The 3rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters was held 3rd-
6th November 2015 in The Hague, The Netherlands. With
1,000 participants from 115 countries and inspiring keynote speakers as
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Hina
Jilani, Dr. Mugweke and Ashley Judd it was a fruitful meeting with an
ambitious outcome. All attendees from advocates and activists to care
workers in the field are ready to put an end to violence against women
and children.
“Let’s
do this together! Let's Unite, Connect and Act to reach the
all-important goal and end violence against women!” This was the outcome
of four days of intensive working and talking together, while building
bridges and strengthening bonds. At the conference, over 1,000 visitors
from over 100 countries shared knowledge and translated agreements into
targeted actions.
The conference sent out a pledge to all people
to think about how we can contribute – as individuals, as communities,
as governments, as businesses, as religious institutions. Violence
against women has a profound effect on the victims themselves, but it
affects families and communities also, resulting in enormous social,
economic and productivity costs. It really is a matter that touches us
all. Special attention was paid to the vulnerable position of women and
girls in armed conflict. It is of the utmost importance to protect women
and girls from rape as weapon of war.
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
In the Call to Action handed by the chair Bandana Rana to Martin van Rijn, State Secretary for Health, Welfare
and Sports, the Global Network of Women’s Shelters calls upon all
sectors of society and all people – men, women, boys, girls – to
actively step up. This could range from actively penalizing child
marriages by governments to taking a stand against sexual harassment at
the workplace by businesses.
Violence
against women and girls is a human rights violation and has been
proclaimed a top priority of the United Nation’s, which is endorsed at
the highest level by Secretary–General Ban Ki-moon. The UN aims at
gender equality by 2030. An ambitious plan, but as far as all attendees
of the 3rd World Conference of Women’s Shelters are concerned, it is as
realistic as it is necessary.
At the moment still one in every three women faces violence because of their gender at least once in their lives.
