'Orange' moists eyes, kills pain

"He holds a high position in his job. He is well respected, but they don't know him like I do."
These were the opening lines of an audio presentation as spoken by a distressed female abuse victim as part of a campaign by the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC) on Saturday.
During its second 'Orange Campaign,' which was launched to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women as designated by The United Nations General Assembly (UN), the voice continued.
"He was a charmer, my family and friends thought he was lovely and I agreed. But when we began living together, I found out how wrong I was."
As the audio interaction continued, the terrified victim narrated a personal story of severe emotional abuse - a form of abuse which seven out of 10 women experience in their lifetime.
Under the slogan "Build Yourself", Fatma Al Falasi, Project Manager for Community Awareness at DFWAC, told Khaleej Times the campaign aims to raise awareness on violence, abuse and exploitation of women and girls worldwide.
"Our message today is 'your inner voice can be your biggest enemy'. Because if you think you are weak, or your self-esteem is low, then you're going to be susceptible to all types of abuse."
Shockingly, 603 million women still live in countries where domestic violence is not yet considered a crime, but this campaign aims to stamp this out and give a voice to those women.
"Our motto this year is 'build yourself up before they break you down', and that message simply means we want to empower women before abuse strips them of their voice."
With insecurities making women more vulnerable to abuse, Al Falasi urged UAE residents to use and contribute to the online discussions by using the #SpeakUpae campaign tagline.
- kelly@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Dubai