Wearing Orange for Outrage

Tomorrow is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. As lead on women’s rights at the UK mission, my colleague Kate Kyriakides has kindly agreed to write a guest blog.

Wearing Orange for Outrage

Working on human rights at the UN in Geneva makes you realise how lucky you are. Our inboxes are full of harrowing tales from around the world. A week ago I listened to Zainab Bangura (the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict) describe the conditions in South Sudan’s camps, where families are living knee-deep in mud and women risk rape every time they leave to wash in a nearby stream. The week before I listened to stories from a human rights defender of women fleeing the brutality of ISIL who are shunned by their communities due to the ‘shame’ of what they have suffered. Earlier this month I sat with colleagues from London who came here to review how we and others in the European region are doing on women’s rights, 20 years on from the Beijing Declaration. Here I learnt that over a million women suffered domestic violence in the UK in the last year and our prosecution rate for rape is somewhere around 6%. No matter where you look in the world, violence against women and girls continues.

But I live in Geneva, one of the most peaceful places on earth. The view from the UN café, of Lake Geneva and the snow-topped Alps beyond, is nothing short of idyllic. I have been very lucky in my life, surrounded by what Emma Watson called in her UN speech (which I heartily commend) ‘inadvertent feminists’ who gave me every opportunity to pursue my dreams. 　The worst violence I suffer is from my toddler’s biting habit.

So for those of us who are lucky, what does 25 November mean? Ending violence against women and girls is such a huge and daunting task it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Or cynical. I admit – I have a cynical streak. How can a day where everyone wears orange really make a difference? If I were a victim of forced marriage, or Female Genital Mutilation, would the fact that someone out there is wearing an orange scarf give me much comfort?

But this year, I’m going to swallow my cynicism and take a leaf out of the late Stéphane Hessel’s book. Mr Hessel was a much admired diplomat and concentration camp survivor who helped write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And he told us to be outraged at injustice. Don’t resign yourself to the situation – be outraged, get active, speak out, engage. 　Be part of a peaceful revolution for change.

There are of course ‘big’ answers to eliminating violence against women. We need to make sure that the new Sustainable Development Goals being agreed next year have gender equality front and centre – this will focus the whole UN system (and vast quantities of money) towards empowering women and girls. We need to get women a seat at the table when peace agreements are negotiated. States need to be held to account for their responsibilities to protect women from violence – including at the Human Rights Council. And we need to fund the work of NGOs around the world who are out there supporting victims and turning them into the human rights advocates of tomorrow.

We talk about these ‘big picture’ solutions all the time here in Geneva – at the Human Rights Council and its many side-events; when negotiating resolutions on women’s rights; and when making recommendations to other states under the Universal Periodic Review. I have taken part in many a meeting in the windowless rooms of the Palais des Nations basement, where these important and lofty concepts are debated. And it feels like we’re moving in the right direction, albeit far too slowly.

But I think there might be something we can all do – even if we’re not the one negotiating a peace agreement or a UN resolution.

When I listened to Emma Watson’s #HeForShe speech, it struck me that what she was calling for wasn’t a UN treaty, political commitments or money, it was something much simpler. It was a change of attitude. Achieving gender equality is the surest route to ending violence against women and everyone can play a part in bringing that about. We can embody the right attitudes in the way we treat others – and challenge those around us when they get it wrong, intentionally or not. Men especially need to join the fight, not only to help women but because they’re losing out too. None of the important men in my life want to be pressured to fulfil male stereotypes of being tough, aggressive, controlling or insensitive – or uninvolved fathers. Luckily for me – and my son.

Maybe then what we need most of all is a peaceful revolution of men and women the world over who get outraged and challenge the attitudes of people around them. And that’s something an International Day can help build momentum for. Martin Luther King said that in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.

So tonight, I for one am going to be delving through my wardrobe in search of orange. And next time my son bites me, I’m going to try and channel my outrage towards teaching him gender equality. Ideally by biting me less, rather than his father more.

#orangeurworld