UN’s Anti-Violence Campaign Targets Afghanistan

In 2008, the United Nations launched UNiTE, a campaign to end violence against women. Currently, UN is in the midst of a 16-day campaign to eliminate violence against women in Afghanistan. Their efforts include raising awareness of the issue, and mobilizing and increasing attention to the problem.

We must unite. Violence against women cannot be tolerated, in any form, in any context, in any circumstance, by any political leader or by any government.
-Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

All forms of violence against women must stop – from the use of rape as a weapon of war to the use of violence by a husband to terrorize his wife within her own home.
-Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro

By 2015, UNiTE aims to achieve the following five goals in all countries:

* Adopt and enforce national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls
* Adopt and implement multi-sectoral national action plans
* Strengthen data collection on the prevalence of violence against women and girls
* Increase public awareness and social mobilization
* Address sexual violence in conflict

Though I applaud the UN’s recognition of the issue and attempt to “fix” the problem, violence against women in Afghanistan, or any other place in the world, cannot be eliminated with a 16-day campaign, and it cannot be stopped through awareness-raising and increased attention to the issue, though those are both necessary actions to reach a solution. The solution to the problem must include interaction with women, providing women with education, and instilling in women a sense of empowerment that has been buried too long in the patriarchy of many cultures.

In this context, UNiTE serves as a call for social mobilization, more than a path to end patriarchy. As concerned citizens, we cannot rely on government, which in some cases is still firmly rooted in patriarchy itself, to end violence against women. We must attack it form the inside, as women and men who seek equality and change. Collectively as individuals, we must take the responsibility upon ourselves, and be involved in the change we seek.

Below is a moving call-to-action from Desmond Tutu, a South African human rights activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope his words inspire you as they have inspired me.

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