This year, for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we want to encourage the campaign which the United Nations launched, “UNiTE” 2020: 2020 global theme: “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect! ”

Several movements have been launched in recent years to combat this problem in today’s society. This violence can manifest itself physically, sexually and even psychologically. The #metoo has been an international movement. The same principle was copied in Quebec with the “On te croit”, which has been taken up on a very large scale on social networks. Recently, Élizabeth Rioux, owner of a large international company, as well as an influencer on social networks, denounced her attacker.

People want help, they want victims to escape this misery, but resources are lacking, as Elizabeth Rioux explained in a television interview. She said that, even after the denunciation, she received approximately 40 private messages per second, which was impossible to manage, as women asked her for advice, and she is not a specialist in the field. During the pandemic, cases of domestic violence have increased and experts are worried. Shelters for victims are constantly at full capacity, and the difficult period, winter, is fast approaching.

There are also crimes UCTE remembers. Thirty years ago, on December 6, 1989, 14 women were murdered at the École Polytechnique de Montréal. And for what reason? They were women. This terrorist act had no other motive than sexism.

Women are afraid to denounce their attacker. They feel that punishment for the crime will not be fair. They are afraid of the consequences of a perpetrator following up, and of, especially, the shame that engulfs them. Women don’t know where the line is; when they should contact police.

People want to believe the victim, to help and support them, but resources are limited. A campaign has been set up for the United Nations to call on governments, civil society, women’s organizations, youth, the private sector and the media to join forces to address a global pandemic of violence against women and girls. There will be 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. You too can take action between November 25 and December 10, 2020. The United Nations invites you to participate:

You can make a difference during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and protracted state of crisis it has generated across the world; you can support women and girl survivors of violence to stay safe and free of violence.