Several leaders urge action today on International Women’s Day To mark International Women’s Day, several world leaders and human rights groups including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and British Foreign Secretary William Hague have condemned violence against women.
In a statement in New York yesterday, Ban Ki-Moon said: "We declare that we will prosecute crimes against women – and never allow women to be subjected to punishments for the abuses they have suffered."
"We renew our pledge to combat this global health menace wherever it may lurk – in homes and businesses, in war zones and placid countries, and in the minds of people who allow violence to continue," he added.
He also highlighted the plight of women all over the world, many of whom suffer horrific domestic abuse.
“One young woman was gang-raped to death, another committed suicide out of a sense of shame that should have attached to the perpetrators. Young teens were shot at close range for daring to seek an education,” he lamented, noting that attacks on females have sparked a global outrage and are part of a bigger problem that cuts through all societies.
The Secretary-General urged communities to convert their outrage into action, to set up groups helping the victims of rape and violence.
“We also make a special promise to women in conflict situations, where sexual violence too often becomes a tool of war aimed at humiliating the enemy by destroying their dignity. To those women we say: the United Nations stands with you,” said Moon.
“As Secretary General, I insist that the welfare of all victims of sexual violence in conflict must be at the forefront of our activities. And I instruct my senior advisors to make our response to sexual violence a priority in all of our peace-making, peacekeeping and peace-building activities,” he promised.
In addition, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, said today that the UK will intensify its efforts to stop violence against women, especially against women in conflict areas.
“International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate women’s achievements, but also to highlight where more work needs to be done," he said.
“Sexual violence as a weapon of war is not just a crime against women. But the majority of attacks are against women and girls, with hundreds of thousands suffering appalling sexual crimes in conflict zones.  It is a sad truth that too often the perpetrators go unpunished," he added.
Hague also confirmed that a deployment team will be sent to the Syrian borders, Mali, Libya, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to provide medical assistance and other forms of support to survivors of sexual violence.
Hague's Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative will also pursue perpetrators of violence against women and push for greater international action for the initiative to help end the crimes and to support survivors, the statement said.
Meanwhile, during an interview with the BBC, Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged “women not to imitate women”, saying that women should let their own natural qualities and instincts in the work place.
Asked what the world would be like if ruled by women, Lagarde said: “There would be more focus on health and education as they generally come as priorities for women more than for men.”
“My hope is that there would be more peace because we (women) do bear children and I think the thought of taking them to war is more frightening for mothers than for fathers. My hope is that we would be more inclusive as we’ve been excluded for such a long time,” she added.