Need to Calls to end rape - mark world Women's Day
Wednesday
Senior U.N. officials urged all countries to mark International Women's Day on Saturday with renewed efforts to end rape, forced prostitution and other violence against women.
Joanne Sandler, acting director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women, called on member nations to seize the chance "to break new ground in the struggle for women's rights" as they mark the annual event, which is being observed Thursday at U.N. headquarters.
She said Wednesday there is an "urgent need to end violence against women in all of its forms."
Assistant Secretary-General Kathleen Cravero also focused on violence against women, urging the U.N. Security Council to back up an eight-year-old pledge to protect women and girls from rape and sexual abuse during armed conflict with bolder action.
She argued that peaceful societies cannot take shape when half their populations live in fear.
"Rape is a crime and must be stopped," said Cravero, who directs the U.N. Development Program's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery.
In an open letter to the Security Council, she praised its members for taking the "historic step" in 2000 of approving a resolution aimed at ending rape during wartime, saying it had sparked progress in the Congo and East Timor.
But Cravero stressed that much more must be done worldwide.
"In spite of these pockets of hope, women and girls continue to be raped in alarming numbers," she wrote. "Violence against women has taken the form of ethnic cleansing, mass rapes, forced prostitution."
"In the face of the mind-numbing brutality women face in conflict situations, can a viable nation emerge? Can a nation consolidate peace when half its population lives in fear?" Cravero asked rhetorically.
She called on the council to ensure better monitoring of how states treat civilians during conflicts. She also called for a systematic collection and review of data on violence against women and for the serious investigation and punishment of perpetrators.
Sandler said in a statement that her office was working to raise more money to "end sexual and gender-based violence in women's lives, in both conflict and non-conflict situations" as part of a new campaign to fight violence against women announced by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Feb. 25.
She said the fund she heads, known as UNIFEM, aims to raise US$100 million (euro66 million) a year by 2015 — far more than the US$15 million (euro10 million) raised in 2007.
Joanne Sandler, acting director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women, called on member nations to seize the chance "to break new ground in the struggle for women's rights" as they mark the annual event, which is being observed Thursday at U.N. headquarters.
She said Wednesday there is an "urgent need to end violence against women in all of its forms."
Assistant Secretary-General Kathleen Cravero also focused on violence against women, urging the U.N. Security Council to back up an eight-year-old pledge to protect women and girls from rape and sexual abuse during armed conflict with bolder action.
She argued that peaceful societies cannot take shape when half their populations live in fear.
"Rape is a crime and must be stopped," said Cravero, who directs the U.N. Development Program's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery.
In an open letter to the Security Council, she praised its members for taking the "historic step" in 2000 of approving a resolution aimed at ending rape during wartime, saying it had sparked progress in the Congo and East Timor.
But Cravero stressed that much more must be done worldwide.
"In spite of these pockets of hope, women and girls continue to be raped in alarming numbers," she wrote. "Violence against women has taken the form of ethnic cleansing, mass rapes, forced prostitution."
"In the face of the mind-numbing brutality women face in conflict situations, can a viable nation emerge? Can a nation consolidate peace when half its population lives in fear?" Cravero asked rhetorically.
She called on the council to ensure better monitoring of how states treat civilians during conflicts. She also called for a systematic collection and review of data on violence against women and for the serious investigation and punishment of perpetrators.
Sandler said in a statement that her office was working to raise more money to "end sexual and gender-based violence in women's lives, in both conflict and non-conflict situations" as part of a new campaign to fight violence against women announced by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Feb. 25.
She said the fund she heads, known as UNIFEM, aims to raise US$100 million (euro66 million) a year by 2015 — far more than the US$15 million (euro10 million) raised in 2007.
March 30, 2017 at 6:25 AM
Your blog is up to the mark about rape culture.. Rape is a real curse and it should be ended by now.
June 15, 2017 at 3:01 PM
The U.N. Security Council to back up an eight-year-old initiate to defend women and girls from rape and sexual misuse during equipped conflict with braver action.