End Violence against Women! – Giving U™
Oh man! We didn’t rack up so very many votes, but the GoErinGo! Fund will still make a $500 donation to the UN Trust to End Violence Against Women.
This is an important cause and I hope the article stimulated engaged conversation. Thank you for participating!
November 23 was the International Day to End Violence against Women. It was a day to be thankful for the progress we’ve made in the last few years. For instance:
- 125 countries now have laws that penalize domestic violence.
- The UN Security Council recognizes sexual violence as a tactic of war.
- It’s now possible to prosecute sexual violence crimes during and after conflicts.
- Equality between women and men is guaranteed in the Constitutions of 139 countries.
But…we still have a long way to go:
- 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not considered a crime.
- 6 in 10 women have suffered physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.
- 60 million girls are child brides.
- 100 to 140 million girls and women have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting.
- 100 million girls are “missing” due to prenatal sex selection and a preference for sons.
- 600,000 women and girls are trafficked across borders each year, mainly for sexual exploitation.
These statistics are staggering — We must continue to fight to protect women from violence!
GoErinGo! Grant
The GoErinGo! Fund will donate $1 to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women for every person who votes “Yes” by Dec. 30, 2011.
1 vote = $1 dollar to help women and girls! Simply vote “Yes” and GoErinGo will donate the dollars!
Should we protect women and girls from violence?
- Yes! (100%, 70 Votes)
Total Voters: 70
Loading ...Give the Gift of Safety
Want to join me and give the gift of safety this holiday season? Here’re two easy ways:
- Text UNITE to 27722 to give $10 right from your mobile phone
- Donate Online: http://bit.ly/rZIv4h
- Here’s how your gift can help:
- $10 – 6 women survivors of violence can receive psycho-social counseling across Africa & Asia
- $100 – 17 women’s rights activists in the Middle East can be trained to engage men and boys as change agent to end violence against women and girls.
- $1,000 – 70 police officers can be sensitized to respond to women survivors of violence without gender bias in India.
About the UN Trust: The United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women supports local groups and innovative strategies to help save lives and end the indifference, inequality and impunity that enables such violence to continue.
The Trust Fund was established 15 years ago and is managed by UN Women on behalf of the UN system. Since its inception, the Trust has delivered $78 million to 339 initiatives in 127 countries and territories. Truly a global effort!
Get Involved!
I meet so many people who can’t give a monetary donation and yet want to get involved. Here’s your chance!
15 Steps: Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director, proposes these concrete steps to prevent and protect women from violence, as well as provide vital services that will help heal victims of violence.
Just pick one of these areas and make a contribution of time. You can write to your political representatives, join a march, volunteer on a hotline, mentor a young girl or boy, engage the media – There’re so many options!
1. Ratify international and regional treaties…that protect the rights of women and girls, and ensure that national laws and services meet international human rights standards.
2. Adopt and enforce laws…to end impunity, bring perpetrators of violence against women and girls to justice and provide women with reparations and remedy for the violations perpetrated against them.
3. Develop national and local action plans…for ending violence against women and girls in every country that bring the government, women’s and other civil society organizations, the mass media and the private sector into a coordinated, collective front against such human rights violations.
4. Make justice accessible to women and girls…by providing free legal and specialized services, and increasing women in law enforcement and frontline services.
5. End impunity towards conflict-related sexual violence…by prosecuting perpetrators in conflict and post-conflict contexts and fulfilling survivors’ right to comprehensive reparations programs that are non-stigmatizing and have a transformative impact on women and girls’ lives.
6. Ensure universal access to critical services…At a minimum, women’s and girls’ emergency and immediate needs should be met through free 24-hour hotlines, prompt intervention for their safety and protection, safe housing and shelter for them and their children, counseling and psycho-social support, post-rape care, and free legal aid to understand their rights and options.
7. Train providers of frontline services…especially the police, lawyers and judges, social workers and health personnel to ensure that they follow quality standards and protocols. Services should be confidential, sensitive and convenient to women survivors.
8. Provide adequate public resources…to implement existing laws and policies, recognizing the devastating costs and consequences of violence against women not only for the lives directly affected, but to society and the economy at large, and to public budgets.
9. Collect, analyze and disseminate national data…on prevalence, causes and consequences of violence against women and girls, profiles of survivors and perpetrators, and progress and gaps in the implementation of national policies, plans and laws.
10. Invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment…to tackle the root causes of violence against women and girls like girls’ secondary education, advancing women’s reproductive health and rights, addressing the inter-linkages of violence with HIV and AIDS, and increasing women’s political and economic participation and leadership.
11. Enhance women’s economic empowerment…by ensuring women’s rights to own land and property, to inheritance, equal pay for equal work, and safe and decent employment.
12. Increase public awareness and social mobilization…to stop violence against women and girls, and to enable women and girls subjected to violence to break the silence and seek justice and support.
13. Engage the mass media…in shaping public opinion and challenging the harmful gender norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls.
14. Work for and with young people as champions of change…to end violence against women, and ensure that educational systems empower girls and boys to transform and build gender relations based on harmony, mutual respect and non-violence.
15. Mobilize men and boys…of all ages and walks of life to take a stand against violence against women and girls, and foster equality and gender solidarity.
May everyone experience a safe holiday season free from violence! Yahoo!
Donations will be made on a 1-1 basis up to US$1,500. ‘Cause, ya know, I’m not rich – just a regular person!
Unfortunately, the $500 check to the UN Trust to End Violence Against Women was undeliverable and therefore this grant was not made. The funds were returned to the GoErinGo! Fund to be redistributed to other charities.
Tags: charity, donation, giving, UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, violence, women
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 and is filed under Donate My Dollars.
Hi Erin,
I read about you in the Jan./Feb. issue of National Geographic Traveler. Great work! I am looking forward to purchasing your book “Adventure Philanthropist” when it comes out. More power to you, and to women all over the globe! If more women were in charge of actually “running things,” the world would be a far better place. You may want to review the Greek play “Lysistrata” for ideas on how to persuade men that more women should be in charge — and at the very least, help keep us our of the otherwise endless “wars” that men get us into!
Craig Cline
Salem, Oregon
In the last sentence, the word our is supposed to be the word out. I could not change our to out in the normal fashion.
Hi Craig,
Thanks for your comment! I’m definitely in favor of more diverse leadership in this country and throughout the world.
Interesting, one country with strong women leaders in government is Rwanda. (Due, unfortunately, to the recent genocide). They have many progressive policies in place for education, healthcare, and the environment — including making plastic bags illegal in the country. Will be interesting to watch how Rwanda fares in the yeras ahead.