International Women's Day
The story of International Women's Day began in New York City in 1909, when 20,000 female garment workers went on strike for 13 weeks to win better pay and working conditions. They worked seven days a week for less than a living wage. Their strike won...
The story of International Women's Day began in New York City in 1909, when 20,000 female garment workers went on strike for 13 weeks to win better pay and working conditions. They worked seven days a week for less than a living wage. Their strike won improvements in wages as well as working and safety conditions. Two years later, German revolutionary Clara Zetkin, inspired by the women of New York, proposed that March 8 be celebrated around the world as International Women's Day.
The theme for this year's International Women's Day was Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls.
Violence against women and girls transcends the boundaries of culture and religion, race, age, geography and wealth. Violence affects women everywhere, in private and public spaces, during peacetime and in wartime.
Such violence, unfortunately, remains one of the most pervasive of global human rights violations. It occurs in every country and cuts across boundaries of culture, class, education, ethnicity and age. While most societies publicly proscribe violence against women and girls, the reality is that it often is tacitly condoned by cultural practices and norms. And when habitual abuse or violence takes place within the home, it may be accepted or ignored by friends, neighbours and society in spite of the incalculable consequences. Women face inequality and injustice across the globe. 70 per cent of the world's hungry are women and girls. 80 per cent of the world's refugees are women and children. 33 per cent of women report domestic abuse at some time in their lives.
Ending impunity for all forms of violence against women and girls - physical, sexual and psychological - is one of the most important challenges facing the world today.
On International Women's Day, the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) presented a special screening and discussion of Women in an Insecure World, with support from The Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and The Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations.
Women in an Insecure World is the work of Swiss film-maker Barbara Rady-Rupf. Filmed in Moldova, Switzerland, France, Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and India, with further footage from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone, it highlights the myriad forms of violence against women, in particular: trafficking for forced prostitution, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, rape during armed conflict and female infanticide.
The Amnesty International Malta Group highlighted the problem of violence against women and girls, describing it as "the greatest hidden scandal of our times".
In a message to mark Women's Day, AI (Malta) said that unlike the so-called "war on terror", the "war on women and girls" is not on the global political agenda, and therefore, may be hidden from the public eye because it takes place behind closed doors.
In its message, the group stressed the need for women to be involved in the decision-making processes in all areas, with equal strength as men and in equal numbers.
The theme for this year's International Women's Day was Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls.
Violence against women and girls transcends the boundaries of culture and religion, race, age, geography and wealth. Violence affects women everywhere, in private and public spaces, during peacetime and in wartime.
Such violence, unfortunately, remains one of the most pervasive of global human rights violations. It occurs in every country and cuts across boundaries of culture, class, education, ethnicity and age. While most societies publicly proscribe violence against women and girls, the reality is that it often is tacitly condoned by cultural practices and norms. And when habitual abuse or violence takes place within the home, it may be accepted or ignored by friends, neighbours and society in spite of the incalculable consequences. Women face inequality and injustice across the globe. 70 per cent of the world's hungry are women and girls. 80 per cent of the world's refugees are women and children. 33 per cent of women report domestic abuse at some time in their lives.
Ending impunity for all forms of violence against women and girls - physical, sexual and psychological - is one of the most important challenges facing the world today.
On International Women's Day, the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) presented a special screening and discussion of Women in an Insecure World, with support from The Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and The Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations.
Women in an Insecure World is the work of Swiss film-maker Barbara Rady-Rupf. Filmed in Moldova, Switzerland, France, Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and India, with further footage from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone, it highlights the myriad forms of violence against women, in particular: trafficking for forced prostitution, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, rape during armed conflict and female infanticide.
The Amnesty International Malta Group highlighted the problem of violence against women and girls, describing it as "the greatest hidden scandal of our times".
In a message to mark Women's Day, AI (Malta) said that unlike the so-called "war on terror", the "war on women and girls" is not on the global political agenda, and therefore, may be hidden from the public eye because it takes place behind closed doors.
In its message, the group stressed the need for women to be involved in the decision-making processes in all areas, with equal strength as men and in equal numbers.