One of many recent campaigns to raise awareness about violence against women, Chalk For Change employs the simple tactic of naming those who too often remain nameless. Last weekend, women in Edmonton, Canada gathered at City Hall to write the names of over 60 missing or murdered women across the stone steps. Sharie Valentine, who organized the event, told CBC News that her one desire with the endeavor was to give voice to recent female victims of violence in Canada that rarely receive the attention they deserve.
Like #chalkforchange, The United Nation's Orange Your Neighborhood campaign highlights the global problem of violence against women by encouraging people to incorporate the color orange into their clothing and surroundings. V-Day benefits, started by feminist writer and creator of The Vagina Monologues Eve Ensler, happen every February and have the same goal to spread the word about this epidemic through subversive celebrations. Similarly, the Speak My Name project designs charms to sell with the names of women who have been killed in war or in domestic disputes so they will not be forgotten. The money from profits goes to One In Three, another global non-profit dedicated to fighting intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, and more. These four sobering facts about violence against women show how very far the world still has to go to remedy this destructive epidemic.
1. One in 3 women around the world will experience sexual or physical violence
This staggering statistic was released by the World Health Organization, and bears repeating.
2. 38 percent of women are murdered by an intimate partner
Only 6 percent of murdered men are killed by a partner, but 38 percent of murdered women die at the hands of a lover, husband or boyfriend.
3. Three women are murdered every day at the hands of a current or former partner
Not a day goes by without domestic violence turning deadly for women and their families.
4. Women with disabilities are at the greatest risk for abuse
According to the American Psychiatric Association, women with disabilities are 40 percent more likely to experience intimate partner violence than women without disabilities.
Images: Fotolia; @sharievalentine/Twitter (2); @hollabackAB/Twitter; @curtissphotos/Twitter
