UNICEF SAYS MEN, BOYS MUST END VIOLENT WAYS

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, March 8 (Bernama) -- There is a need to institute programmes and activities that educate men and boys to take responsibility and to abandon the attitudes and practices that perpetuate violence, said the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
"Men and boys have a significant role to play in ending violence against
women," Unicef executive director Ann M. Veneman said in a statement marking
International Women's Day 2009.
The UN official said she had met many women and girls who were victims of
violence, including sexual violence, throughout her travels.
Describing the pain in their eyes as "unforgettable", she said there was no
doubt that their lives had changed forever.
"In places like the Democratic Republic of Congo where five million people
have died in the conflict, sexual violence leaves many survivors with horrific
injuries, emotional wounds, HIV and Aids and unwanted pregnancies. It can
inflict devastating long-term consequences on the lives of the affected women
and girls, and on entire societies," she said.
Veneman said it was both an obligation and a moral imperative that people
everywhere should work together to end violence against women and children.
-- BERNAMA