Raad van Europa vraagt aandacht voor huiselijk geweld op Internationale Vrouwendag (en)
Statement by Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on the occasion of International Women’s Day
Strasbourg, 08.03.2006, “Today we are celebrating International Women’s Day. During these 24 hours devoted to the struggle of women for equality and justice, thousands of women across Europe will be victims of violence. By the time we mark next year’s Women’s Day, they will be counted in millions. Estimates indicate that one in four women in Europe will have experienced physical violence at least once in their adult lives, and one in ten will become a victim of sexual violence involving the use of force.
Women get hurt in all sorts of situations, but most of the victims will be abused by men in their immediate social environment, which means that they will suffer physical, emotional and sexual abuse by their partners or ex-partners.
Domestic violence is a destructive and self-perpetuating threat to the social fabric. In addition to the suffering of its immediate victims, domestic violence is harmful to the emotional, behavioural and mental health of children growing up in a violent environment. Many of them are likely to relive such traumatic experiences as adults, either as victims or as perpetrators of domestic violence.
All this is known – yet we are not doing enough to prevent gender-based violence in our societies. To fill the gaps at national and European level, the Council of Europe has created a Task Force composed of eight renowned international experts charged with reviewing the situation and identifying proposals for effective measures to prevent and combat violence against women, including domestic violence. The Task Force is also contributing to a major Council of Europe public campaign on this issue, which will begin this year and, I hope, continue for years to come.
Council of Europe Press Division
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11