The 25th of every month is commemorated as Orange Day – the day of fighting against violence over women and girls. The Institute for Youth Development KULT, with the support of the American Embassy in BiH, will organise an exhibition of the academy painter Emina KujundĹľi? at the Importanne Centre in Sarajevo that aims to raise the awareness of BiH citizens on this issue that is rarely discussed.
Every fifth woman in BiH has suffered some form of violence during her life. Mothers, sisters, wives and daughters often suffer daily violence about which they most often never talk. It is a devastating fact that the whole BiH society should face. Women comprise 51.1% of the whole BiH society. Still, there is no gender equality. Gender inequality is precisely what represents the root of violence that prevails in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to data of the Agency for Gender Equailty, 52.8% of women have suffered some form of violence from the age of 15. Although there are some statistical data, it is difficult to refer to actual numbers. There is a great number of unregistered cases, stated Mirela Ajanovi? from the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
“We live in a society in which it is a shame to say that you are a victim of violence. We live in a society in which women feel to be forced to keep quiet and even worse, to suffer violence. Familiy is, unfortunately, a place in which many women and girls are victims. So on Orange Day we wish to indicate to this problem and to send a message to women and girls that they do not have to be alone and that the society has to stand behind the victims of violence”- stated Mirela Ajanovi? from the Institute for Youth Development KULT.
There are several laws at state and entity level which focus on this area. Nine safe houses were established along with SOS telephone lines that are free and trustworthy. “We wish to encourage women to look for help. A particular strength to our initiative lies in the fact that on the same day, and on the same symbolic manner, the campaign against violence is conducted all over the world, thanks to the Global UNiTE Youth Network of which the Institute is a member. The Institute for Youth Development KULT will talk about the problem of violence over women and girls every day. During the following months, similar campaigns will be conducted on Orange Day, because no women should be victimes of violence” – concluded Mirela Ajanovi?.
The Secretary General of the UN declared the 25th of every month as Orange Day, as the day of remembering the importance of prevention and sanctions of violence over women and girls.
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