Voices of pop stars resonate opposing violence against women and girls

The United Nations family, the European Union and the OSCE Mission to Skopje have traditionally joined forces for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, a campaign to put an end to violence against women and girls.

“Don’t be quiet, don’t endure, END IT!” is this year’s slogan by North Macedonia joining the global campaign “Orange the world to end violence against women and girls, now!”. From 25 November – the International Day on Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, until 10 December – International Human Rights Day, many events are being organized throughout the country including presentations, trainings, a film festival, and panel discussions.

At the Philharmonic today, Macedonian pop stars including Tamara Todevska, Dani Dimitrovska, Antonija Gigovska, Svetlana Jovanovska, John Ilija Apelgren, Luka Gjogievski (Fank Shui), and Branko Nikolov (Foltin) joined their voices with the public to sing “Black Eyes”, arranged by Djijan Emin and adapted by Dime Popovski and Vasia Popovska, which invites all men and women to step forward, to speak clearly and say loudly – don’t be quiet, don’t endure, END IT!

“Unfortunately, when we speak about gender-based violence and femicide, North Macedonia is not an exception to the negative global trends”, - said Ms. Elizabeta Gjorgievska, the spouse of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia. “Most cases of femicide happen there, at the place which should be the safest haven for women, and most perpetrators are current or former partners of the victims”.

“A 2019 survey (by the OSCE) showed that every second woman in North Macedonia had experienced psychological violence by her partner. Every third had been subject to sexual harassment. And 14% had experienced physical or sexual violence – from partners or others”, - said David Geer, EU Ambassador.

“For far too long, silence and stigma allowed violence against women and girls to continue,” – said Ambassador Clemens Koja, Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje. “We cannot be complacent in the wake of such crimes. We must provide victims with support allowing them to feel safe in reporting such crimes and to recover from their traumatic experiences.”

“Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. It can be stopped. It is evident that progress has been made, globally and locally. There is no question about it. But it is simply not enough. It won’t be enough until every woman and girl feels perfectly safe and welcome in their homes, their schools, their workplace, online or anywhere.” – said Rossana Dudziak, UN Resident Coordinator.