UN 16 day campaign against Gender-Based Violence concludes today

The UN 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign concludes today.

This year’s campaign continued last year’s theme of ending femicide. It seeks to raise awareness and mobilize activism around the globe to help counter gender-based violence. Women in minority groups and those living under fundamentalist, autocratic, and unstable regimes are at special risk for gender-based violence. The campaign has recently taken on additional importance as the isolation and instability of the pandemic greatly increased instances of gender-based violence.

Human rights and violence against women have taken center stage at the UN with the recent human rights council session on deteriorating conditions in Iran. Nevertheless, Iranian human rights violations have only increased as the government continues to violently suppress nation-wide protests following the death of the ethnic Baloch woman, Mahsa Amini, while in custody by the morality police.

The outlook for women’s rights in Iran is unlikely to improve in the short- to medium-term. While some rumors suggest that the controversial morality police have been disbanded, officials have quickly walked back their statements and committed to enforcing the nation’s strict morality laws targeting women. Protestors, many women and girls, continue to clash with police, demanding political reform, which remains unlikely.