OSCE Mission to Moldova involves men and boys in combating gender-based violence

CHISINAU, 25 November 2011 – The OSCE Mission to Moldova started its 16-Day Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence today with a series of activities aimed at raising awareness, including a workshop to engage young men and boys in combating gender-based violence.

The activities are part of the global 16-Day Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence, which runs from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to 10 December, International Human Rights Day. The campaign began in 1991.

For the first time in Moldova, the OSCE Mission will conduct a workshop for some 30 young men and boys on changing violent behaviour and gender stereotypes that lead to violence. Based on other countries’ good practices, the participants will learn about gender-based violence and how to raise awareness to combat it.

“Involving men and boys as role models has proved very effective in conveying a message of zero-tolerance against gender-based violence,” said Eugenia Benigni, the Mission’s Anti-Trafficking and Gender Adviser.

Other campaign activities implemented on both sides of the Nistru/Dniestr river by the OSCE Mission include interactive social theatre and seminars for young people, university lectures, children’s essay and drawing competitions, a mobile exhibition with stories of real victims of domestic violence from Moldova, workshops for law enforcement agencies on domestic and international laws on domestic violence, a television talk show and dedicated pages on Facebook and other social networks.

The OSCE Mission supports the 16-Day Campaign in co-operation with Moldova’s Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, the Ministry of the Interior, non-governmental organizations, national and international experts and other international organizations, including UN agencies.