The 25^th November is an important day to us in the sector. It marks the united nations international day for the elimination of violence against women. The UN explain why we need an international day:

“Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, public health pandemic and serious obstacle to sustainable development. It imposes large-scale costs on families, communities and economies. The world cannot afford to pay this price.” — Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General

Why This International Day?

• Violence against women is a human rights violation.

• Violence against women is a consequence of discrimination against women, in law and also in practice, and of persisting inequalities between men and women.

• Violence against women impacts on, and impedes, progress in many areas, including poverty eradication, combating HIV/AIDS, and peace and security.

• Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. Prevention is possible and essential.

• Violence against women continues to be a global pandemic. (UN – 2016)

The day is sometimes referred to as White Ribbon day and you can find out more about the history of the White Ribbon campaign on their website.

They state clearly that “White Ribbon Campaign UK is part of a global movement to put a stop to male violence against women and girls.

This is not and never has been a “women’s issue”. We address men directly – so they understand the scale of the problem, and become part of the solution, alongside women.” (White Ribbon UK, 2016)

We decided to ask the women and men on our team including our trustees one simple question “why do we still need an international day for the elimination of violence against women?”

Here is what they came up with:

• “Because we still need violence against women to end.”

• “Let’s face, we’re nowhere near the changes we’d like to see; every voice matters.”

• “The 25^th November is an opportunity to make our collective voices heard.”

• “This year, more so than ever, we call for adequate, sustainable funding to support women and girls affected by violence and abuse.”

• “This day holds a mirror up to perpetrators everywhere. Just as equally it holds policy makers and politicians to account. We will continue to need this day to shout for our daughters and our sons until violence and abuse stop being a symptom and a cause of gender inequality!”

• “Domestic violence isn’t gender neutral; the fact remains women are disproportionately suffering at the hands of violent men.”

• “I want to shout about Male violence against my Gender EVERYDAY, but if people all around the world are shouting about it on the 25th of November then our voices can galvanise to a clamorous throng!! END MALE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN by shouting about it as loud as you can today!!”

• “Because the violence does not stop, despite help, support and media promotion women are still being abused, which is why there should be a day to end violence against women.”

• “The 25^th November may make just one woman aware that she is in an unhealthy relationship and that we care and that she matters.”

• “Until the governments of the world invest in the sector and place as much emphasis on the elimination of violence against women every day, we will need to keep shouting on the one day they do recognise it is a problem!”

•  “Without the 25^th November, it would be easy to forget (considering how most mainstream media treat VAWG) how big a concern violence against women is. There is so much misogyny smoothed into our every day life, in the Western world it is easy to pretend that we’re free.”

• “We need today to remind the world how we have suffered abuse for centuries. Our voices have been ignored for so long and our citizenship is equal to any man’s.”

•  “We still need to mark this day because, whilst we may have a greater awareness, and possibly a better understanding of the nature and extent of domestic abuse, not enough is being done to tackle the causes, especially in relation to prevention. We need to address the inequalities and ideologies that tolerate and condone abuse. It is far better to prevent and reduce abuse, than tirelessly responding to the casualties.”

Shonagh Dillon

CEO

Aurora New Dawn