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Press
Release..............................
UNESCAP News Services
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Date 20
November 2003
Press Release No: L/41/2003
THE SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MESSAGE TO MARK THE INTERNATIONAL
DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence
against Women is a call to action on behalf of countless women
around the world whose daily lives are marred by violence and
abuse. Gender-based violence is perhaps the most shameful human
rights violation. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to
be making real progress towards equality, development and peace.
This age-old scourge is taking on new dimensions
in the 21st century. One of the most alarming is trafficking
in women and girls -- one of the fastest-growing types of organized
crime in the world. It is estimated that more than 700,000 people
are trafficked each year for sexual exploitation. Many of them
are subjected to violence; all of them are subjected to human
rights abuses.
An equal challenge is the growing violence against
women and girls in armed conflict. In today's conflicts, women
and girls are not only the victims of hardship, displacement
and warfare. Increasingly, they are directly and deliberately
targeted, with rape and sexual violence used as weapons of war.
These old and new forms of violence against women
are not only urgent challenges in themselves; they all come
with an added, deadly, dimension - the risk of HIV/AIDS infection.
Violence, abuse and intimidation often make it impossible for
women to protect themselves from the virus; from seeking information,
counselling and testing; from demanding to know their partner's
HIV status, or disclosing their own; from staying the course
of prescribed medical treatment. This added risk of HIV transmission
renders even more pressing our mission to fight violence against
women in all its forms.
In the past year, there have been encouraging
signs of growing awareness and understanding of the problem.
We are also seeing the emergence of new tools and mechanisms
to help us take more effective action against it. The Protocol
to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime, which aims to eliminate trafficking in persons, especially
women and children, enters into force in December 2003. In July,
the African Union adopted a Protocol to the African Charter
on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
The Protocol calls on States parties to take measures to ensure
the prevention, punishment and eradication of all forms of violence,
and specifically addresses harmful practices. The number of
States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women grew to 174, while the number
of States parties to its Optional Protocol now stands at 57.
And in an historic election, seven women judges were elected
to the International Criminal Court - one third of the total.
I call on all States who have not yet done so
to adopt the Optional Protocol, and to take more vigorous action
to enforce laws against trafficking and violence. And I call
on all sectors of society to redouble their efforts to achieve
the objective of ending all forms of violence against women.
This will require leadership at every level, in every culture,
country and continent. It will require a bold transformation
in men's attitudes and behaviour so that women become their
equal partners. It will require changes in oppressive laws,
practices, and institutions. It will require us to speak up,
and to make clear that when it comes to violence against women,
there are no grounds for tolerance and no tolerable excuses.
On this fourth International Day for the Elimination of Violence
against Women, let us ensure that message is heard loud and
clear -- including by those who need to hear it most.
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