Women in Games stands in solidarity with the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence

Women in Games is standing in support of the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

Running from today (November 25th) which is the International Day for the Elmination of Violence against Women until December 10th (Human Rights Day), the campaign was launched in 1991 at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute.

The global theme for this year is ‘Orange the world: End violence against women now!’ and over the coming days, and will be showing solidarity with the UN and its campaign, as well as highlighting some of the work that we, and our community at large, is doing to support women throughout the games and esports sectors around the world.

The 16 Days UNiTE campaign is aimed at ‘preventing and eliminating women and girls around the world, calling for global action to increase awareness, galvanise advocacy and create opportunities for discussion around challenges and solutions’. These goals and ambitions align with Women in Games’ own desires and objectives within the games and esports sectors.

To coincide with the International Day for the Elmination of Violence against Women, a new report released by UN Women highlights the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s safety and home and in public spaces. The report ‘Measuring The Shadow Pandemic: Violence Against Women During Covid-19’, based on survey data from 13 countries, shows that almost one in two women reported that they or a woman they know experienced a form of violence since the COVID-19 pandemic. Women who reported this were 1.3 times more likely to report increased mental and emotional stress than women who did not.

Marie-Claire Isaaman, CEO of Women in Games, said: “The UN’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an incredibly important initiative for women and girls around the world. We are aligned to the UN’s SDGs, particularly No. 5 – Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all Girls and Women – which means ending violence. We are dedicated to supporting this campaign and to highlighting the work of our community in games and esports.”