Whilst
the Ending Sexual Violence Global Summit was happening in London, Soroptimist
International UN Reps were busy attending parallel events in UN Centres
across the world. The message that came out of events in New York and Geneva
was clear: to end sexual violence against women, coherent and cooperative
policies must be adopted globally.

Soroptimists all over the world are working together to tackle violence against women. These efforts contribute to the organised approach that Angelina Jolie said was needed to end sexual violence, when she spoke at the
Summit in London, which was attended by many Soroptimists including
International President Ann Garvie, SIGBI President Margaret Oldroyd and SIE President Ulla Madsen.

After attending an interactive discussion on
sexual violence Sabine Kinzer, a SI Representative in Geneva, is definite on what response is necessary, “Policies must be coherent, all efforts must go together and be
maximized and there can be no more inconsistency.  The efforts must be coordinated, it is
necessary to have a protocol!” Geneva
is an important UN Centre because it is home to the Human Rights Council, UN
Refugee Agencies and other agencies who work on this issue. Sabine speaks of the many questions
put forward about the needs of women, “funds are needed, training, education and
much support.  We must listen to victims and provide
for their needs to recover.” This event happened during the ongoing session
of the UN Human Rights Council where SI Reps are able to give a
voice to the needs of women from all over the world.

In
New York, Paulette Forbes-Igharo attended the launch of a project aiming to promote
the goal to “End Sexual Violence in Conflict Through Gender
Equality”. Paulette describes the event; “All agreed that the involvement
of men in this endeavour is vital to bring about the systemic change that is
required for success.  It was emphasized that violence against women is
not a women’s rights issue but a human rights issue, and that creating a world
where women are treated as a respected and an integral part of society is in
everyone’s interest.” Respect and recognition of Soroptimist International’s
work can be seen, as Paulette was chosen to be interviewed by UN Radio!

 

At the launch of the project in New York, the featured speakers were: Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the
UN; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director UN Women; Zainab Bangura,
Special Representative on Sexual Violence and Sir Mark Lyall Grant, UK
Permanent Representative to the UN.   

From
London, to Geneva, to New York, a consensus is being made: equal treatment of
men and women will remove the culture of dominance of men over women, which is a major
cause of violence against women. Sabine’s and
Paulette’s views were echoed by
Mark Lowcock, Permanent Secretary of the UK Department for International
Development. Speaking at the interactive discussion in Geneva, he said “Every individual can make a
difference, every institution can make a difference –  inspiring those, creating the difference.”