UN Women’s 16-day campaign, 'Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence Against Women', will begin today, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It will end on December 10, Human Rights Day.
During the #16days of activism, we @SayNO_UNiTE to end violence against women. RT & join us to #orangetheworld https://t.co/WYXB9sHd4k pic.twitter.com/SYWdVgHuAG
— UN Women India (@unwomenindia) November 21, 2016
Run under the #16days and #orangetheworld hashtags, the campaign urges participants around the world to ‘orange’ their profile pictures, and to share their support for ending violence against women. Participants will share stories of what they are doing to end gender-based violence in their communities on the campaign's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
#TransformationTuesday: Orange your profile pic to @SayNO_UNiTE to end violence agnst women! https://t.co/2LU9CX4SV4 #orangetheworld #16days pic.twitter.com/7PG56xKcTa
— UN Women (@UN_Women) November 22, 2016
As a prelude to the campaign, UN women hosted an 'Orange the World' event at the UN headquarters in New York.
“The statistics almost defy belief. What is even harder to understand is why: why men prey on women and girls; why societies shame the victims, why governments fail to punish deadly crimes, why the world denies itself the fruits of women’s full participation,” said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the event.
“Some of the most impactful and inspiring moments of my entire term as Secretary-General occurred in the context of our struggle for women’s empowerment,” he declared.
.@UN_Women’s #OrangetheWorld kicks off 16 days of activism to fight gender-based violence https://t.co/dv15ivzkJE pic.twitter.com/TW6uZjtS11
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) November 21, 2016
India is set to participate in the campaign in a big way: Nearly 3,000 students, parents, teachers, boys and girls have already kicked off the campaign by participating in a cyclothon and walkathon in Bengaluru on November 18.
Check out more photos from the stupendous start to #16Days #orangetheworld campaign by young #HeForShe champions! https://t.co/pVClJlS1EB pic.twitter.com/aMncv1L7zp
— UN Women India (@unwomenindia) November 19, 2016
An incident of domestic violence occurs about once every five minutes in India. And a large number of cases are still not reported. The same goes for cases involving rape and female foeticide. Last year, India Gate was illuminated in orange as part of the campaign, and many prominent personalities spoke about the issue. Here's hoping that even more people come together this year to take steps against ending gender violence..
Also Read: 5 things to know about UN’s #OrangeTheWorld campaign