Women activists against violence against women have recognized November 25th as a day against violence since 1981 as a result of the brutal assault in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic on orders of the Head of State, Rafael Trujillo.

It was in 1999 that the United Nations General Assembly designated 25th November as the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and invited governments, international organizations and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) to organize activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on that date.

The Declaration on the elimination of Violence Against Women defines violence against women as “any act of gender based violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological hard to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation whether occurring in public or private life.

It encompasses but is not limited to physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family.

Gender-based violence, whether sexual or domestic, is now universally recognized and understood to be a violation of women’s human rights. This violence results in a form of trauma that creates devastating, emotional and mental health distress for victims.

These victim experience post traumatic disorder and clinical depression at a much higher level than non-abused women.

For those who may also have experienced abuse in childhood whether incest or child molestation or domestic violence, the risk of developing emotional mental health distress is even greater.

The tragic loss of lives as a result of domestic violence speaks volumes about the potential for lethality in toxic intimate relationships and the urgency for us to address this problem.

The Government’s commitment to confronting, combating, preventing and eliminating this scourge is manifested in its pogrammes and activities, including the ongoing work of the Gender-based Violence Task Force under the chairmanship of Retired Justice Rubie Nottage. We look forward to receiving their report and strategic action plan.

The United Nations has called on countries around the world to drape their neighborhoods in orange and for individuals to wear orange in recognition of this day and the 16 days of activism that follows the day and end on December 10th – Human Rights Day.

I encourage all citizens to join in solidarity with this message of zero tolerance for violence against women and wear orange on November 25th.