By initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on International Women's Day, 58 Arab figures Friday decried violence against women in an appeal they signed, Lebanon's National News Agency said. It was circulated in member countries undergoing political transition (Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Yemen) as well as in the ESCWA host country, Lebanon. Arab figures from various intellectual backgrounds have signed the appeal, cognizant of the challenges faced by women in the process of democratic transition in the Arab region. Every year on this date, the world observes International Women's Day,the appeal said, adding this year it is particularly significant for the Arab world as Arab countries and societies are undergoing historic changes, laying the foundation for a better future; a future that guarantees human rights, human dignity, individual freedoms and equal citizenship for all. Hopefully these changes will lead Arab countries away from oppression and dictatorship, toward freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Women have been at the forefront of the masses claiming freedom and dignity side by side with men sharing their firm resolve to realize that dream and put an end to longstanding suffering and pain of which they bore the greatest burden. They have long suffered from physical and sexual violence,discrimination within their families, denial of their right to health and education and exclusion from economic and political decision-making. (MORE)