International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the WI is fully on board.

When you receive your November/December issue of WI Life, you’ll see that the issue features the Duchess of Cornwall on its cover, and includes an impassioned letter from her to WI members, thanking us for our hard work in tackling gender-based violence. In her letter, she says, “The WI’s work to combat domestic abuse makes me truly proud to be one of your members.

The statistics quoted in this issue of WI Life state that on average, a woman is killed by a man every three days. During the Covid pandemic, 2020 saw a 65% in calls to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline. In a recent speech, the Duchess of Cornwall said, “We must pay tribute to all these precious lives that have been brutally ended and renew our commitment to do everything we can to bring about the end to violence against women.”

The WI is holding a candlelight vigil on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff. But there are things we can do locally to make our voices heard.

As part of the Sixteen days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, events are being held in both Newquay and Penzance that we encourage WI members to attend.

On Friday 3 December, a Reclaim the Night candle-lit vigil and march will be held in Newquay. Meet at the Killacourt Bandstand at 6.30pm. There will be guest speakers and live music.

On Monday 6 December, you can participate in a Take Back the Night march in Penzance. The march will begin at the Skate Park on the Promenade at 5.30pm and will end on Chapel Street, where there will be guest speakers and refreshments.

As WI members, we stand with and support all women. If we can raise awareness of violence against women in any way, we must all do our best. With nearly 3,000 WI members in Cornwall, our voice is a powerful one and one that should be heard.

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