[women-rights] Human Rights Day 2002 - 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence

MEDIA ALERT
WHAT: Event to mark International Human Rights Day, December 10, and 16 
Days of Activism against Gender Violence

WHO: Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM;
Bianca Jagger, Human Rights Activist;
Christiana Thorpe, President, Forum for African Women Educationalists, 
Sierra Leone;
Jeanne Ward, Gender Specialist, Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium.

WHEN: Tuesday, December 10, 2002, 1.00pm – 2.00pm

WHERE: The International Rescue Committee (IRC)/Women's Commission for 
Refugee Women and Children, 122 E. 42nd Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY, 
10168

Violence against women is a leading cause of death and disease in the 
world's conflict zones as well as being an affront to basic human rights. 
16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence (GBV) is an annual 
worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the high prevalence of this 
violence and to encourage the international community to dramatically step 
up their efforts to protect women and adolescents. The most vulnerable 
people in conflict situations are refugee and internally displaced women 
and adolescents but they rarely receive adequate protection. A new 
independent report on women, war and peace, commissioned by UNIFEM, 
recently found that "an epidemic of sexual violence" against women has 
occurred in the armed conflicts of the last decade and continues to occur.

16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, which began in 1991 and now 
includes participation by more than 800 organizations in nearly 100 
countries, has played a key role in generating awareness about all forms of 
violence against women; it has become an annual event in many towns, states 
and regions, in the United States and abroad.

Every year, from November 25 to December 10, the campaign highlights the 
connections between women, violence, and human rights. The time period 
encompasses four significant dates: November 25, the International Day 
Against Violence Against Women; December 1, World AIDS Day; December 6, the 
anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, when 14 women engineering students 
were murdered by a male student; and December 10, Human Rights Day.

Bianca Jagger, a longtime human rights activist, will host the December 10 
panel, which will also include Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the 
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Christiana Thorpe, 
President of the Forum for African Women Educationalists in Sierra Leone 
and Jeanne Ward, Gender-based Violence Research Officer, Reproductive 
Health for Refugees Consortium.

For more information, please contact Megan McKenna, +1 212-551-0959
or Jesper Jensen, UNIFEM, +1 212-906-6892.

Co-sponsored by UNIFEM, the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and 
Children, and UNHCR