On 25-26 November 2013, NPWJ took part in the Conference on “Eliminating Violence Against Women in Europe: Intersectoral Approaches and Actions”, organised in Vienna, Austria, by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the City of Vienna. The event was organised in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women which is celebrated worldwide on 25 November to bring attention to this issue.
The purpose of this two-day event that brought together activists, government representatives and international organisations, was to discuss measures and strategies to be implemented in order to address violence against women in Europe. Specific parallel sessions were dedicated to “the Use of Human Rights Frameworks for Policy Development on Eliminating Violence against Women and Parallel (which focused on EU Member States examples of how international and regional human rights accountability mechanisms have been used to develop policies aimed at eliminating violence against women) and to “Addressing Specific Forms of Violence against Women in Europe” (which served to discuss actions to tackle specific forms of violence against women, especially female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking and rape).
Alvilda Jablonko, FGM Program Coordinator of NPWJ, took the opportunity to highlight the significance of the recent United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/146, adopted on 20 December 2012 and calling for a worldwide ban on FGM. The resolution, whose adoption is the culmination of years of advocacy efforts conducted by an ever-expanding coalition of NGOs and human rights activists including No Peace Without Justice, calls on all states to address and prevent this human rights violation through “all necessary measures, including enacting and enforcing legislation, to prohibit FGM and to protect women and girls from this form of violence, and to end impunity”.
“It is now imperative that governments and civil society around the world take urgent action to ensure that this breakthrough document realises its full potential as a concrete tool in the fight against FGM and that it truly strengthens efforts aimed at the elimination of FGM once and for all”, said Alvilda Jablonko, on the margins of the Conference.
Documentation
- Draft program of the conference
- EIGE study titled “Female genital mutilation in the European Union and Croatia: Report”
- Ban FGM Campaign
- Read the UN Resolution in: English, French
For more information, contact Alvilda Jablonko, Coordinator of the FGM Program, on ajablonko@npwj.org or Nicola Giovannini, email: ngiovannini@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 15.
