Healthwatch Essex is proud to support the annual 16 Days of Activism. Violence against women and girls is an urgent issue here in the UK and globally. It is happening on a daily basis, often systematically, and has immense short- and long-term effects, physically, psychologically, emotionally and economically. Whilst there is no doubt that this should concern us every day of the year, the designated period of 16 Days of Activism provides the opportunity for us to really focus on raising awareness of this issue, and its multitude of effects, and to bring us together in a call for action to stop the abhorrence that is gender-based violence.
The UN definition of gender-based violence is ‘violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty. Discrimination against women and inequality in the distribution of power and resources between men and women are root causes of violence against women.’ Gender based violence can take a range of different formats, including intimate partner violence including domestic abuse, sexual violence, femicide, human trafficking, online/technology facilitated abuse and harmful practices including forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
UN Women states that ‘One in three women experience violence in their lifetime. For thousands of women, the cycle of gender-based violence ended with one final and brutal act—their murder by partners and family members. Femicide is the intentional killing of a women or girl because of her gender. It is a universal problem, and the most brutal, visible, and extreme manifestation of the cycle of gender-based violence that women and girls endure. Violence against women and girls can and must be prevented.’
This year, it is the 25th anniversary of the United Nations announcing 25th November as the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Also on the date this year, UN Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will launch the “Femicides in 2023: Global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides”. Globally, a woman was killed every 10 minutes in 2023.
We invite you to join us in saying #NoExcuse over the next 16 days, where we will be posting a variety of content from our Trauma Ambassador Group to highlight the impact of gender-based violence, ending on International Human Rights Day on 10th December. It’s time to end the scourge of violence against women and girls.
Sharon Westfield de Cortez
Information & Guidance Manager
If you would like to access support around any of the issues mentioned in this blog, or to share your own lived experience, give the Healthwatch Essex Information & Guidance Service a call on 0300 500 1895, email [email protected] or text/WhatsApp on 07712 395398.
If you would like to find out more about the Trauma Ambassador Group and our work, you can find out more here.