UN NEWS CENTER – From bride burning and violence as a weapon of war to genital mutilation, child marriage, gender-based violence will be the focus of a United Nations-backed 16-day-long campaign being launched from Saturday.

“We are working with partners to end impunity, to promote and protect the rights of women, including the right to sexual and reproductive health, and to foster equal opportunity, participation and decision-making,” UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said in a message ahead of tomorrow’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The Day marks the first of the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence against Women in which UNFPA is joining with rights organizations worldwide to bring greater attention to this pervasive and deeply entrenched human rights violation, proposing a range of steps from greater overall publicity and an ending to silence over spousal abuse to pushing for legislative reform and providing safe havens for girls escaping coerced marriages.

To kick off the event UNFPA is highlighting five under-reported stories relating to gender-based violence for 2006: Bride-napping; Breast-ironing; the epidemic of traumatic fistula in Africa; Ongoing femicide in Guatemala; and Child marriage.