Stop Violence Against Women Campaign (SVAW) In 2004, Amnesty International launched its global Stop Violence Against Women Campaign (SVAW) to help break the silence around this scandal and create a world where women and girls are afforded their basic human rights. Across the globe, Amnesty International members have united to work towards making women's human rights a reality; the campaign is intended as a contribution to the efforts of the women's rights movements around the world. With this campaign, Amnesty International will show that the right of women to be free from violence is integral to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As long as violence against women continues, the promise of human rights can never be fulfilled.
According to a new Amnesty International report, Native American and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, yet the federal government has created substantial barriers to accessing justice. Slide show: Survivors and advocates speak out
Violence against women and girls represents a global health, economic development, and human rights problem of epidemic proportions and cuts across all countries, social groups, ethnicities, religions, and socioeconomic classes. Now, for the first time, the United States has an historic opportunity to raise this issue in its diplomatic work and have an impact on the suffering of millions of women and girls. » Take action
Women's activism is on the rise around the world despite government and individual opposition. Lawyers like Hina Jilani in Pakistan who gives legal aid to abused women, activists like Giulia Tamayo Leon in Peru who fights forced sterilization, and groups like the Organización Femenina Popular in Colombia, which, despite attacks from paramilitary forces, continues to deliver services to poor women in local communities.
Trafficking is a global phenomenon where victims are sexually exploited, forced into labor and subjected to abuse. Trafficking is a crime under international law that requires international cooperation to address.
Your umbrella can shield women around the world from acts of violence. Express yourself and send a message of support for women's rights. Take pictures of your friends, your family, and other supporters of women's rights standing under umbrellas in solidarity for gender equality and the passage of CEDAW, an international treaty for the rights of women. CEDAW is often described as an "umbrella treaty" for women's human rights.
Slide show: Survivors and advocates speak out
