On October 8th over 100 people attended the 2013 League Day at the United Nations Secretary-Generals United to End Violence Against Women Campaign. Four people from our League, Joe Kolodny, Sallie Prisyon, Peter Rosenthal and Gloria White were present in Washington D.C. to attend this very important and informative meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to “raise public awareness, and increase political will and resources, for promoting, and ending all forms of violence against women and girls, in all parts of the world”.
There were speakers addressing different aspects of the issue. I really shouldn’t condense it down to an issue because the problem is not an issue, it is much more than that. It was pointed out how much of a global problem, global disgrace it is. The true disgrace is that it has continued for so long into this, the 21st century.
The speakers. with varied expertise, and with words and videos, illustrated how the problems of violence and degradation, still permeate our societies. They showed how the abuses ranged from sexual harassment, being treated like second class citizens, to being sold for early marriages, to violence, to torture to rape, to abduction into slavery, in countries all over this world including our own. Pointing out what the true global nature of what violence against women looks like.
Some of the facts shown on video and spoken of by women who have experienced some of these horrific events were that…seven in ten women have experienced violence against them, one in four were pregnant at the time. There are still 603 countries where domestic violence is not a crime and 50% of assaults are against girls under the age of sixteen.
These are just some of the facts but they are not the lives and pain of those who live them. The United Nations is not hiding from the problem and there are a number of resolutions and programs that recognize the need for global mobilization to erase this from a civilized society. There is the aspect of the criminal side of the problem and then there is the cultural side of the problem which is even more difficult to change. While the United Nations is making an honest effort to change this, it is recognized that it is even more of a local problem. The individual nations must treat this as an individual national problem of its own and a blot on its own society. While it is global it is also very personal.
On October 8th over 100 people attended the 2013 League Day at the United Nations Secretary-Generals United to End Violence Against Women Campaign. Four people from our League, Joe Kolodny, Sallie Prisyon, Peter Rosenthal and Gloria White were present in Washington D.C. to attend this very important and informative meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to “raise public awareness, and increase political will and resources, for promoting, and ending all forms of violence against women and girls, in all parts of the world”.
There were speakers addressing different aspects of the issue. I really shouldn’t condense it down to an issue because the problem is not an issue, it is much more than that. It was pointed out how much of a global problem, global disgrace it is. The true disgrace is that it has continued for so long into this, the 21st century.
The speakers. with varied expertise, and with words and videos, illustrated how the problems of violence and degradation, still permeate our societies. They showed how the abuses ranged from sexual harassment, being treated like second class citizens, to being sold for early marriages, to violence, to torture to rape, to abduction into slavery, in countries all over this world including our own. Pointing out what the true global nature of what violence against women looks like.
Some of the facts shown on video and spoken of by women who have experienced some of these horrific events were that…seven in ten women have experienced violence against them, one in four were pregnant at the time. There are still 603 countries where domestic violence is not a crime and 50% of assaults are against girls under the age of sixteen.
These are just some of the facts but they are not the lives and pain of those who live them. The United Nations is not hiding from the problem and there are a number of resolutions and programs that recognize the need for global mobilization to erase this from a civilized society. There is the aspect of the criminal side of the problem and then there is the cultural side of the problem which is even more difficult to change. While the United Nations is making an honest effort to change this, it is recognized that it is even more of a local problem. The individual nations must treat this as an individual national problem of its own and a blot on its own society. While it is global it is also very personal.
