As millions of women around the world celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March, IANSA calls for the end of gender-based violence at gunpoint.

Sarah Masters, IANSA Women's Network coordinator said:  “Gender-based violence is one of the greatest threats to women’s advancement, empowerment and security. Reducing the proliferation of guns is a crucial step towards increasing women's safety. The influx of guns to conflicts such as Darfur and DR Congo has facilitated appalling crimes including mass rape and sexual abuse. Rape and sexual violence at gunpoint are not confined to conflict zones – domestic violence knows no borders. It is time for women to demand a part in disarming the perpetrators of rape.”

IANSA Women’s Network members marked IWD with a series of events at the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN.  The Office for Disarmament Affairs held a joint event with IANSA on the impact of guns on women’s lives.

In a lively, well attended debate chaired by WN coordinator Sarah Masters, Marie-Claire Ruhamya from Solidarity of the Women of Burhale described how the flood of guns into the DR of Congo facilitated mass rape and violence against women during and after the war. Widad Akrawi of Defend International spoke about the need to challenge the link between masculinity and guns in the Middle East, and Maria Pia Devoto from the Asociación para Políticas cited the gun buyback in Argentina as an example of women's involvement in disarmament. Binalakshmi Nepram of Control Arms Foundation in India also spoke about women’s role in stopping gun violence. Click here to read the speeches.