Prevention, Including Awareness Raising and Advocacy

Evidence from new studies in three countries on the impact of domestic violence in the workplace was presented by ILO during the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). More information is availbable at: http://www.ilo.org/gender/Events/WCMS_208336/lang--en/index.htm Hide

UNDP also organized numerous activities to raise awareness on the issue such as national campaigns on VAW in Albania, on trafficking in Argentina and Kosovo; the “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World” campaign in Uzbekistan, as a part of the UNCT; sensitization of population in Cambodia and Madagascar, of pupils in Sierra Leone, university students in Timor-Leste, religious leaders in Afghanistan, and journalists in Algeria; production of awareness-raising material(videos, leaflets etc) in Argentina, Europe and CIS, Uzbekistan, Peru, as well as advocacy material on CSW 57 in Ghana; information sharing about procedures and available services for survivors of VAW in India. Hide

In Cairo, Egypt, UN-Habitat conducted women’s safety audits in the 3 selected areas for intervention and prepared situational analysis reports and recommendations which were submitted to government. Place-making participatory planning workshops have been conducted in each of the 3 areas and the implementation of women-inclusive management of public spaces model has been approved by government. Progress has been made in highlighting safety concerns of women and girls through the “Because I am a Girl Urban Programme” jointly implemented by UN-Habitat, Plan International and Women and Cities International. A set of 5 tools have been developed and situational assessments conducted in 5 cities (Kampala, Delhi, Cairo, Lima and Hanoi). In each of the cities, girls shared similar experiences of insecurity, of sexual harassment and of feelings of exclusion as well as visions for safer future cities. Hide

The UN Department of Public Information (DPI) supported and facilitated activities carried across the System for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November), as well as for the V-Day “One Billion Rising for Justice” initiative in February 2013. On the occasion of the International Day, a partnership was established with Google to include on their homepage a special “doodle” linking to DPI’s International Day website. The Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, took part in UN Women’s portraits photo gallery “I wear Orange because” on the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence.DPI’s network of 63 UNICs joined with UN Country Teams and others to organize over 100 public outreach activities throughout the world to mark the International Day, including exhibits, round-tables discussions, press conferences, and film screenings. UNICs also translated information materials on the issue into various languages including Turkish, Portuguese, Persian and Polish.DPI highlighted VAW and the “Orange Your World" campaign on its UN social media platforms – including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr and Sina Weibo, in the six official languages, plus an additional 20 languages covered by UNICs. DPI’s UN Radio produced programmes on violence against women and girls in the six UN languages plus Kiswahili and Portuguese. UN Television covered the issue in several of its features for the magazine programme 21st Century, including on human trafficking of women and girls into Europe as well as “corrective rape” in South Africa. DPI’s UNifeed disseminated 19 related news stories. DPI’s News Centre produced 28 news stories highlighting the issue, available online, through social media and by email. The Department disseminated press releases, stories on iSeek and Delegate, briefings, and visual brand materials for the "End Rape in War" campaign managed by the Office of SRSG. DPI also provided photographic and webcast as well as coverage of a wide variety of events on VAW. The UN Academic Impact organized several activities to raise awareness of the issue amongst the academic community, including with an event held in March 2013 in association with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Hide

UNAIDS supported nine civil society consultations,6 led by the Women Won’t Wait campaign, focusing on HIV and partner violence, and advocating for increased investment in HIV, gender equality and women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights through the Post-2015 development framework. To highlight the gross human rights violation of violence against women, UNAIDS collaborated with the Permanent Mission of Namibia and Victims2Survivors, to launch the Namibian ‘Unite to end Gender-based Violence’ exhibition on 10 December 2013, in Geneva. Hide