EU Team participates in Geneva Escalade to say NO to Violence against Women

03.12.2019

An EU Team of more than 60 runners participated in the Course de l'Escalade this Saturday (29 November) in Geneva to take a stance to end violence against women.

The team was organized by the EU Delegation in the context of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25) and the UN's 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence. Between November 25 and December 10 -the UN Human Rights' Day - the 16 day campaign seeks to engage people to take a visible stance to end violence against women and to raise awareness of the alarming scale of the problem: 1 in 3 women and girls worldwide experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner.

 

https://twitter.com/EU_UNGeneva/status/1200436243122806784

 

Violence against women and girls is a widespread and devastating human rights violation that takes place across the globe.  Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, the European Commission and High Representative Federica Mogherini said: "Violence against women and girls is violence against the whole humankind, and should have no place in Europe or elsewhere in the world. But we all know that despite our commitment, we are still far from winning this challenge. Violence against women happens anywhere, there is no safe place, not even at home. On the contrary. Woman are targeted at home as well as in their workplace, in schools and universities, on the street, in displacement and migration, and increasingly online through cyber violence and hate speech."

 

The European Union has put substantial measures in place to end such violence, including the EU's Victims' Rights, accession to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, and the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme that funds preventative grassroots projects. The EU is also tackling violence against women outside of the EU, such as supporting projects that aim to help victims of female genital mutilation, or funding initiatives to prevent child marriage.

 

The famous Geneva Escalade race takes place every year since 1978 during the first December weekend. This year, for the 41st edition, more than 50,000 runners and walkers participated - 60 of them running for the EU Team in bright orange t-shirts, the colour of the "Orange the World - Stop Violence against women" campaign. The race runs through the old town of Geneva, the multilateral hub of Europe, and is open for participation to everyone.

 

https://twitter.com/EU_UNGeneva/status/1200801594436141056

 


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