Photo: A digital video conference with Nina Murray, Health Officer at the Environment, Science, Technology and Health Section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow
On November 25 U.S. Consulate General Yekaterinburg and partner organizations held an event to mark both the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women http://www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday/ and the 25th Anniversary of the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign.” The event included a digital video conference with Nina Murray, Health Officer at the Environment, Science, Technology and Health Section of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, as a speaker. Ms. Murray presented on Gender Violence in the Context of Preventive Health and spoke about the increased vulnerability of battered women to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, which makes gender-based violence a threat to public health threat in addition to its deleterious societal effects. The audience included members of non-profit groups, social support centers and also victims of gender-based violence. The DVC was followed by a thematic film screening, and a discussion which revealed the need to give greater voice to the cases of gender-based violence victims, as well as raising general awareness of the problem amongst various communities, and ultimately educating young women and youth.
