It’s fitting that today’s International Women’s Day’s theme is “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women” as over 6,000 members of civil society are gathered in New York for the 57th Session of the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW57) to focus on the elimination and prevention of violence against women. This is the largest ever meeting to address violence against women. The AWAVA delegation are actively engaging and participating. Follow the AWAVA delegation on Twitter by following #CSW57 #AWAVAWomen or keep up-to-date with our Facebook posts and website blogs. If you haven’t already seen and ‘liked’ our Facebook page please do, and help us establish a Facebook following.
AWAVA joined the global effort today to push to get #endvaw trending on Twitter to get people to start discussing what is undeniably a global pandemic. The international community has been working hard this week to end violence against women, with activism and lobbying at CSW57 and #CSW57 trending on Twitter and offensive T-shirts promoting violence against women being removed from Amazon’s wesbite.
Chair of AWAVA Julie Oberin’s International Women’s Day message: “We need to keep our promise to women and children who are victims or survivors of any form of violence against women, to end that violence. Globally, nationally, locally we must take responsibility, each and every one us, and commit to speaking out against violence and changing attitudes and behaviour that allow it to continue unabated. The levels of violence are unacceptable, we are facing a global pandemic, we must act now.” Julie Oberin, Chair of AWAVA
Read more in AWAVA’s International Women’s Day 2013 Media Release
Around the country
- The Age comments that The global upsurge in protest against violence and misogyny is potentially revolutionary
- An article in New Matilda reports that Women are more likely than men to become homeless – especially rural and Indigenous women – and domestic violence remains the number one cause
- The Herald Sun reports on the gang rape of a young woman in Sydney and states Sexual violence won’t be tolerated
- Anne Summers comments in the Daily Life that “there is a global pandemic of violence against women”
- Read Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick’s speech at the inaugural National Rural Women’s Conference, Rural responses to rural challenges: The need for a contextualised response to family and domestic violence
Around the world
- Listen to this audio blog from AWAVA’s Chair, Julie Oberin, on the importance of CSW57 and ending violence against women and girls
- At CSW57 in New York, Minister Collins gave an Unwavering commitment to safer world for women and girls in Australia’s country statement
- Minister Collins presented on Using new technology and social media to address violence against women and girls, including the Australian Government’s The Line, at CSW57
- Michelle Bachelet says that culture must not block progress on stopping gender violence
- In the US, watch this video clip of President Barack Obama signing the Violence Against Women Act
- In the UK, MP Harriet Harman calls for a substantial donation from Amazon to a women’s refuge as an apology for selling T-shirts on Amazon which encourage the sexual and physical abuse of women
- In the UK, the Government has pledged £35 million to end female genital mutilation/cutting in a generation
- Again from the UK, campaigners say women’s awareness of what constitutes domestic violence is ‘shockingly low’