#OrangeTheWorld in Belarus
Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. It is an annual international campaign that starts on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, the International Human Rights Day.
Violence against women and girls is a scar on all societies. The facts are shocking: in the EU and across the world, one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence, including abuse, harassment, rape, sexual exploitation, genital mutilation, forced marriage and femicide. Invisible despair is what many women and girls have to live with. Protecting them and ending violence against women means more than striving for gender equality. It means fulfilling basic human rights. It means urgently bringing the perpetrators to justice.
This year, the EU acceded to the Istanbul Convention, marking a major step forward in making Europe a safer place for women and girls.