Keeping Women’s Rights in Human Rights Day

December 10^th was Human Rights Day and it marked the end of the16 Days to End Violence against Women campaign. The campaign, which takes place every year between the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25^th, and Human Rights Day on December 10^th, emphasizes that violence against women, in any of 16 forms, is a violation of human rights. But more than just a human rights issue, violence against women is an economic and social problem that has widespread implications. Violence against women takes many forms, including domestic violence, female genital mutilation/ cutting, child marriage, human trafficking, ‘honor’ killings, and sexual violence.  The outgoing U.S. Congress debated three bills that would have made a significant contribution to ending violence against women, including the International Violence Against Women Act.  Women’s issues, unfortunately, were not high enough on the Congress’ ‘lame duck’ agenda; Congress adjourned without giving final approval to any of these measures.

 http://blog.populationinstitute.org/2010/12/10/keeping-women%E2%80%99s-rights-in-human-rights-day/