Elimination of violence against women

Jinsiangu, USIKMYE, Leha, Nadharia Kenya and Oxfam holding fun activities to create awareness on the 16 days of activism campaign.

International Day of the Elimination of violence against women is commemorated on November 25th, which launches the 16 days of activism campaign that runs through to December 10th. As we start the 2023 campaign, our theme is to “Unite and invest to prevent violence against women and children.”

According to the United Nations General Assembly in its 1993 declaration of Elimination of Violence against women, violence against women means 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.”

Violence can happen to anyone anywhere, intersex women, women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender and those living with HIV have been listed among the most vulnerable groups.

Some of the types of violence against women as listed by the UN women include: sexual violence, intimate-partner violence, female genital mutilation (FGM), early/child and forced marriages and online or technology-facilitated violence.

Among the challenges in addressing violence against women is cultural practices which ingrain patriarchal norms that seem to fuel gender inequality resulting to violence against women.

Violence against women has been normalized in the society especially in romantic capacities and in some instances victims have been shamed and all these factors have attributed to the reasons as to why a lot of women who are survivors of violence rarely seek help.

As violence against women persist, it hinders equality, development, peace and the fulfillment of the women and girl’s human rights.

Despite all the challenges, there is hope in this fight because some movements have been able to bring this issue to light. Policies to end violence against women have been put in place but we cannot say the fight is over because some are yet to be implemented.

The 2023 campaign calls on the public to be enthusiastic in putting an end to violence against women. One of the ways is to keep the government in check when it comes to implementation of laws and policies as well as investing when in programmes around ending violence. This campaign aims at changing the perspective of citizens and the government to look at this fight as an investment and not as an expense.