“Celebrate 16 Years of 16 Days: Advance Human Rights <—> End Violence Against Women.” This is the theme of this year’s “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence” international campaign that runs from November 25 to December 10. For 16 days every year since 1991, individuals and groups around the world call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women, non-stop.

 

This year marks the 16th anniversary of the campaign. Activists who have made the campaign a success, and women human rights defenders who have suffered intimidation and violence, some of whom have given their lives fighting for gender equality, will be honoured.

In addition, this year’s campaign will look at the many obstacles women face at the local, national, regional, and international levels that intersect with violence against women, such as armed conflict, war, poverty, HIV/AIDS, globalisation, and other challenges to human rights.

16 days of activism across the globe

Various women’s rights groups across the globe have expended energy in preparing for this landmark event in human rights history.

Amnesty International has come up with a similar theme—16 Shelters for 16 Days—in the aim of highlighting the importance of creating safe and secure shelters for women fleeing violence. This will feature the struggle to establish and sustain shelters in 16 countries.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), on the other hand, has lined up the following activities across the Asia-Pacific region:

• Pakistan. A Regional Consultation on Engendering Disaster Management in Islamabad on November 23-28 will include a session on violence against women, as disasters impact on women’s vulnerability to violence.
  
• Nepal. An Advocacy Programme to Mark 16 Years of 16 Days of Activism on Violence Against Women and Girls in Kathmandu will run from November 25 to December 10. Two roundtable discussions will be held on the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325, a landmark move for the UN Security Council calling for the “increased representation of women in decision-making processes for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.” The discussions will focus on sensitising participants on the significance and relevance of the resolution. An Interaction Programme to Address the Issues of Violence Against Migrant Women Workers of Nepal will also be held on December 5.
  
• India. A country-wide Campaign on Domestic Violence set on November 25 to December 31 will raise funds and engage with the issue of domestic violence and advocacy for breaking the culture of silence. Also, street performance will be staged in New Delhi from November 26 to December 14 to celebrate women’s empowerment and gender equality, demonstrating the use of theatre as a medium for strengthening women's position.
  
• China. A Press Conference to Commemorate the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women will be held on November 27. A panel composed of 5 to 7 prominent Chinese women, who are active in the area of combating violence against women and who represent an array of state and civil society organisations and academia, will share experiences and emerging practices in the country to prevent and respond to violence against women.

Another organisation, the Take Back the Tech <http://www.takebackthetech.org/> will launch a parallel campaign on “Reclaiming ICTs to End Violence Against Women.” The campaign aims to
(1) Raise awareness about the way information and communication technologies (ICTs) is connected to violence against women (VAW);
(2) Provide simple strategies on how incidences of Internet-based VAW can be minimised;
(3) Generate discourses around the connections between ICTs and VAW in online and offline spaces; and
(4) Build a community that will continue to strategise around eliminating VAW through, and in, ICTs spaces. 

Take Back The Tech is initiated and organised by the Association for Progressive Communications, Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP), a global network of women who support women networking for social change and women's empowerment, through the use of (ICTs).

Important Dates

November 25 – International Day Against Violence Against Women
November 29 – International Women Human Rights Defenders Day
December 1 – World AIDS Day
December 6 – Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre
December 10 – International Human Rights Day

To learn more about the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, visit  http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html.

Sources:
Amnesty International USA, <http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/16days/>.
Center for Women's Global Leadership, <http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html>.
Not a Minute More, <http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/november25/events_activities_asia.php>.
Take Back The Tech, <http://www.takebackthetech.org/>.
Women Watch, <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/asp/calendar/index.asp>.

Backgrounder

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 emphasise that such violence is a violation of human rights.

Source:
Center for Women's Global Leadership, <http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/about.html>.