|
On Thursday, October 16th, UN
Women for Peace Association (UNWFPA) hosted a screening of
the new HBO documentary, Private Violence. The UN
Alliance of Civilizations sponsored the event. Guests
gathered at 6:00pm in ECOSOC Chamber at the United Nations
and were treated to a pre-screening program, which
included welcoming remarks
from Mrs. Ban Soon-taek, wife of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
and patron of UNWFPA, Muna Rihani Al-Nasser, chair of UNWFPA,
Elizabeth Flores Flake, the Ambassador of Honduras to the
UN, Cynthia Hill, director and producer of Private Violence,
and Kit Gruelle, a producer, one of the subjects of the
documentary, and an advocate for ending violence against
women. Fox’s Uma Pemmaraju emceed the brief program.
The event was attended by distinguished
guests from HBO, the United Nations, academia, and the
private sector, including Nancy Abraham, Carole Acunto, Muna
Rihani Al-Nasser, Jennifer Bawden, Rema DuPont, Kit Gruelle,
Cynthia Hill, Nassrin
Irmoloo, Jana
Jaffe, Elizabeth Flores Flake, Rex Miller, Valbona Neritani,
Uma Pemmaraju, Mrs. Ban Soon-taek, Barbara Winston, and many
others
Private Violence is
a documentary about domestic violence. It highlights the
personal experiences of Deanna Walter and Kit Gruelle and
challenges many entrenched and misleading assumptions about
domestic abuse. The film provides a lens into a world that
is largely invisible. Immensely powerful, Private
Violence is being screened at various locations across
the United States.
Muna Rihani Al-Nasser, chair of UNWFPA,
strongly proclaimed in her introductory remarks, "It is time
to pressure governments, members of law enforcements, and
policy makers, to change the laws and adopt news strict
jurisdictions and more educational and awareness programs.
It is also the responsibility of each one of us to stand
together and make a difference.”
She added, "It is often incorrectly believed
that violence against women is specific to non-western
regions. Unfortunately, violence committed against women is
a destructive action that affects the majority of the world,
including the United States. Today, it is estimated that in
the United States domestic violence is the leading cause of
injury to women between the ages of 15 to 44; 31 percent of
women have been physically abused by an intimate partner at
some point in their lives; one woman is beaten by her
husband or partner every 15 seconds, believe it or not; and
one in ten High School female students have been hit by a
boyfriend.”
UN Women for Peace Association, founded in
2008 under the patronage of H.E. Mrs. Ban Soon-taek, seeks
to promote and advance the goals of UN agencies who provide
opportunities for women through social, cultural,
educational, and empowerment programs under the banner of a
global peace building process. All of UNWFPA’s proceeds go
directly to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women,
which aims to prevent violence against women and girls,
provides services and programs to those affected by
violence, and strengthens the implementation of laws and
policies on such violence.
For more information on UN Women for Peace
Association, please visit their website at unwomenforpeace.org.
|