The Tallinn Diplomatic Corps joined the "Orange the World!" campaign to end violence against women this year

27.11.2023 / 12:59 | Aktualizováno: 27.11.2023 / 13:08

Ambassadors and diplomats of the Tallinn Diplomatic Corps has dressed the orange colour and met with Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, they together expressed their support for the UN campaign "Orange the World!" On November 25 begins sixteen-day campaign to eliminate gender-based violence. The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Estonia, David Král, also expressed his support.

Violence against women and girls remains one of the most common and devastating forms of human rights violations today. It threatens millions of girls and women around the world. It is a violence that knows no boundaries in its cruelty. This violence crosses borders of the physical world, as it moves into cyberspace. The age, origin or education of women does not play a role either. Violence against women takes many different forms, not only physical, sexual and psychological violence, but also economic abuse and exploitation. More than one in three women have encountered or will encounter gender-based violence during their lifetime. A 2021 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime revealed that every 11 minutes a woman or girl is killed by someone from her own family somewhere in the world. Especially in the period after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in all kinds of violence against women and girls, especially domestic violence. Disruption of the sense of security can lead to a negative impact on the mental and emotional state of women and girls.

In many cases, women do not have the opportunity to defend themselves, and only less than 40% of them seek for help. That is why representatives of the Tallinn Diplomatic Corps, together with the Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, are urging women not to remain silent with their banners in native languages. On Saturday November 25, the annual sixteen-day campaign to eliminate gender-based violence begins. The campaign will end on International Human Rights Day, Sunday December 10. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness, both about violence itself and about the possibilities of finding help for victims, and to encourage initiatives in fighting violence against women.

#OrangeTheWorld Let's end violence against women!