-
.
- Ελληνικά
November 25, established by the United Nations as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, reminds us every year of our obligation as a state to remain vigilant in all our efforts to combat violence against women,violence against women, a phenomenon that, unfortunately, continues to be one of the most widespread global violations of the human rights of women and girls.
According to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, violence against women is defined as "any act of gender-based violence that results or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life".
Some 736 million women - nearly one in three - have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner, sexual violence by a non-partner, or both, at least once in their lives.
More than four in five women and girls (86 percent) live in countries without strong legal protections or in countries for which data is not readily available, according to unwomen.org, while crucially, to a large extent violence remains unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame that surrounds it.
Violence against women can manifest in physical, sexual and psychological forms, and includes. [*]Sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual acts, sexual abuse of children, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber harassment). [*]Human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation). [*]Female genital mutilation. [*]Child marriage. [/LIST]
Adverse psychological, sexual and reproductive outcomes affect women who have experienced violence at all stages of their lives, with women or girls who identify as lesbians being particularly vulnerable/vulnerable, bisexual, trans or intersex, young or older women, migrant and refugee women, indigenous women and ethnic minorities, women and girls living with HIV and disabilities, and women living in humanitarian crises.
The scale of the problem and its alarming upward trends call for further commitments of all kinds to prevent and end gender-based violence, with the ultimate goal of achieving substantive gender equality. Besides, this goal is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (2030 Agenda) of the United Nations as well as the effective fulfilment of the human rights of women and girls.
In Cyprus, it is noted as very positive that, in recent years, a significant number of laws and other policies aimed at enhancing gender equality have been adopted, such as the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Law of 2021.
The Office of the Commissioner for Administration and Protection of Human Rights intervenes, over time, to prevent and eliminate violence against women. In addition to investigating complaints and making recommendations following an investigation, our Office has contributed both to the legal guarantee of gender equality and to ensuring substantive equality through the effective implementation of legislative commitments and by combating barriers and stereotypes that contribute to the perpetuation of inequalities, such as deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes.
An illustrative example is the information campaign we conducted entitled "Break the Silence", which encouraged women to report incidents of sexual harassment. The campaign also promoted the adoption and proper implementation of the Code for the Prevention and Response to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Education and Activity of Women, which was issued by our Office in July 2018 and approved by the Council of Ministers for universal adoption and implementation of its provisions in the public and wider public sector.
We also contributed to highlighting the need to sign, ratify and implement the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Response to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Education and Activity of Women, which was adopted by our Office in July 2018 and approved by the Council of Ministers for universal adoption and implementation of its provisions in the public and wider public sector.
