Abdoulaye Bathily supports campaign to end violence against women
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the United Nations Mission of Support in Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily, has announced that he is joining the world in supporting the 16-day advocacy campaign to end violence against women and girl.
He, therefore, urged all actors in the country to take "serious and effective" measures to address violence against women.
In a statement issued on Friday on the occasion of the campaign to combat violence against women, UNSMIL said "violence against women and girls in its various forms had taken an upward trend in Libya, including verbal, physical or sexual violence and so-called 'honour killings', in addition to violence against women via the Internet, as reported by many activists.
Mr. Bathily said: "I am participating today with the UN Secretary-General in the global campaign to end violence against women by 2030, and I call on all actors in Libya to take serious and effective measures to address violence against women and girls in the country.
The same source said that, like many countries in the world, Libya needed to put in place a strong legal system to address violence against women and girls.
He called for the enactment of appropriate laws to ensure the protection of victims of violence, ensuring that the laws must also ensure that adequate services were provided to women and girls to support them and help hold perpetrators to account.
The statement noted that "violence against women and girls comes in many forms and dethe scriptions, and has recently evolved to include harassment, threats and online exploitation".
There is frequent information and data showing that women are victims of online violence, including receiving inappropriate messages, engaging in hate speech and extortion.
With the increasing use of social media in Libya, there is a need to raise the level of protection against online abuse and harassment, UNSMIL said.
"Women need to be empowered and protected so that they can express their views on political, economic and social developments in the countries to which they belong," added Bathily.
"The Mission encourages all authorities to create an environment that respects freedom of expression and combats hate speech and violence against women and girls".
-0- PANA BY/JSG/BBA/RA 26Nov2022
