As the title suggest, November 23rd is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, sponsored by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
This is an annual celebration to shed light on the problems of violence against women around the globe, and to take action to eliminate such violence. The focus this year is youth leadership in preventing and ending violence against women and girls, in line with efforts to engage youth in the Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, and with the recent International Youth Year.
This day is a kick-off to 16 days of activism against gender violence, and the UN Women has created a 16 Step Policy Agenda aimed at ending gender violence. This, along with the UNiTE to End Violence campaign demonstrates a collaborative, cross-field approach to ending violence around the globe. I challenge each of us to read the 16 Step agenda and find at least one step that we can take action on.
For more information check out the Virtual Knowledge Center, provided by UN Women. I would also suggest the book Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as a source of global experiences of women.
-Elizabeth Fairbairn, St. Joseph Worker & Justice Office Intern
