Hidden fact. One in 10 women face violence every year

This Sunday marks International Women’s Day.  I know 8 March isn’t a date which many mark off on their calendar, and I doubt Clinton Cards will be selling cards celebrating Women’s Day.

But this anniversary definitely deserves greater attention than it gets.
In our earlier posts this week, we’ve flagged up how women all around the world – such as Mauritania and India – face discrimination and abuse, because of their gender.  And today we’re reading on BBC News Online that a woman has been arrested in Saudi Arabia for driving.

But here in the UK, violence affecting women and girls is a very grim reality.  Research shows that one in ten women in the UK will experience rape, domestic abuse, stalking or other types of abuse every year.

One in 10. Shocking figures, but they’re not often discussed.

Currently one in four local authorities doesn’t have the specialist support services to assist these women.  Go to www.mapofgaps.org to find out if your local authority’s letting women down.

This International Women’s Day Amnesty’s encouraging as many people as possible to highlight this awful fact and call for better protection for women who are victims of violence.

We’re encouraging people to change their avatar and update their status on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter at 1:10pm today.

The status update is:

Each year, 1 in 10 women in Britain experience rape or other violence.  Act now. http://www.oneten.org.uk

With that simple action, we can demand better services and protection for women in the UK.

If you miss the 1.10pm moment today, you can still update your status anytime until the end of Sunday.   If enough people take this simple action, we can help to make a real difference for women in this country.

Happy Women’s Day!