MARKING 16 YEARS OF 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
Nov 25 to Dec
10, 2006
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The theme for
the 16th anniversary of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
Campaign is “Celebrate 16 Years of 16 Days: Advance Human Rights -- End
Violence Against Women.” Originating
from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute that was sponsored by the
Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) in 1991, this annual campaign begins on
the International Day Against Violence Against Women (Nov 25) and ends on
International Human Rights Day (Dec 10) to form a symbolic link between
violence against women and human rights.
This 16-day period includes other significant dates, such as
International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (Nov 29), World AIDS Day (Dec
1) and the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre (Dec 6). Since its inception in 1991, some
1,700 organizations in 130 countries have organized during these 16 days to
call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
For
more information, visit: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/about.html
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UN
SUPPORTS 16 DAYS CAMPAIGN
In his
message for the International Day Against Violence Against Women, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan observed, “Violence against women causes untold
misery, harms families across generations, and impoverishes communities. It stops women from fulfilling their
potential, restricts economic growth, and undermines development. When it comes to violence against women,
there are no civilized societies…
Together, we must work to create an environment where violence against
women is not tolerated… On this
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, let all of
us – men and women alike – join forces in this mission.” This statement from Secretary-General Annan
also follows two important recent reports issued by the UN regarding violence
against women and children. As
reported on in GlobalNet 310, the Secretary General’s “In-Depth Study on All
Forms of Violence Against Women,” which was released only a few weeks ago,
was the first of its kind to be emerge from such a
high level within the UN. Similarly,
the recent “Report of the Independent Expert for the United Nations Study on
Violence Against Children,” also a first-of-its-kind in its direct engagement
with children, focused significantly on violence against the girl child.
The UN,
through a number of its agencies including UNFPA and UNHCR, is organizing
events for the 16-days under the theme of Gender-Based Violence. Activities organized to highlight
under-reported issues include bride-napping, breast-ironing, the epidemic of
traumatic fistula (tearing of the tissues between the birth canal from the
bowel and/or the bladder often caused by gang rape), ongoing femicide, and
child marriage. Other events will
focus on the continued plight of women migrants.
For a
copy of Kofi Annan’s full message, visit: www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10738.doc.htm
For
more information on UN events, visit:
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20722&Cr=violence&Cr1=women
Also,
the upcoming GlobalNet will include listings of UN and UN-related events.
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GLOBAL INITIATIVES DURING THE 16 DAYS
CAMPAIGN
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Amnesty International’s “Shelter
Stories”
Drawing attention to the statistic that “at least 1 in 3 women has
been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime,” Amnesty
International has launched a project to enable individual action against
domestic violence during the 16 Days Campaign. The Shelter Stories project
kicked off on Amnesty’s website on Nov 25 and will feature shelters for
domestic violence survivors from a different country on each day of the
campaign. Visitors to the website will be urged to “tell the world about this
human rights scandal and make governments act on their obligations to women”
by writing letters on behalf of shelters in France, Paraguay, Georgia,
Mongolia, Russia, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Bahrain, Belgium, Venezuela,
Denmark, Gulf of Cooperation Council, Turkey, USA, and Pakistan.
Visit: http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/shelters-251106-index-eng
“Take Back the Tech” Campaign
The
Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Program has launched a
three-year “Take Back the Tech” campaign to promote the creative use of all
forms of Information Communication Technologies
(ICTs) for activism against Violence Against Women (VAW). The first leg of
the campaign is taking place during the ongoing 16 Days campaign and will
include all online technologies that are used for emailing, chatting,
blogging, developing websites and tools.
One way to participate is to craft a
‘postcard’ describing how ICTs and VAW connect in one’s own experience. The postcards should include the statement:
If I had…” (use or control over a certain kind of
ICT), “I could…” (do something concrete about your
experience of violence against women). Examples: (1) “If I had a phone, I
could call someone when he hits my mother;” (2) “If I had knowledge on how to
track online users, I could find out who has been harassing me on these
forums;” (3) “If I had a video camera, I could make erotica for women
instead.” Postcards can be sent to ideas@takebackthetech.net
and will be featured on the website.
Organizations interested in
participating in the campaign can (1) Carry the campaign logo on their
website linking to www.takebackthetech.net;
(2) Translate the call into local languages and disseminate it to their networks; (3) Ask other organizations to sign on to the campaign; and (4)
Send the call out to other networks/
individuals.
For more
information, visit:
www.takebackthetech.net
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REGIONAL
INITIATIVES DURING THE 16 DAYS CAMPAIGN
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ASIA
and ASIA
PACIFIC
Fiji – FemLINKpacific
FemLINKpacific is
dedicating much of its media and radio work during the 16 Days Campaign to the
theme of violence against women. Its
Young Women’s Weekend Radio Broadcasts is featuring special segments on this
topic over Dec 2 and 3, while FemLINK will broadcast from the office of the
Fiji Disabled People’s Association (FDPA), an organization that advocates for
the use of appropriate and accessible ICTs.
Two visually impaired community radio volunteers from the FDPA women’s
committee will co-host a broadcast about the double discrimination faced by
women with disabilities. FemLINK will
also produce two policy-based segments, featuring women’s advocate Angie
Chand, on Fiji’s National Policy on Disability and the
issue of e-accessibility. On Nov 30,
FemLINK hosted a peace vigil where messages from women were recorded for the
following weekend’s broadcast (Dec 9 and 10) when FemLINK also plans to
record and broadcast messages of solidarity from the NGO Coalition on Human
Rights Network.
For more information, visit: http://www.womensmediapool.org/grupos/femlink.htm
Sri Lanka – Walk to Commemorate the 16 Days of Activism
The United
Nations Population Fund’s Gender-Based Violence Forum organized a walk to
commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against
Women and the 16 Days of Activism. The
walk was led by national figures such as cricket champions Kumar Sangakkara
and Harshan Tillekeratne, among others.
A series of speakers addressed the audience concerning violence
against women.
Southern
Caucasus – Women’s
Resource Centres
Market squares and
streets in the Southern
Caucasus
were decked in red and white on Nov 25 as women from all countries in the
region joined forces against violence and for peace. “We will be handing out
red and white ribbons to people on the street and marching to the foreign
office to hand over our open letter demanding women be included in the
deadlocked peace talks. We will dress
ourselves, doors and trees in red and white – the symbols of violence and
peace – and demand women’s participation,” said Lara Aharonian, a member at
the Women’s Resource Centre in Jerevan and one of the event organizers. Go to: www.iktk.se:16080/english/news/2006/061124_cauc.htm
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MIDDLE EAST
Lebanon - KAFA (Enough) Violence and Exploitation
“KAFA (enough) Violence and Exploitation”
will take part in the campaign for its second year by continuing its “Silent
Witness Exhibition” caravan, an exhibition of 30 wooden silhouettes of 30
women who were killed in Lebanon as a result of domestic violence or
“Honor Killings.” The caravan will travel to 4 community
centres affiliated to the Ministry of Social Affairs in different Lebanese
areas. Each centre will host the
Silent Witness exhibition for 4-5 days, hold local community debates on the
issue of violence against women, and present a film documenting the
exhibition’s tour throughout Lebanon since it began.
For
more information, visit: www.kafa.org.lb/advoc1.html
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AFRICA
Southern Africa
– Gender and Media Southern
Africa Network
(GEMSA)
In addition
to coordinating activities around the 16 Days Campaign in 13 Southern African
countries, GEMSA will also conduct several cyber-dialogues to generate
participation and awareness on this topic. Themes for the cyber-dialogues
include –
Nov 28: Local Government Responses
to Gender Violence; Nov 30: Local
Government and Gender Violence (South Africa); Dec
1: HIV and AIDS and Gender and the Media
Dec 6: The role of men and boys; Dec 7: Gender Violence in Schools; Dec 8: Survivors Speak out in Mauritius (in Creole and French).
All dialogues will be held between 1
pm and 2 pm South
Africa time. Contact
ceo@gemsa.org.za , call +27 11 6222877,
or visit http://www.gemsa.org.za/page.php?p_id=1
Southern Africa – GenderLinks
GenderLinks is running a series of “I” stories, or first-hand
accounts, as well as expert pieces on different themes on gender violence as
they relate to local and regional realities.
Themes include: Media – Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution;
Do Laws Make a Difference?; International Day Against Violence Against Women;
Gender Violence and Sexual Orientation; Gender Violence and Children;
Trafficking; ICTs/Cyber Dialogues; World AIDS Day; International Day of the
Disabled; Men as Partners; and Gender Violence in Schools. Other activities include forums, debates, a
Take Back the Night march, website commentaries, conferences, and
cyber-dialogues.
Find a schedule on their website: http://www.genderlinks.org.za/page.php?p_id=1
Contact Loveness Jambaya at justice@genderlinks.org.za or
011-622-2877.
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LATIN AMERICA
& THE CARIBBEAN
Colombia – UNIFEM and Mesa de Genero,
SNU
UNIFEM has organized a presentation of the Secretary
General’s “In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence Against Women” and a
UNIFEM report entitled, “Situation of Women in Colombia” to be held in Bogota
on December 5, in collaboration with the Mesa de Genero, SNU. For
more information, contact catalina.buitrago@unifem.org.
Haiti – Dwa Fanm
This Haitian
women’s rights organization committed to empowering women and young girls
will hold a series of events during the campaign. Each day, between Nov 25 and Dec 10, Dwa
Fanm will feature a name and a photo of a woman or a man who has shown
courage in denouncing violence against women.
Other events include an interactive radio show that will feature
specific steps the community can take to end violence against women. Contact ftanis@dwafanm.org or visit www.dwafanm.org
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EUROPE
Germany – Terre de Femme
Terre de Femmes has launched a two-year campaign entitled
“Frauen schlaegt Mann nicht” (roughly “Man Does not Beat Women) on Nov
25. One element of this campaign was a
musical theatre production on the theme of the 16 days, performed by young
people, and broadcast on Main, Frankfurt’s
AM radio station. Terre de Femmes will also re-hoist the flags that were
first raised in 2001 to demonstrate solidarity with victims of violence
against women. Flag-raising is a
recognized symbol in Germany
and in German-speaking countries, and a number of women’s organizations will
do the same in their cities. Terre de
Femme will also introduce the slogan “Gewalt kommt nicht in die Tuete,”
roughly “Violence isn’t to be put in a paper bag” and idiomatically “That’s
out of the question.” The slogan will
be printed on paper bags of bakeries in Berlin,
in both German and Turkish, in an effort to further publicize the campaign.
For more information, visit: www.frauenrechte.de
Armenia – International Conference on Domestic Violence
The Women’s Rights Centre in Armenia and the
Secretariat of the International Consortium for Domestic Violence will hold
the Second International Conference on Domestic Violence in Yerevan, Armenia, on December 4-6, 2006. Representatives of Eastern European, the
CIS and Western European countries and the USA are encouraged to
participate in the conference. Contact: workshop_dv@wrcorg.am.
Hungary – Amnesty International
Amnesty International Hungary and NANE (Women for Women Against
Violence) are organizing a silent witness exhibition to promote peace,
healing and responsibility in relationships in order to eliminate domestic
violence that leads to murder. The
goals of the exhibit are to remember women who have been killed through
domestic violence, to raise awareness about the global reach of domestic
violence, to connect people with successful programs, and to contribute and
collect data and statistics marking successes in the campaign against
domestic violence. The exhibit
features life-size, red, wooden figures of murdered women with breastplate
shields that contain each woman’s name and story. A series of protest rallies will also be
held, including - Nov 28: Protest for Iranian women suspected for allegedly
being unfaithful and sentenced to execution by stoning; Dec 1: Protest for
women in Afghanistan; Dec 8: Protest
for women in Russia; and Dec 10 –
Protest for women in Sudan. Visit: www.amnesty.hu
or www.nane.hu
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