Salma Hayek and Avon announce winners of 2nd Avon Communications Awards for International Women’s Day

The 2nd Avon Communications Awards were held in New York, this time with the theme Speaking Out Against Violence Against Women. Those on hand to announce the winners were Salma Hayek Pinault, actress and ambassador of the Avon Foundation for Women, and Avon CEO Sheri McCoy. The ceremony was held during the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, or CSW, at United Nations headquarters in New York.McCoy noted the importance of communications in putting an end to violence against women, adding that the results of a survey funded by the Avon Foundation will be published in June on the behavior of third parties in situations of domestic and sexual violence. McCoy said that people are ready and willing to denounce such cruelty, but don’t always know how to recognize the signs of abuse or how to intervene, and added that “Avon is a powerful force for education and awareness and for change” that can break the cycle of violence against women.During the ceremony, the Avon Foundation honored non-governmental organizations in Pakistan, Tanzania, Nepal, Peru, and a government agency in Ukraine, for outstanding communications campaigns that are helping to change communities, policies, institutions and conduct for the purpose of wiping out violence against women once and for all.