Saturday, 25 November 2023 will mark the first day of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against violence against women and girls. Soroptimists throughout the world will be taking part in a range of activities and events to raise awareness of gender-based violence, challenge attitudes of discrimination and call for improved laws and services to end violence against women and girls.
The UNiTE to End Violence against Women initiative was launched in 2008 under the leadership of UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. This initiative is a multi-year effort to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world. It was created to support the civil society campaign ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence’ around the world. UNiTE, which is managed by UN Women, calls on governments, civil society, women’s organisations, young people, the private sector, media, and the UN system to join forces to address the global pandemic of violence against women and girls.
The 25 November has been designated as the Orange Day by UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign. The colour orange was chosen as it symbolizes a brighter future, free of violence. The global theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism is “Unite! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls”. Soroptimists and UNWomen’s focus is on Tech-facilitated gender based violence against women and girls. What is that?
Technology-facilitated gender-based violence is any act that is committed or amplified using digital tools or technologies causing physical, sexual, psychological, social, political, or economic harm to women and girls because of their gender. These forms of violence are part of a larger pattern of violence against women, occurring online and offline, including intimate image abuse, doxing (revealing personal information), trolling (online harassment) and the sharing of deepfake images. It also encompasses misogynistic hate speech and efforts to silence and discredit women online, including threats of offline violence.
Digital violence can exacerbate offline forms of violence—including sexual harassment, stalking, intimate partner violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation—through the use of digital tools like mobile phones, GPS and tracking devices. For instance, traffickers often use technology to profile, recruit, control and exploit their victims. Read more about it at UN Women’s https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/unite