As the 16 days of activism come to an end, #OrangetheWorld aimed to raise awareness about gender-based violence and rape culture
Photo Credit – Unsplash
UN Women began their annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence on 25 November. The campaign will end at midnight today, 10 December, Human Rights Day.
#16days of Activism began in 1991 by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute and has had a new theme each year to tackle the important issue of gender-based violence. This year the theme is ‘#OrangetheWorld: generation equality stands against rape’. #OrangetheWorld aims to raise awareness around rape culture and calls on communities to take action and educate themselves on the subject.
UN Women explains that rape culture is all around us and is rooted in patriarchal beliefs about power and control. The campaign aims to stop language that normalises physical and mental abuse being used within society and the media.
Women in Cardiff expressed the necessity of movements like #OrangeTheWorld. Kate Kirkup, 22, says, “[they are] sometimes restricted to certain groups in society: female, middle class, white. This doesn’t mean that they are negative, but I think we need more emphasis on issues that face groups that are not well represented.”
This sentiment was reflected by others who also noted that the prevalence of ‘lad culture’ needs to be combated to prevent gender-based violence.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reports that a staggering one in three women will experience physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives. In some countries, the numbers are as high as seven in ten.
“Violence against women not only denies women and girls their rights, health and opportunities but undermines all development efforts,” says Achim Steiner, the administrator UNDP.
Photo Credit – Unsplash
Photo Credit – Unsplash
Each year in England and Wales, 400,000 women are are victims of sexual assault. Violence against women is a greater cause of ill-health than traffic accidents and malaria combined, this is a shocking estimate and must be discussed widely.
Movements like #OrangetheWorld inspired the birth of NUE magazine. NUE is an upcoming Cardiff based magazine and is set to revolutionise the way we see ourselves, live in our skin and discuss the body politic in a positive and impactful way.
Evolving from various socio-political campaigns including UNiTE’s 2019 Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape, NUE discusses impactful and powerful messages through discussions of the body politic and historical dress reform.
NUE’s visuals highlight the authenticity of the skin we live in, each one different. A magazine that truly understands the need for self-love and admiration, but informs on the importance of safety and love while appreciating our bodies.
NUE aims to combat the culture of gender-based victim-blaming and instead spreads a message of self-acceptance, self-love and body confidence. Looking at how the human form is portrayed through art and the empowerment that this instils in people. NUE wants everybody to feel comfortable and valued, as everybody is beautiful.
Safe appreciation and secure empowerment of the physical form is vital in modern-day culture. But remember, your body is a gift, a temple.
Check out NUE magazine on ISSUU and follow our Instagram @NUE.magazine.
