Violence against women has been described as a "pandemic" by the United Nations, and global action to end it has taken on an urgent form in many countries.
One in three women and girls living on the planet today will experience violence at some point in their lives - sexual, physical, psychological - and that translates to the creepy number of one billion girls and women. In Cyprus it is estimated that one in five women will be raped or otherwise abused.
The Cyprus Women's Lobby (KLG) participates again this year in the global campaign "One Billion Rising" which has been established internationally as a Day of Action against Violence against Women and Girls.
As part of the campaign, it is organizing today, Saturday, February 11, at 12 noon, an event in Faneromeni Square under the auspices of the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Iona Nikolaou.
Ionas Nikolaou, Andri Anastasiadis, Stella Kyriakidou, Christiana Erotokritou, Annita Dimitriou, Eleni Mavrou, Iosifina Antoniou, Anastasia Papadopoulou and others have participated in the campaign with videotaped messages. The messages draw attention to the "misconceptions" about rape and the extent of the phenomenon of gender-based violence in society.
The events of this year's "One Billion Rising" campaign in Cyprus are dedicated to the sexual exploitation of women and the abuse experienced by women victims of trafficking. In Cyprus, the campaign coincided with a court ruling acquitting three defendants in the case of 20-year-old Oksana Ranceva, a trafficking victim who died in Cyprus in 2001.
"We call on the state and the judiciary to finally show the necessary political will to protect 50% of its citizens from violence and sexual exploitation. We call on the government to ratify and implement the Istanbul Convention, a powerful legal tool that empowers states to combat all forms of gender-based violence. We demand justice for the victims and demand the application of deterrent sentences by the Cypriot courts ".
Source: "Liberal"