Why is it that the Government has yet to set a date by which they hope to end violence against women? It is, after all, our basic human right to be able to live free from violence and its threat.

Today, to mark International Women’s Day, we are here to stand strong and make our voices heard that violence against women is not acceptable and it must end! We are doing this so that one day our children’s children can live free from violence. So that one day women will no longer have to fear the threat of violence simply because they are women.

I am here today to speak on behalf of 205,000 women in the Women’s Institute. Fifty years ago, our membership called for the Government to establish more effective preventative measures to reduce the number of violent crimes and sexual assaults on women and children. It is a sorry tale that 50 years later we have to renew our call for the very same thing.

In 1995 the UK signed the Beijing Platform for Action which requires governments to work towards ending violence against women by implementing national action plans. This year we will be launching a major campaign to ensure that the UK Government follows through with this pledge.

We want to make certain that the UK Action Plan contains a promise of funding for victim and survivor support services as well as targets for preventing violence in the first place.

We believe that the attitudes of the public and the media need to change with regards to violence against women. Young girls should not feel that if their boyfriend shoves them around that it is a sign of love and affection. And by the same token young boys should not feel obliged to show their masculinity by sexually bullying females in school. We must educate our children in the core values of humanity: respect, dignity, equality and diversity to create a fairer world.

Like everyone else here today, I personally have known women through my professional and personal life who have experienced violence and that’s why I am standing here. To be part of this movement to end violence against women and why I have brought my young daughter here with me today, to bear witness to the power of women celebrating women and to show her the possibility of a future without fear and inequality. I want to be a role model for my daughter and my son to show them that they, we can make a difference.

Rape, domestic violence, stalking, trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced marriages, and female genital mutilation are not just family, cultural or rural versus urban problems that can be swept under the carpet. These are issues that affect all levels of society either directly or indirectly. Violence against women is everybody’s problem. It costs women their freedom, it costs children their innocence, it costs families their unions, and it costs society its dignity not to mention an estimated £23 billion a year.

So I ask you to please join our campaign to eradicate violence against women so that our future generations may live in a world free from violence and its threat. Visit theWI.org.uk to pledge your support today.