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The 57th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) is being held in New York, USA, from 4-15 March. This year's priority theme is: The Elimination and Prevention of all Forms of Violence against Women and Girls.

EI, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Public Services International (PSI) and UNI Global Union will all join forces in a strong global union delegation of 85 women unionists from 27 countries. They will monitor progress, actively participate and lobby to influence the outcomes of the meeting.

A joint trade union statement, No Compromise on Women’s Rights: Zero Tolerance for Violence against Women and Girls!, has been released for the UNCSW. It calls on all member states to take the necessary measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls.

“One out of every three girls born today will face some form of violence in her life time. Violence against women and girls can be physical, sexual, psychological or economic", the statement points out.

"This shapes the reality of millions of women and girls who have no voice, no freedom, no economic independence and no equal access to education or work. “

This year, the global union delegation will lobby for three key demands from members states:

• To integrate the principle of gender equality into school curricula, including a focus on the prevention of violence against women;

• To adopt comprehensive plans of action on violence against women, provide resources for policy to be implemented, and adequately funded and accessible public services to help women who are victims of violence (shelters, hotlines, housing, social services, childcare, etc.);

• To develop indicators on work-related violence, regularly compile and publish sex-disaggregated data, and set up systems to measure and monitor progress toward agreed targets.

“Quality public education for all is essential for achieving fair and equal development in society and addressing structural causes of violence against women and girls,” emphasised EI Vice-President Juçara Dutra Vieira.

“EI and its member organisations will continue carrying out actions in support of educating girls and women by incorporating equality into the education system in a transversal way, carrying out awareness campaigns among families and promoting actions to eradicate gender-based violence at school,” she added.

Please follow the UN CSW joint trade union blog for regular updates and latest news on the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Download here a complete brochure on the UN CSW 2013.