UN chief Antonio Guterres said that a woman or a girl is killed every 11 minutes by an intimate partner or a family member saying that violence against them is the most pervasive “human rights violation” in the world. The UN chief called on governments to implement national action plans to tackle the violence against women.
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The UN chief made the remarks ahead of the International Day for the ‘Elimination of Violence against Women’ which is observed on November 25.
“Violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human rights violation in the world. Every 11 minutes, a woman or a girl is killed by an intimate partner or family member — and we know that other stresses, from the COVID-19 pandemic to economic turmoil, inevitably lead to even more physical and verbal abuse,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said.
The UN chief also said that women and girls also face online violence, from misogynistic hate speech to sexual harassment, image abuse and grooming by predators.
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“This discrimination, violence and abuse targeting half of humanity come at a steep cost. It limits women’s and girls’ participation in all walks of life, denies their basic rights and freedoms, and blocks the equal economic recovery and sustainable growth our world needs,” he said.
The UN chief gave a clarion call to all to “consign violence against women and girls to the history books,” saying that now is the time for transformative action that ends violence against women and girls, calling on governments to increase funding by 50 per cent to women’s rights organisations and movements by 2026.
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UN chief Guterres urged all to take a “stand and raise our voices in support of women’s rights” and proudly declare that “we are all feminists.”
