From parades to soccer matches, school debates, and the lighting up of hundreds of iconic monuments, that started on Wednesday a United Nations call to “Orange the World” will galvanize global action calling for an end to violence against women and girls. The UN agency for gender equality (UN Women) says violence affects one in three women worldwide. “Violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious – and the most tolerated – human rights violations,” said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, in a press release, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (Nov. 25). The color orange has come to symbolize a bright and optimistic future free from violence against women and girls, and will help unify the large-scale social mobilization. This year’s initiative will focus on the theme of preventing violence against women and girls, in the specific context of the adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
