Women's Empowerment Group, POWER Calls For Concerted Effort To End Violence Against Women
SAN FRANCISCO, March 06, (THEWILL) – The Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER) has called on Government, the Civil Society, Communities, Families and Individuals to go beyond rhetorics and take practical steps in ending violence against women and girls.
The Founder/Board Chair of POWER, Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke, in a press statement to mark this year’s International Women’s Day, said, "This is the only way to address discrimination against women and promote gender equality".
She said POWER is ready to partner with relevant stakeholders to initiate practical actions towards ending violence against women.
“For us, it is an occasion to review how far we have come in our struggle for gender equality, peace and development. It is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilize for significant change,” Mrs. Imoke said.
According to her, violence against women and girls has serious short and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health effects on survivors and their children, and can lead to high social and economic costs.
She, therefore, called for the strict enforcement of legislation and policies that protect women, address discrimination against women and promote gender equality.
The International Women’s Day is an annual event observed on the 8th of March every year to acknowledge the contributions of women to world equity, peace and development.
The theme for the 2013 International Women’s Day is: “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women”.
According to United Nations, violence against women is “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm of suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.
As part of the events to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day, POWER would hold a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders representing the civil society, government, church, and the private sector among others to identify practical steps to end violence against women and girls.