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International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

In Canada, there is no policy in place on intimate partner violence or sexual assault, and we do not have a national action plan to address violence against women. This must change.

Ottawa (25 Nov 2014) — November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The date was chosen by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the four Mirabal sisters who were political activists from the Dominican Republic. Three of the sisters were brutally assassinated in 1960 during the Trujillo dictatorship. Women's activists have marked this date as a day against violence since 1981.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women also launches the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, which continues until December 10, Human Rights Day. This year, the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign invites people to “Orange YOUR Neighbourhood,” using the colour to symbolize a brighter future without violence.

International facts and figures highlight the need to stop violence against women 

Globally, 35 per cent of women and girls experience some form of physical and or sexual violence in their lifetime. In some countries the number is a staggering seven in ten women. The costs and consequences of violence against women last for generations.

More than 700 million women worldwide were married as children, of which an estimated 250 million were married under the age of 15. Child brides under 18 are less likely to complete their education, more likely to experience domestic violence and complications during childbirth.

More than 130 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), with an estimated 30 million girls under the age of 15 at risk to be forced to undergo FGM. The health effects can include fatal bleeding, recurrent infections, chronic pain, inability to become pregnant or complications during childbirth.

The way forward

In her message on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence, UN Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka stressed, “We know how violence against women can be eliminated. In 1995, close to 20 years ago, 189 governments came together in Beijing. They adopted a Platform for Action that spelled out key strategies to end violence against women, empower women, and achieve gender equality.”

The strategies include:

  • effective prevention strategies that address the root causes of gender inequality
  • better services for women surviving violence, such as hotlines, shelters, legal advice, access to justice, counseling, police protection, and health services
  • more accurate reporting rates, better data collection, and strengthened analyses of risk and prevalence factors
  • greater support for women’s organizations, which are often on the front-line of the response
  • more men and boys standing up against violence, denouncing it, and stopping it.

Beijing Platform for Action

A global review of progress and gaps in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action is underway. Preliminary data show that many countries have introduced laws to prohibit, criminalize, and prevent violence against women.

However, Canada continues to lag behind. There is no policy in place on intimate partner violence or sexual assault and Canada does not have a national action plan to address violence against women. This is despite that domestic violence and sexual assaults remains high in Canada. And Aboriginal women and girls experience violence at a rate three times higher than non-Aboriginal women and girls.

A growing call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls has been ignored by the government as has a call for a national action plan on violence against women in Canada.

Take Action

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) joins with people around the world in recognizing the need to eliminate all forms of violence against women.

NUPGE encourages all Canadians to

  • work to raise awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels
  • get involved with organizations working to end violence against women and protect those suffering from domestic abuse
  • lobby the federal and provincial governments to ensure that funding is reinstated for women’s organizations that give voice to this issue.

More Information:

Up for Debate

Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters & Transition Houses

Native Women’s Association of Canada

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE