Every year 16 days are set aside to increase awareness of gender based violence of women and children.
In each year, it has become a norm for people to ask about why we focus on women and children only in 16 days? This isn’t meant to allow silence for 349 days of the year so we can speak out now, but to use 384 hours of our year to spread awareness on sexual, physical and psychological violence that goes on in relationships , quietly in our society.
According to the UN Women 1 in 3 women around the globe experience physical or sexual violence (as of 2014). In our continent, a shocking recording of 71% of women in Ethiopia have reported physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner, with 17% of women in rural Tanzania admitting to have a forced first sexual experience.
According to the world health organization, 246 million girls and boys experience school-related violence annually, with 1 in 4 girls mentioning that they do not feel comfortable using school latrines. A further study conducted by the same organization noted that 38% of murders of women globally are committed by an intimate partner.
The truth is, patriarch society has normalized gender violence, and awareness has the capacity to change one’s state of mind. An organization that shares similar sentiments is the Rotraract for Young Professionals Botswana (RYP Botswana). A group of young professionals brought together by the need to build the community and develop skills across the country.
They decided to host videographies on the issues that surround gender based violence, including patriarchy, passion killings and understanding the definition of gender based violence. Have a look at their video below:
