The International Organization for Migration (IOM), with the support of the UK Government, embraces the awareness raising Campaign “16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls” by organizing a series of online and offline activities under the common slogan "#Unite against violence against women and girls”. The campaign was launched in Moldova on November 25, when it is celebrated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, IPN reports.
A series of activity, implemented in partnership with the Center for Development and Support of Civil Initiatives “Resonance” in Tiraspol and the State University in Chisinau, will take place on both banks of the Nistru River and will involve the citizenship, mostly young people, with the aim to promote gender equality, combat gender stereotypes, and encourage girls and women suffering from violence to speak up and report cases of violence by involving residents mostly young people.
“Gender-based violence threatens the lives and wellbeing of girls and women and prevents them from accessing opportunities that are fundamental to both freedom and development. Domestic violence is mostly perpetrated by men against women. This is why we must educate our sons to do better than previous generations, and call on our governments to take all possible steps to protect all citizens from violence”, said Steven Mark Fisher, British Ambassador to Moldova.
“For women and girls displaced due the complex emergencies and natural disasters, the risk of becoming victims of violence is particularly high. On the one hand, experiences of violence or the threat of violence are frequent drivers of migration. On the other hand, the migration process exposes women and girls to an increased risk of becoming victims (again) of sexualized or other gender-based violence. The well-coordinated approach among all actors with fulfillment of their specific roles in the response to the phenomena helps both to prevent and to counteract to Gender-Based Violence,” commented Lars Lonnback, Chief of Mission, IOM Moldova.
“We are organizing the campaign ‘#16 days of activism against gender-based violence’ in the Transnistrian region for many years. Each year, the specialized NGOs from the Transnistrian region choose a specific objective to focus on. For example, last year the campaign focused on the role of men and boys in preventing and combating violence against women, the last but one year - on interaction between non-profit organizations and authorities in responding to and preventing the spread of domestic violence as a manifestation of violence against women and girls. This year, we cannot ignore the problem of internally displaced persons from neighboring Ukraine, since the overwhelming majority of such people are women, and they are largely exposed to the risks of various kinds of violence,” stated Alexandru Goncear, Director of the “Resonance” Center.
Valentina Bodrug-Lungu, Team Leader of Expert Group within the IOM-UK Project, said violence prevents women from fully participating in society, has long-term consequences and high costs for families, communities and countries. “The citizens of the Republic of Moldova, and especially the youth, are to be aware of the consequences of violence. Hence we have chosen to organize two events for young people - a public debate in the format of “Open discussion Café” which includes open discussions, debates, over a cup of coffee and the conference “Strategies for addressing cases of gender-based violence in the context of the humanitarian crisis” which will be attended by students and professors from the State University of Moldova and from the University of Tiraspol,” noted the expert.
