Minister'sMessage in Support of International Day for Violence Against Women
Hon. Dr.Frank McField
It is my pleasure, both personally and asthe Minister Responsible for Women's Affairs, to join the worldwidecommunity in seeking to raise the public's awareness of genderbased violence during this International Day Against ViolenceAgainst Women (November 25th).
Violence against women is a global challenge; it affects womenof every social class, ethnic group, religion and age in everycountry including our own. This crime is a violation of humanrights and the cost to our society is immeasurable. We can reduceand eradicate domestic violence only by fundamentally changingthe cultural and social norms that promote violence. As a countrywe have a responsibility to ensure the protection of all womenand children.
November 25th also marks the beginning ofthe 16 Days of Activism against Gender violence. We applaud TheCayman Islands Business and Professional Women's Club who organisethis campaign each year and support this year's theme of ElderlyAbuse. This often unseen but very real problem supports the notionthat violence knows no boundaries.
Operating under the ministry for which Ihold responsibility, the Women's Resource Centre promotes publicawareness about domestic violence and educates victims about theirsituations and the options available. Other national efforts suchas the National Committee Against Domestic Abuse, the DomesticViolence Intervention Training Programme and the National Policyfor Gender Equity and Equality are also working at tackling thisissue head on.
I encourage a community-based effort tocombat violence against women and girls. As individuals you caneducate yourselves about domestic violence and advocate for eradicationof behaviours that lead to violence. On this day I ask our mento be partners in this cause and to make their personal pledgesnever to commit, condone or ignore this crime
I leave you with a quote from Noeleen Heyer,the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fundfor Women: "We need to say no more and never again. If wecommit ourselves to creating a world free from violence againstwomen and girls, our children will say we stopped the most universaland unpunished crime of all time against half the people of theEarth."