November 25 - International Day for The Elimination of Violence Against Women

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women this year, people around the world are thinking of all those women who have been injured and even sacrificed their lives amid police and military violence during protests for freedom and democracy in various parts of the world – from Hong Kong and Chile to Bolivia and Lebanon.

There have been large demonstrations in France this weekend highlighting Femicide.

This date was selected to honour the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country’s ruler, Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).

On 7 February 2000, the General Assembly officially designated 25 November as the International day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to raise public awareness of the issue every year on that date.

One in three women and girls, irrespective of their economic status, experience violence in their lifetime.  In a year of reckoning over sexual harassment in the workplace amid the #MeToo scandals, domestic workers -- a group mostly comprised of women working in private quarters, under the immense discretion of their employers -- remain vulnerable.

The adoption of the ILO Convention 190 on Ending Violence and Harassment in the World of Work at the International Labour Conference in June this year is going to change our lives and those of many women.  The Convention states that governments shall adopt legislation ensuring the right to equality and non-discrimination in employment and occupation for all.  Employers are required to take measures to prevent violence and harassment. 

ABC Note: Violence against women occurs every day at an unacceptable scale. Together we can  stop it.

ABC Comment, have your say below: