Say Her Name: Artists Speak Out Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
Virtual Parallel Event for CSW67
March 14, 10am ET via Zoom
“Every time I have a problem, I have confronted it with the axe of art…” Yayoi Kusama
Despite the intense international focus on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 5 that calls for gender equality and an end to violence against women and girls, Gender Based Violence (GBV) is one of the most heinous plagues facing humanity today.
UN Women recently posted that “Globally, an estimated 736 million women—almost one in three—have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of women aged 15 and older). This figure does not include sexual harassment….” Additionally, during the pandemic in 2020, 81,000 women and girls lost their lives, with 58% of the murders being committed by an intimate partner or family member.
On a global level, artists in their role as societal truth tellers and historians have responded to this issue. Mexican artist Elina Chauvet’s internationally exhibited red shoes represents women who lost their lives violently; Palestinian artist Sherine Abdel Karim’s “Victim” project raises awareness about GBV; British artist Wilma Woolf’s white plate installation represents all the women that have been killed in the UK at the hands of male violence since 2013; US artist Anne Dushanko-Dobek’s graphic installations draw attention to the human trafficking of women; and South Africa based artist Gabrielle Goliath’s work on situations of gendered and sexualized violence, are a sample of the work of brave artists who are using their work to say NO! to Gender-Based Violence.
This CSW67 virtual parallel event seeks to bring together global artists to present and speak about their work. We invite artists world-wide to join us and amplify their collective voices of opposition to Gender Based Violence, and to explore how to imagine a world where women and girls are able to live and thrive in peace.
Register www.bit.ly/GBVCSW67
Submit a photo of your work that focuses on GBV through the link to register.
