Hence, the risk of sexual violence intensifies within the emergency shelters of these displacement camps. 

Photo from Africa Portal

Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says that the confinement of these women perpetuates the dangers of them being trafficked and married off. Likewise, women migrants who suffered sexual violence are imprisoned. Once reports for the offense are stated amongst authorities within camps, instead of providing victims with protection and support, accusations are returned to their end.  

Meanwhile, on the side of global conflict, a press release from the UN’s women committee of October 2022 states that conflict-affected countries have revoked commitments towards gender equality because of the forceful power of violent extremist groups and military actors.

These takeovers cause a lot of women to be persecuted, banned for showing their faces in public, and restricted from leaving their homes. The biggest victims within these surges are female human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists who voice the need for women to be provided with peace and security. 

Photo by Mohd Rasfan from AFP via Getty Images 

Additionally, the UN Secretary-General’s press conference clarifies that everyone is accountable to put women at the center of discussions. Providing them with roles that can place seats in peace talks and funding their involvement for peace and security will help in halting the active injustices of the crisis.

Simultaneously, the sense of danger chases women within their homes, neighborhoods, and communities. This was showcased by the effect of economic instability wherein poverty is the overriding factor in making legalities happen. The World Economic Forum report for November 2022 explains the circumstances of low-income women. 

It was implied that this concern is overlooked. Hence, most miss the fact that victims of domestic violence within the poverty line possess limited options for escaping their abusers. Likewise, the lack of cheaper alternatives for attaining legal or social resources for relocation outside abusive relationships is invalidated. 

All the sequenced dilemmas brew down to one thing: What is the next move on ending gender-based violence?

 

Photo by Mohd Rasfan from AFP via Getty Images 

To supply the inquiry, the annual campaign led by civil society and supported by the United Nations, through the Secretary General’s UNiTE of 2030, will continue its agenda: 

16 days of activism against gender-based violence for November 25’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, ending on December 10. 

Ultimately, the background of this campaign states that the issues of climate change, global conflict, and economic instability are the prominent factors that hinder the progressive reformation of women’s needs. 

Its heavy contribution to defiling women’s rights, anti-feminist movements, attacks against women’s rights defenders and activists, and the legal status of women’s rights are increasingly imperiled by the global society.

Correspondingly, regressive new laws are also implemented to exacerbate impunity for domestic violence perpetrators. The same goes for the political restriction towards gender-based violence protesters who are restricted to femicide (murder of women because they are women). 

Overall, the annual theme calls us to attend on the amplification of supporting women activists and survivors who successively allot their lives to mobilize feminist organizations and autonomous women’s movements. Through them, the strengthening of establishing women-led organizations and institutions within the political, economical, and environmental platforms of global issues cater towards the recognition of women empowerment and protection of women’s rights—which would potentially end violence against women.