With the theme “Orange Your Neighbourhood” to herald a bright future without violence, a 16-day programme to mark the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women commenced across the country.
As a part of the programme, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) organised a bicycle rally to raise awareness about gender-based violence in the capital yesterday.
Some 150 volunteers and activists wearing orange coloured t-shirts and caps gathered at the National Press Club premises.
After a brief opening session, campaigners set off to different parts of the capital to collect recommendations from people of all sections of society on how to address the problem.
Women and Children Affairs Secretary Tariq-ul-Islam, among others, attended the inaugural session.
In collaboration with the government and development partners, UNFPA Bangladesh facilitated the programme.
“Our focus is mainly on the elimination of all forms of violence. Our target population is the youth, so we organised the bicycle rally,” said Asma Akter, national programme officer of communication at UNFPA Bangladesh.
“They need to know about this issue,” she said.
“We will collect suggestions from 14-year-old children to elderly rickshaw-pullers,” she said.
According to a report by rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra, there were 455 cases of rape and 72 cases of attempted rape in the country this year.
Some 35 per cent of women and girls globally experience some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, according to a UNFPA report.
UNFPA began the international campaign to address violence against women in 1991. Since then, more than 5,179 groups have taken part in it across 187 countries.
At the residence of a foreign envoy in the capital, acid survivors gathered together for a cultural event as part of the day’s celebrations.
“After a few months of treatment at the Acid Survivors’ Foundation, I went back to my studies because I decided I would not let this stop me,” said Neela, an acid survivor at the cultural event to show solidarity with Bangladeshi acid survivors.
The event was hosted by Canadian High Commissioner Heather Cruden in celebration of The International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, which was celebrated across the world yesterday.
“When societies miss out on the contributions of fifty percent of their population, they deny themselves sustainable development, social justice, peace and security, and the whole world suffers,” said Cruden during the reception.
“The whole suffers when women and girls are not given an equal voice,” she said.
The event was hosted at the Canadian ambassador’s residence, and featured a cultural programme where members of the Acid Survivors’ Foundation (ASF) held singing and dance performances.
A candle-lighting ceremony was held to mark solidarity with the survivors.
