Parliamentarians Take Action on Violence against Women On 24 November during the round table sitting on the subject of “Overcoming Violence against Women in Belarus: Realia and Prospects” Ms Antonina Morova, Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic for Education, Science, Culture and Social Development, Co-Chairperson of the Belarusian Union of Women,  announced that an information campaign on violence against women would begin in our country on 25 November — the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which was officially established by the UN General Assembly in 1999. This campaign is part of the global initiative “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence”, which will end on 10 December — the International Human Rights Day.
Such socially significant events have been held since 1991. Seminars, forums, press-conferences, round table sittings, pickets, manifestations, and exhibitions take place all around the world, radio and TV shows concerned with elimination of violence against women are broadcasted during these days. More that 800 organizations from almost 100 countries, representatives of governments, parliaments, international human rights organizations take part in these events every year.
This is the fourth time such an information campaign takes place in our country. Its motto this year is “There is no Family where Violence Exists”. The mottos of the campaigns of the previous years were “Life without Violence” and “Domestic Violence Shouldn’t be Part of your Life”. The aim of the campaign is to attract public attention to this acute problem. It’s difficult to define the real scale of this phenomenon, because the victims of violence do not report these cases being ashamed, afraid of retaliation or being sure that it’s impossible to get help and support.
Ms Antonina Morova noted in her speech during the round table sitting that the problem of violence against women is recognized by the world public as one of the most dangerous and topical problems of our time. Sad statistics were voiced at the sitting — every second woman in the world is exposed to cruel treatment by the partner. More than 80 per cent of human traffic victims are women. Women aged 15 — 44 have more chances to suffer from domestic violence than to get cancer or fever, have a road accident or fall victim to a military conflict. Violence against women and girl brings huge social and economic costs. These are healthcare, legal procedures expenses and law enforcement agencies costs, as well as the cost for restoring women’s educational level and labor efficiency.
Ms Antonina Morova also noted active participation of parliamentarians in handling this problem. The Inter-Parliamentary Union adopted a resolution on the role of parliamentarians in combating violence against women in 2006 and started implementing the working program aimed at supporting these efforts. The Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Council of the Republic named six priority directions of the activities of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus in this sphere. They are: adopting laws that work; making sure they are implemented; educating women; building partnerships with other parliaments; showing strong political will and establishing a sound institutional framework. In conclusion Ms Antonina Morova underlined: “No gender equality is possible without halting violence against women”. |
