November 25 is celebrated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women around the world and the UN is on a campaign to 'Orange the world'.
The famous India Gate in New Delhi will be lit orange on Wednesday evening for a special occasion. November 25 is celebrated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women around the world. The UN Women India along with UNFPA India, UNDP and UN in India will light up New Delhi's famous landmark in orange at 7 pm to commemorate the day.
The United Nations has kicked off 16 days of activism from today till December 10 in lieu of this occasion and has called it ‘Orange the world’. Supporters are encouraged to show their solidarity to the campaign against gender-based violence by wearing orange. India Gate is being lit in orange to raise awareness about the issue. Many other world landmarks like the Sphinx in Egypt and the Empire State Building in New York lit up in orange earlier in solidarity.
The UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said in a press release, “Violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious – and the most tolerated – human rights violations. It is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality and discrimination. Its continued presence is one of the clearest markers of societies out of balance and we are determined to change that. The focus must now be on prevention, and although there is no single solution to such a complex problem, there is growing evidence of the range of actions that can stop violence before it happens.”
Gender-based violence affects one in three women and 35% of women worldwide have experienced a form of physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime says the official website of the UN. The data by World Bank shows that women aged 15-44 are more at risk from domestic violence and rape than car accidents, cancer, war and malaria.
A study by the UN in India found that that women living in Delhi experienced high levels of insecurity. The report says that about 95% of them see public spaces as unsafe while 73% said they don’t feel safe at home either. Dowry-related deaths are also prevalent in the country with nearly 8000 women being killed in 2012 over dowry according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Despite the fact that The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005 exists, nearly 35% of married women between the ages of 15-49 had been subjected to spousal abuse.
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