Joint op-ed by United Nations Resident Co-ordinator Dennis Zulu and EU Ambassador Peter Cavendish on the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism
THE International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls and the 16 Days of Activism (from November 25) that follow are important observances that allow us to pause and reflect on how far we have come and what still needs to be done to advance the cause of gender equality and eliminate the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) from our communities.
It may seem upon reflection that we have not made significant advances in the fight or, worse, that we are witnessing a significant backlash to the advancement of women’s rights – a proverbial one step forward and two steps backward. Sadly, no country is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. Incidences of GBV continue unabated. World events such as the war in Ukraine along with conflicts in many other parts of the world, the covid19 pandemic and the migrant and climate crises have left too many women and girls exposed to exploitation and violence.
But rather than focus on the negative, let us use these 16 days to raise awareness about the need to work together and to continue to bring our resources to bear in a fight that we must win, not only for our women and girls, but also for the welfare and advancement of society.
The European Union and the United Nations have recognised the need for bold and united action at all levels to eradicate GBV. It is for this reason that this year’s theme, “UNiTE: Activism to end violence against women and girls,” was decided upon. It is the reason the European Union and the United Nations introduced the Spotlight Initiative (Spotlight) in 2017, and why we continue to advocate for a groundswell of the women’s rights movement.
[caption id="attachment_989544" align="alignnone" width="683"] Peter Cavendish -[/caption]
The good news is that our initial investment of EUR500 million globally (with EUR50 million allocated for the Caribbean) has begun to bear fruit. Here in TT, for example, the Spotlight programme achieved the following:
* Approval of the National Clinical and Policy Guidelines on Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence and training of 200 plus healthcare workers to provide quality of care to survivors within the health sector.
* Training of 220 officers from the police service in gender-responsive policing using global best practices in victim and survivor-centred, trauma-informed approaches and commitment from the Police Academy to train all 7,000 officers.
* Launch of the Primero child protection information management system and the completion of an instrumental study on social and cultural norms which contribute to violence against children.
* Development of a workplace policy against GBV and sexual harassment and training of trade union members and employers across the country.
* Training of 500 plus members of the judiciary, judicial staff and partners within the Law Association to re-engineer attitudes and improve case manage
