PressenzaSao Paulo, 6/15/09Reaching Critical Will - Member groups of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) will be holding events all over the world throughout the week.

During the Week of Action, the IANSA Women’s Network is launching a campaign called “Disarming Domestic Violence,” the first international campaign to protect women from gun violence in the home. The main goal is to ensure that anyone with a history of domestic abuse is denied access to a firearm, or have their licenses revoked.

The Women’s Network explains: The greatest risk of gun violence to women around the world is not on the streets, or the battlefield, but in their own homes. Women are three times more likely to die violently if there is a gun in the house. Usually the perpetrator is a spouse or partner, often with a prior record of domestic abuse. Gun violence can be part of the cycle of intimidation and aggression that many women experience from an intimate partner. For every woman killed or physically injured by firearms, many more are threatened. This is why IANSA has launched a campaign to demand policies which would keep women safe from gun violence.

Of the 800 million small arms in the world today, more than 75% of them are in the hands of private individuals – most of them men. Given this, women are paying an increasingly heavy price for the dangerously unregulated multi-billion dollar trade in small arms.

So far, IANSA women from over 28 countries are collecting information about the scale of the problem in Argentina, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, DR Congo, El Salvador, Haiti, Liberia, Macedonia, Mali, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

For more information, please contact: Sarah Masters Women’s Network Coordinator International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) Development House 56-64 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4LT Ph + 44 207 065 0876 Fx + 44 207 065 0871 Email: women@iansa.org Website: www.iansa.org/women