ISLAMABAD, Nov 25: The fourth International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was commemorated in the Capital with silence, as the NGO staff and officials took an early flight for Eid holidays on Tuesday.

The only exception to the silent apathy from all quarters on the day was a Press release issued by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), which carried messages for the day from the UN officials based outside Pakistan.

The silence to commemorate the day was echoed in the words of the executive director of the UN Women’s Fund, Noeleen Heyzer, who highlighted the neglect of the authorities. “Violence against women has become as much a pandemic as HIV/AIDS, or malaria. But it is still generally downplayed by the public at large and by policy-makers, who fail to create and fund programmes to eradicate it,” she said.

According to the UNIC press release, in his message for the day, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, emphasised the need for leadership at every level, in every culture, country and continent to combat the problem of violence against women.

The press release issued by the UNIC said that one-third of the female population around the world had experienced or would experience violence.

In his message, Mr Annan focussed on the changing nature of the age-old scourge of violence against women and said it was taking on new dimensions in the 21st century and carrying the added risk of forcing women to contract HIV/AIDS.

He said, “One of the most alarming is trafficking in women and girls, one of the fastest growing types of organized crime in the world.” More than 700,000 people were trafficked each year for sexual exploitation, he said, many of whom were subjected to violence and all of them to human rights abuses. In addition, rape and other sexual violence were being used as weapons of war against women and girls.

Mr Annan noted that the protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, aimed at eliminating human trafficking, would enter into force next month with 57 countries as signatories, while the number of signatories to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had grown to 174.

Acting High Commissioner on Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan said this time also marked the 10th anniversary of the acknowledgement by the Vienna human rights conference that “women’s rights are human rights,” as well as the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. “This triple anniversary provides an opportunity to assess the progress achieved in the advancement of women’s rights and the actions still required to meet the challenges ahead,” he said.

According to the press release, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) executive director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, called for zero tolerance of gender-based violence and encouraged people to ask themselves such questions As “How many more rapes, wife beatings and killings in the name of honour must women endure?”