OSCE Mission to Moldova launches campaign against gender-based violence

CHISINAU, 25 November 2010 -The OSCE Mission to Moldova today launched a series of awareness-raising activities, including continuing performances of a play, as part of the international 16-Day Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence.

The Campaign, launched in 1991, aims to prevent combat gender-based violence by raising public awareness globally. The 16 days start on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women; and end on 10 December, International Human Rights Day.

The OSCE Mission's contributions to the campaign in Moldova include a 6 December performance in Chisinau of the play Casa M, based on real-life stories of Moldovan victims of violence. The Mission will also support a mobile exhibition, a television talk show, youth drawing and sports competitions, leaflets, posters, a Facebook webpage, university lectures and roundtables and seminars on international and domestic law and practice.

The Campaign will end on 10 December with a roundtable meeting dedicated to the role of men and boys in combating violence against women.

"We hope that a new coalition will be set up in Moldova of men and boys speaking out against violence against women," said Eugenia Benigni, the Mission's Anti-Trafficking and Gender Adviser.

The roundtable meeting will also focus on Moldova's new legislation on gender-based violence and the participation of women in peace building and the security sector to mark the 10th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which promotes an increased role for women in conflict prevention and resolution.

The OSCE Mission supports the 16-Day Campaign in Moldova in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and the Family, non-governmental organizations, academics, national and international experts, as well as United Nations agencies.