"Say NO to Violence against Women"

11 November 2008. Kyiv, Ukraine - UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman calls for millions of people to raise their voices to stop violence against women. Signatures will be handed over to the Secretary-General at UN Headquarters on 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The campaign aims to send a strong message to decision-makers to place ending violence against women high on the global agenda.

"I have been UNIFEM's Goodwill Ambassador for more than two years now and I have seen how being born a woman puts you at risk of the most appalling and widespread human rights violation of our time," said Ms. Kidman. "The Say NO campaign provides people all over the world with an opportunity to add their names to a movement of people demanding that ending violence against women be made a top priority for governments around the world," she added.

Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime — with the abuser usually someone known to her.

Study based on World Bank data states that about ten selected risk factors facing women in this age group, rape and domestic violence rated higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria. Moreover, several studies have revealed increasing links between violence against women and HIV/AIDS.

«In accordance with statistics of Ministry of Internal Affairs each year almost 100 000 women seek help from violence. Unfortunatelly during 2008 the number of such requests increased by 10% comparing to 2007. Researches made in Ukraine show that 90% of victims who suffered from home violence are women. In 75% cases children are affected too», - comments on actuality of problem for Ukraine Larysa Kobelyanska, Project Manager of Equal Opportunities Programme UNDP in Ukraine.

Help to stop violence against women. Add you name to an ever-growing movement of people who speak out to put a halt to this shameful human rights violation: www.saynotoviolence.org.

Here are some ways you can help UNIFEM reach 1 million names by 25 November and raise awareness for the International Day:

• Ask your contacts to visit www.saynotoviolence.org and add their names.
• Include a link to www.saynotoviolence.org on your website to invite people to sign up to the campaign (in all six UN languages).
• Post a special campaign widget on your website: The widget (in English only) allows you to collect names for the campaign right on your website. It works only if you have enough bandwidth to accommodate flash. (It does not work in HTML.) To install the widget, go to http://rocketxl.com/unifem  -- Click on “Embed” -- Click on “click here to grab code” — the code will be copied to your clipboard and you can paste it on your homepage.

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The UN representative office in Ukraine was opened in 1992. Currently, the UN Country Team in Ukraine consisting on 13 UN agencies, international organizations and associated institutions including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as the World Bank (WB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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For more information, please contact:

Victoria Andrievska
Communications Officer
United Nations in Ukraine
Tel. +38 044 254 0035      
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www.un.org.ua