Youth voices UNiTE for International Women's Day to end violence against women and girls

United Nations, Bangkok, 8 March 2012 — On 8 March, the United Nations observes International Women’s Day. This year, the focus of the Asia-Pacific regional event was young people’s activism to end violence against women and girls. An interactive panel was held at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok under the framework of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s global campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women. Young activists from the region addressed an audience of students, professors, NGOs, members of the international community and journalists on their own work and experiences on preventing and ending violence against women and girls in their communities and beyond. Also joining the young panelists were Prof. Dr. Pongsapitch, President of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand who gave the keynote speech, and Noel Cabangon, Filipino singer and activist.  

On this day, which celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women, the grim reality is that violence against women and girls continues to be one of the world’s most widespread human rights violations: 44% of women in Thailand and 64% of women in the Solomon Islands report having experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, while in rural Bangladesh, 30% of women reported their first sexual experience was forced. This is a result of deeply embedded cultural values, social attitudes and unequal power relations, which both lead to violence against women and girls and are even used to condone it. “It is these values and attitudes that young people have the power to change,” says Nanda Krairiksh, Co-chair of the UN Regional Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. “By rejecting outdated gender stereotypes and refusing to accept behaviours which perpetuate violence and discrimination, they can transform society.”  

Underlining the key role of youth, Shoko Ishikawa, the other Co-chair of the thematic working group said, “In the Asia-Pacific region, the UNiTE campaign is working with young people, among others, to raise public awareness and to bring about fundamental behavioural change. Engaging with youth, especially young men, is a cornerstone to ending the pandemic of violence against women and girls in all countries, communities and social contexts.”  

Using both new technologies and traditional means of outreach, the panelists exemplify how young people are developing networks, sharing ideas and inspiring one another locally and internationally. Coming from Cambodia, Indonesia, India and Thailand, they shared experiences on community volunteering to end violence, responding to violence against women living with HIV, using social media as a tool to mobilize young people, and addressing violence, stigma and discrimination against transgender people. Singer and activist Noel Cabangon from the Philippines joined the panel and performed his song “Men Move’, which calls on men to end violence against women and has been adopted by the Asia-Pacific UNiTE campaign as its theme song.    

UNiTE to End Violence against Women is the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s campaign to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world by 2015. Asia-Pacific UNiTE is coordinated by the UN Asia-Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (RCM TWG-GEEW), co-chaired by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).






















The video of the event can be found at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2650PVMR7B4&feature=youtu.be