With an end in sight: Strategies from the UNIFEM trust fund to eliminate violence against women

Abstract

At a press conference announcing UNIFEM’s work to combat the problem of violence against women around the world a journalist asked me: “Do you really believe that a problem as common and as widespread as violence against women can be brought to an end?” My response to this is a definite “Yes.” Women everywhere have come together and committed themselves to creating a safer more humane future for generations to come. I have witnessed heroism at work the extraordinary efforts being made to halt the epidemic of violence against women. With an End in Sight recounts some of these inspiring efforts. It shows how groups of women and men old and young in every region are taking action using innovative strategies and approaches. The stories compiled in this book are neither incidental nor isolated. Instead they represent the small steps and little pushes that create the powerful momentum for change. UNIFEM is proud of its role in supporting and even igniting this momentum. Over the past 25 years UNIFEM has sought to facilitate the inclusion of women’s voices and concerns into the halls of the United Nations. UNIFEM identified the elimination of violence against women as a priority as early as 1992. But it was following the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 that this issue became an organization-wide commitment involving all UNIFEM offices in activities at all levels from local communities to national regional and global arenas. (excerpt)