Each year, from 25 November to 10 December, the UN Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women launches the 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. This worldwide campaign aims at raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels and demonstrating the solidarity of women around th
e world by organizing many activities over 16 days. Up to this day, 179 organizations in approximately 187 countries have participated in the 16 Days Campaign since 1991! It is estimated that one in three women throughout the world will suffer some form of gender-based violence in her lifetime. The terms “violence against women” and “gender-based violence” are used to refer to a range of abuses committed against women that stem from gender inequality and women’s subordinate status in society relative to men. In 1993, the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defined violence against women as “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.” This definition includes violence occurring in the family, within the general community, and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State. Forms of gender-based violence include, but are not limited to: domestic violence, sexual abuse, r**e, sexual harassment, trafficking in women, forced prostitution, and harmful practices.
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