Topic: Violence Against Women
Country: Czech Republic
Delegate Name: Morgan Russell
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Czech Republic position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Violence against women is a crucial issue in both the Czech Republic and the world. An alarming study revealed that up to 70% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner throughout their lifetime. This has led to a multitude of issues including an increase in the likelihood of developing depression and HIVs. In 2010, the United Nations encouraged nations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women through parliament, education, and other means. This is important to discuss because of the violent acts women have been undergoing. Our country advocates for global awareness, mutual respect between partners, and prevention for any brutality towards women. We are striving towards equality so that this prevalent issue can be resolved. In order for countries to effectively enact a social change, the United Nations must express what measures need to be taken in order to help this growing issue.
As a country who has experienced an immense amount of violence against women, Czech Republic fully understands this issue first-hand and the effects it can have on citizens’ emotional and physical well-being. Our country reports that 21% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence at least one time in their life. Czech Republic does not condone this behavior, and we urge the United Nations to help relieve the violence. To combat this matter we have taken a number of steps. Recently, in 2016, we launched the prevention campaign “Don’t Be Afraid to Speak Out!” This movement took place under the motto “silence hurts”, which helps empower victims to speak out and against this problem. This was graciously financed by Norwegian funds, and we could not have accomplished it as successfully without their assistance. In addition, the Czech Republic government approved the New Action Plan for Prevention of Domestic and Gender-based Violence. This policy includes seventy specific measures focused on prevention; this includes legislative measures, training of police personnel, education and interdisciplinary cooperation, support services for victims and their children, prevention campaigns, data collection, and more. Additionally, we are helping this concern internationally. The Czech Grant Agency funded the research project International Violence Against Women Survey that provided a comparative analysis of partnership violence in 2003 and 2013. This information allowed countries to gain a deeper understanding of this issue and its remaining prevalence so that it can be solved. Although we are attempting to make progress, we need financial assistance from other countries in order to successfully stop this issue from flourishing further.
Czech Republic recommends that the United Nations strongly urges countries to help put an end to violence against women through legislation, campaigns, and any other means necessary so that we can move closer towards equality. We would like to see the number of cruel acts targeted towards women to decrease. We advocate for countries to all work towards this goal unless they are physically unable to due to a war or other extreme cases. Czech Republic would also like to see developed countries support this fight financially to help make it possible for everyone, regardless of their financial situation. A resolution that condemns violence against women will help promote human rights and keep the world safer.
