The main goal of ‘UN Women’, UN’s integrated organization for the protection of human rights and interests of women, is to bring an end to violence against women and realize gender equality. In order to raise awareness on gender equality and eliminate violence against women, various events take place every year on the designated day.
February 14 ｜ 16th V-Day
February 14 was founded by Eve Ensler, a social activist and a playwright famous for “The Vagina Monologues.” In order to raise awareness and raise funds to end violence against women, Ensler created V-Day, an international movement, and designated February 14 as V-Day. Let’s keep in mind that February 14 is V-Day, not Valentine’s Day. www.vday.org
March 8 ｜ 106th International Women’s Day
“We want bread and roses!” On March 8, 1908, 15,000 female laborers gathered in Rutgers Square, New York, and raised their voice. ‘Bread’ symbolized the right to work for a living, and ‘rose’ the right to love and take care of each other. They protested the dreadful reality in which women were treated like machines and demanded the freedom of unionization and the right to vote. To commemorate this day, International Women’s Day events have been held all around the world since 1911.
June 23 ｜ International Bereaved Women’s Day
International Bereaved Women’s Day was suggested by the Loomba Foundation in 2006, andit was designated as an official memorial day by the UN in 2010. According to the Loomba Foundation, tens of millions of bereaved women live in extreme poverty. Moreover, in many areas around the world, bereaved women face from much social prejudice and persecution. They suffer in various ways such as murder, rape, persecution, coerced remarriage, social isolation, and robbing of property by the relatives-in-law. The day urges people to take more interest in bereaved women who are under ‘silent torment’.
August 26 ｜Women’s Equality Day
Women’s Equality Day was established to celebrate the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution that assures women’s suffrage. Through the amendment, on the August 26, 1920, American women were at last guaranteed their right to vote.
September 26 ｜World Contraception Day
World Contraception Day was celebrated since September 26, 2007. On this day, various campaigns are held with the vision for a world where every pregnancy is wanted and both partners consent. It is a global campaign implanting a proper awareness on contraception and sexuality, and aims to decrease the number of ‘unwanted pregnancies,’ and furthermore, prevent induced abortion due to unwanted pregnancy. European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health (ESC), Asia-Pacific Council on Contraception (APCOC), Federation Internationale de Gynecologie Infantile Et Juvenile (FIGIJ) and other organizations play a key role in celebrating ‘World Contraception Day’ around the world.
October 17 ｜Love Your Body Day
As lookism become rampant around the world, women go on extreme diet, damaging their health. Korea is not an exception. Women Link even published a book titled ‘Are You Sorry for Being Fat?’ ‘Love Your Body Day’ was established by the US women’s organization NOW Foundation to send the message that true beauty comes from confidence and strong will, not appearance.
http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org
November 25 ｜International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Since 1981, every November 25 has been celebrated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in order to commemorate the three sisters from the Dominican Republic, who were killed while resisting to dictatorship. Moreover, in 1991, women’s rights activists worldwide declared the 16 days from November 25 to December 10, International Human Rights day, as ‘International Week for the Elimination of Violence against Women’ and have been campaigning to end violence against women.
www.un.org/en/events/racialdiscriminationday
