November 25 marks the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which encompasses 16 days of activism through Dec. 10, with this year’s theme being “leave no one behind.”
The annual commemoration couldn’t be better timed this year, coinciding with the #MeToo movement reverberating across the United States — and far beyond — that is still rattling Hollywood, Capitol Hill and corporate offices with new allegations of sexual assault almost daily.
To honor the international day to eliminate violence against women — violence in its blatant and subtle forms — PassBlue’s Kacie Candela chats with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the executive director of UN Women, about championing marginalized women especially on this day; the takeaway from #MeToo; and why the United Nations is not immune from gender-based violence in the workplace, either.
“If you see how many people, each one of them has violated, it tells us that they have been doing it because they can,” Mlambo- Ngcuka said. “Because there was no consequence.”
To listen to the podcast, click here.
We look forward to hearing your response from this interview by leaving a comment or sending your comment to passblue1@gmail.com.
Kacie Candela is an assistant editor for PassBlue and a news anchor and reporter with WFUV, a public radio station in the Bronx, N.Y., where she covers the UN and other beats. Her work has won various awards from the New York State Associated Press Association, New York State Broadcasters Association, PRNDI, and the Alliance for Women in Media.
How many victims of silence there are, and at what cost! Silence has its
laws and its demands… Silence demands that its enemies disappear suddenly
and without a trace. Silence prefers that no voice of complaint or protest
or indignation disturb its calm. And when such a voice is heard, silence
strikes with all its might to restore the status quo ante – the state of
silence. Ryszard Kapuscmski in The Soccer War
25 November is the UN-proclaimed International Day for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women. Violence against women is a year-round occurrence
and continues to an alarming degree. Violence against women is an attack
upon their bodily integrity and their dignity. We need to place an emphasis
Rene Wadlow