UN General Assembly, 78th session
3rd Committee Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
Delivered by H.E. Rein Tammsaar, Permanent Representative of Estonia to the UN on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries
3 October 2023, New York
Mr Chair,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Estonia.
We reaffirm our support for the Special Rapporteur’s mandate.
Our countries strongly condemn all forms of violence against all women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence. We are deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation of all women and girls across the globe, including LGBTIQ+ persons, aggravated by wars, armed conflicts, various crises, climate change and other factors.
It is worrying that many of these factors are still unfolding. This pressures us to keep up with the changes in the world and recognize emerging threats before it is too late. We must ensure that all new technological trends, including Artificial Intelligence, are safe and will not cause any harm to or discrimination towards women and girls. At the same time, we need to continue transforming the root causes of gender inequalities, such as discriminatory structures, social norms and gender stereotypes.
The Nordic-Baltic countries are committed members of the Group of Friends for the elimination of violence against women and girls. Our joint efforts are needed to continue fighting all forms of violence against all women and girls, including technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Furthermore, it is pivotal to include men and boys as partners in shaping gender-transformative actions counter-acting violence against women and girls as allies and beneficiaries of gender equality.
Madame Rapporteur,
How can we better focus on existing causes of violence against women and girls, that need to be addressed urgently, while being pressured to prevent and eliminate the new ones? How can men and boys contribute as actors of change?
Thank you.
