This article was originally written by the authors as part of a group project for CHP 180: Mindfulness and Cultural Intelligence, which focused on the role traditional media forms play in supporting social issues and the use those platforms play in facilitating social action.

In the United States Women’s History Month is celebrated annually in March. A key day, International Women’s Day, on March 8 is commemorated internationally. Though a month of celebration it’s also an acknowledgment of the array of social and political issues like violence against women that impact the welfare of women in the United States and across the globe.  

In Article 1 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in or is like to result in physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary definition of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” According to the World Health Organization, violence against women is a major clinical and public problem rooted in misogyny and perpetuates gender inequalities that violate women’s human rights. 

In November of 2024, the United Nations estimated 736 million women (almost one in three) have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence. (The U.N. notes this figure does not include sexual harassment) They note more than 640 million women aged 15 and older (26 percent of the global population) have been subjected to intimate partner violence.  

What can you do?

Goal number 5 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is to achieve gender equality. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women articulates that the elimination of violence against women and girls is a necessary measure in achieving gender equality and contributes to the success of other SDGs.  

The United Nations blog Explainer notes ten ways you can start making an impact: 

1. Believe Survivors  
2. Teach the next generation and learn from them  
3. Call for responses and services fit for a purpose (help address funding gaps in survivor support services by contacting local representatives) 
4. Understand and educate yourself  (and others) about consent   
5. Learn about the signs of abuse  
6. Start a conversation  
7. Pace University’s Office of Sexual and Interpersonal Wellness has a variety of programming oriented toward educating the campus community!  
8. Stand against rape culture.
9. Donate to local women’s organizations.
10. Hold each other accountable 
11. Know the data and demand more of it  

Where Can I Get Help?

Some confidential resources on the Pleasantville campus include Pace OSIW Peer Leaders, Office of Sexual and Interpersonal Wellness, and University Health Care. Non-confidential resources include University Security, Title IX Office, Mount Pleasant Police Department, and hospitals.  

Organizations in the Westchester County and New York State area include the Westchester County Office for Women, the Sexual Assault and Abuse and Victims Empowerment Program (SAAVE), and the NYS Domestic Violence Program Directory.