European Commission: Some Voices Cannot Be Heard. Yours Can.

BRUSSELS, March 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Every year, approximately 13 million women in the EU experience violence^[1], but only 12% of bystanders or witnesses speak to the police about suspected abuse, and only 7% approach health services.^[2]

Věra Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, emphasises the need for everyone to say no to violence against women: "Violence against women is ubiquitous - women and girls are still being beaten at home, sexually and economically exploited, assaulted, harassed, raped, mutilated, or forced to marry. We cannot ignore the enormous consequences this has on women, families, communities, societies and the economy - we need to make sure that violence against women becomes a problem of the past and for this we need to speak out."

To encourage people to speak out against violence against women, the European Commission released today a video on the occasion of International Women's Day. Created to raise awareness about everyday violence against women among those who overlook it or consider it harmless or normal, the video confronts views with the perspective of those who, in contrast to the viewers themselves, really cannot interfere to stop violence against women. Everyday objects are given a voice and they tell us how painful and damaging experiences of violence are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N27l4UWXotM

The video is a part of the Non.No.Nein. campaign that the European Commission initiated in late 2016 with the aim of raising awareness about the issue of violence against women, disseminating good practice and connecting stakeholders across borders.

The European Commission is committed to stopping violence against women - in 2017 alone it made €15 million available to 12 national authorities and 32 grass roots projects aimed at preventing and combating violence against women. Internationally, the Commission supports projects fostering the rights of women who experienced gender-based violence, including sexual violence, in developing countries and in humanitarian crises. In 2016, the EU supported 62 humanitarian projects on this topic with close to €24.5 million in total that directly impacted almost 3.4 million women, girls, boys and men around the world.

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1. EU Fundamental Rights Agency survey on violence against women (2014)

2. Special Eurobarometer 449 Report on Gender-based violence (2016)

Press contact:

Iryna Garbuz
Campaign manager "Non.No.Nein."
Iryna.garbuz@s-f.com 
+49-30-700-186-731