What is the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign?
A few days ago I started a wiki site (http://one-thinktank.pbwiki.com) with the idea of getting people together to brainstorm some activism towards positive change in South Africa. It thought that due to the spread of social networking that this would be a great way to get people collaborating. Just now I came across the facebook group for the “16 Days of Activism against abuse” which highlights this thought, and has done a better job than I could in getting something going.
So what is this event all about? The Centre for Women’s Global Leadership gives us a bit of an introduction to this promising event:
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.
Pieter Boschoff, founder of www.myalert.co.za, www.missingchildren
Womensnet.org.za has posted a list of activities related to this event so get involved now and help spread the word.
The following message on the Face Book Group introduces the purpose & aims of the event:
Imagine if, for 16 days, there was no rape, no child abuse. The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign challenges South Africans to declare a truce on violence against women and children - and, ultimately, to make it a permanent one.
Around the country, South Africans are being called on to combat violence against women and children. For the 10th year, SA is taking part in the global 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women campaign, which runs from 25 November (International Day of No Violence against Women) through to International Human Rights Day on 10 December.
While the global campaign focuses on violence against women, South Africa added children to its campaign because of the high incidence of child abuse in the country.
South Africa is still home to high levels of violence against its women and children, despite a world-renowned Constitution and a legislative overhaul that safeguards women’s and children’s rights.
The government, business, civil society organisations, state-owned enterprises, faith-based organisations and the media are all participating in the drive to increase awareness of the negative impact of violence and abuse on women and children.
The campaign also aims to:
- Challenge the perpetrators of violence to change their behaviour.
- Involve men and boys in helping to eradicate violence.
- Provide survivors with information about services and organisations that can help lessen the impact of violence on their lives.
- Extend its reach beyond South Africa’s borders.
What you can do
South Africans are urged to support the campaign by wearing a white ribbon during the 16-day period to symbolise their commitment to “never commit or condone violence against women or children, and to speak out about violence where they see it.”People can also pledge their support to the campaign by signing the 16 Days Postcard and e-mailing it or posting it free of charge at any post office. Each card signed and collected will raise R1 for the campaign. E-cards can be selected, customised and sent from here, while postcards can be collected at any post office or multi-purpose community centre.
South Africans can also help by sending an SMS with the words “16 Days” to 31616. Each SMS will raise a further R5 for the campaign.
All money raised will be forwarded to the Foundation for Human Rights, which will channel it to organisations that support survivors of violence and abuse.
Other ways of supporting the campaign:
- Donate money to organisations working to end violence against women by making a contribution to the Foundation for Human Rights.
- Check out the calendar and attend a 16 Days event.
- Check out the directory of helping organisations and volunteer some of your time and energy.
- Join the online Cyber Dialogues around the campaign.
Rhetoric and reality
South Africa, according to non-governmental organisation Gender Links, needs to close the gap between the “rhetoric of gender equality” and the “reality on the ground”. Gender Links says the country has made impressive strides in recognising the roles and rights of women and children.The Constitution recognises gender equality as the cornerstone of South Africa’s democracy, and new legislation - such as the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act and the Domestic Violence Act - have been lauded for enforcing the rights of women.
But more needs to be done. “Changing laws can be swift,” says Gender Links. “Giving them effect, and changing the mindsets that often render them ineffective, is a much more demanding task.”
It gives me hope that ideas can be powerful when shared and inspires me to stop keeping ideas stuck in the back of my mind and to start speaking, sharing and collaborating. Get involved, spread the word & make a difference in someone’s life.