Stop Sexual Violence on our Girls!

A social awareness campaign to end sexual violence against girls was yesterday endorsed by ministers of government and leaders of civil society to commemorate International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The campaign, dubbed 'Nuh Guh Deh', was developed as a method to discourage men from engaging in sexual activities with underaged girls, with hopes of ending occurrences of violence against women.

The campaign, which involves the use of video presentations done by Eve for Life, tells the stories of young girls who have been victims and survivors of sexual abuse, messages which are intended to have an emotional appeal to help put a blunder on acts of violence against women.

Speaking at the launch of the campaign at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator A J Nicholson endorsed calls for the country to use the 16 days of activism, stipulated by the United Nations until December 10, as an action against the elimination of the act of violence towards women and girls.

"Let us work together until that time comes when it is no longer necessary for us to meet for this purpose," Nicholson said, noting that women make up the majority of the population and subsequently should be treated with respect.

"Women comprise 51 per cent of the national population; they are our mothers, our sisters, our wives, our daughters, our colleagues and our friends. Violence against them is an attack against the very fabric of our lives, our families, our community, our society," Nicholson said.

He added that statistics from the United Nations estimated that more than 70 per cent of women worldwide will experience some form of violence in their lives, but pointed out that violence committed against women also has an impact on the economy.

"Violence against women impacts and impedes the progress in many areas such as poverty eradication, combating HIV/AIDS, and security," added Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, the Opposition spokesman on gender affairs.

To combat what she described as a global pandemic, Grange said women and girls should stop suffering in silence for monetary gains, but rather speak out.

"Know the signals [like] unexplained soreness or bruises around genitals or mouth, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, children running away, [which tell that your girls are being abused]," Grange said. "The first thing we say when children run away is that they are rude but do we seek to find out if there's some level of abuse at home driving them away?" she asked.

Grange urged adults not to turn a blind eye or remain silent and reminded them that each one has a responsibility to uphold in order to end violence against girls and women.

Minister with responsibility for information, Senator Sandra Falconer, who represented Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, said the Government would continue to put measures in place to eliminate violence against women.