Dutch city halls lit up in orange to protest violence against women

Over the two next weeks, buildings and other objects in the Netherlands will be colored orange to draw attention to violence against women. The 10th annual "Orange the World" campaign starts on Saturday in Amsterdam, on the International Day against Violence against Women and Girls, the organization reports. The city halls of Delft, Utrecht, and The Hague, among others, will also be lit up in orange.

The theme of this year's United Nations campaign is "safe, everywhere and always". "This year, we want to raise awareness of the fact that violence can happen anywhere," said Marije Cornelissen, director of UN Women Netherlands. "In the workplace, when going out, at the sports club, on public transport, in education, in healthcare, in student unions, at festivals, on the beach, and not to forget in cyberspace. This can take many forms, from sexual harassment to femicide".

Presenter Olcay Gülsen is an ambassador for the campaign, which runs until December 10, on International Human Rights Day. Debates, exhibitions, and demonstrations are taking place and money is being raised for a global fund to prevent and end violence against women and girls.

According to “Orange the World”, one in three women worldwide experience violence. Taken together, this means that one billion women and girls have been confronted with physical, sexual or psychological violence in their lives, the international organization reported. In the Netherlands, this is 45 percent of women and girls.

The initiative was launched in 2008 under the leadership of the UN Secretary-General and has been taking place worldwide ever since. According to UN Women Netherlands, it was launched to support civil society in protesting against gender-based violence.