November 28th, 2007
The International Day for the Elimation of Violence Against Women
I wonder how many women know that November 25th was the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women,’ a day that was recognised by the General assembly of the United Nations in 1999, with a view to raising public awareness of the violation of the rights against women. I had no idea until I read this in an article in ‘Awake’ magazine recently.
Sadly, statistics like those of The British Home Office in England and Wales stated that in a recent year, on average 2 women per week were killed by current or former partners. This is a global problem which crosses all economic, socio-religious, ethnic and racial groups. Many women feel too ashamed of what is happening behind closed doors or too paralysed with fear to speak out or break away from the situation.
How do we look out for our daughters, our friends and neighbours? Are the signs always obvious? Often we feel powerless as even if we have an idea of what may be happening and we ask we may be met by denial, although sometimes it comes as a complete shock as abusers can seem very plausible to outsiders. Never blame, even if they have been drawn repeatedly back to an abusive partner, as no one knows how their sense of self has become eroded over time, abusive partners are good at that. Be aware of the helping agencies and help-lines in our own area in addition to being a listening ear.
I’m sure one of the things we as parents need to try and do, is to instill in our daughters confidence and build up their self esteem as much as we can and teach them their human rights but even if all this fails be there for them when the time comes without saying ‘I told you so.’
Follow link to http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/violence/
