The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed each year on 25 November, is an important moment to reaffirm the collective commitment to prevent and combat all forms of gender-based violence and to promote the rights and dignity of women and girls worldwide, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) informed on Tuesday.

According to a press release sent to AGERPRES, the MAE contributes to promoting the rights of women and girls within multilateral frameworks and supports efforts to build a world in which women are protected from any form of violence. The release also highlights the essential need to safeguard freedom of expression in the context of technological progress so that women and girls can exercise this right freely both online and offline.

‘Every year, on 25 November, we look with concern at the statistics. But behind every number in reports on domestic violence lies a shattered life, a mother who never came home, a daughter mourned by her parents. For far too many women home is not a place where they feel safe but somewhere they want to escape from. Femicide is the final and tragic point after long complicit silences and cries for help that went unheard. To all those who live in terror today I say as a woman and mother of daughters that you are not alone and we have a duty not to stop until you are safe. It is a duty. As an MP, I initiated the law that now allows courts to issue protection orders for a longer period from the start without the journeys and insecurity to which victims were subjected. Today this is an acquired right and the victims who brought this to my attention deserve most of the credit. We continue to work for the rights of those whose families and lives are divided across borders,’ said Foreign Affairs Minister Oana Toiu.

In view of Romania’s upcoming mandate as Vice-President of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (March 2026, New York), Romania aims to support efforts to improve women’s and girls’ access to justice and to promote fair and inclusive legal systems while offering a valuable opportunity for the exchange of good practices and experiences among participating states, MAE reported.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, established on 25 November by the UN General Assembly, aims to raise awareness of the fact that women worldwide face violence, including rape, domestic violence and other forms of abuse while also emphasising that the scale and real nature of this phenomenon often remain hidden.

The year 2025 marks three decades since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most extensive and ambitious global framework dedicated to advancing equal rights for all women and girls.

AGERPRES