We are living in modern times, where women are respected, right?
Women have reached leadership positions across the world. In Africa, we have women presidents. This year, Dlamini-Zuma was elected as the African Union’s first female Chairperson. But still too many women and girls live in fear, facing unacceptable risks of violence and having no right to choose, no ability to say NO!
Copyright: Wilton Park
Starting today, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague has launched the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) – a 16 day worldwide campaign seeking to stop gender based violence.
A key objective of the campaign will be to raise awareness of the appalling risk many women face of sexual violence in conflict. It aims to replace the culture of impunity with one of deterrence – by increasing the number of perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict brought to justice internationally and nationally; strengthening international efforts and co-ordination to prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict; and supporting states to build national capacity to tackle the problem.
When launching the initiative, the Foreign Secretary said in his speech: ‘where there is no justice and accountability, the seeds of future violence are sown and human development is held back.’
In Ethiopia, we have witnessed significant efforts to protect women and girls from violence and to promote equal access to education. However, too many Ethiopian women still fall victim to early marriage, genital mutilation and domestic violence. It is sad to hear stories of dreams cut short, of hopes destroyed and lives ruined.
I want this campaign to help Ethiopian women build their confidence to say no.
We are holding several events at our Embassy to raise awareness of our “stop gender based violence campaign”. We will be conducting public media work, using social media, meeting Ethiopian activists on women’s issues and screening our successful “Hopes of Ethiopia” Olympic films (which features Ethiopia’s first ever female Olympic swimmer, Yanet Seyoum) and the Girl Hub’s award winning “Heroes” film.
Along with the head of DFID Ethiopia, Melanie Robinson, I hope to visit the Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs Zenebu Tadesse, to discuss what more can be done in Ethiopia to protect women and girls from violence. Our discussions will follow-up on the visit earlier this year to Ethiopia by Former Minister of Equality and Criminal information, Lynn Featherstone, the British Prime Minister’s Champion for tackling violence against women and girls. Embassy and DFID staff will be wearing orange ribbons throughout the campaign to raise awareness.
I hope after reading this blog, you will take the initiative yourselves to promote the campaign and create awareness about these events.
Join us in fighting for a world where women can say no to violence.