On October 11th, civil societies and governments joined hands to commemorate the annual International Day of the Girl. The theme for #IDG2014 was “empowering adolescent girls: ending the cycle of violence.” The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women first described “gender violence” in 1993 as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private life.” Young women and girls face multiple forms of gender-based violence on a daily basis including rape, honor killings, female circumcision, early marriage, prostitution and trafficking and domestic violence.
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