16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
November 25 -
Celebrate 16 Years
of 16 Days:
Advance Human Rights
ßà End Violence Against
Women
2006 marks
the 16th anniversary of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender
Violence campaign! Since 1991, the 16
Days campaign has worked to increase the visibility of violence against women as
a human rights violation. The campaign has been utilized by groups all over the
world to demand support services for survivors, enhance prevention efforts,
press for legal and judicial reform, and use international human rights
instruments to address violence against women as a human rights violation, a
public health crisis and a threat to human security and peace worldwide.
This year,
the 16 Days campaign celebrates activists who have made the campaign a success
and honors women human rights defenders who have suffered intimidation and
violence for their activism and/or have given their lives fighting for gender
equality. (See information on the
website about November 29th which was declared in 2005 as the day to
recognize women’s human rights defenders.) This year commemorates progress on
addressing violence against women in our communities, nations, regions and
around the world and calls for reflection on how to continue to advance this
work.
While there has been progress in the struggle to end
violence against women, many challenges persist. This year’s campaign seeks to revisit and
strengthen the human rights focus of work on gender based violence against
women. It also hopes to look at the
many obstacles women face in our communities and nations that intersect with
violence against women, such as armed conflict, war, poverty, HIV/AIDS,
globalization and other challenges to human rights. As the United Nations
undergoes internal reform, we seek to ensure that women’s human rights concerns,
including violence, are fully integrated into all of the UN’s agendas. In
October of 2006, the UN Secretary General will release an in-depth study on all
forms of violence against women. The 16 Days campaign provides an opportunity to
capitalize on the report and pressure governments and the UN to make greater
concrete commitments to eradicating violence against women.
The 2006
theme reinforces an understanding that advancing human rights and ending
violence against women are mutually reinforcing: We
encourage you to use this year to share 16 Days successes and struggles with one
another, and to strategize collectively about ways to increase the effectiveness
of the campaign, especially its human rights focus.
Please see
the 2006 Take Action kit for more details, including actions tailored especially
for 16 Years of 16 Days! The kit will
be available online and in print form in September – contact the Center for
Women’s Global Leadership at the address below to request a kit.
Phone (1-732) 932-8782 Fax: (1-732)
932-1180
E-mail: cwgl@igc.org
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
November 25 -
Create or join a community, campus, national or international
activity for the 16 Days. Request a Take Action kit, join the 16 Days listserv,
and use past 16 Days International Calendars of Activities (available online) to
spark ideas for your activities or to find information about groups in your
area. Submit your planned projects to CWGL for posting to the 2006 International
Calendar of Activities and become part of the global 16 Days movement.
Join the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence
email listserv discussion, which assists activists to share work against
violence, to build partnerships with others worldwide, and to develop strategies
and themes for the annual 16 Days campaign. To join the discussion,
visit:
https://email.rutgers.edu/mailman/listinfo/16days_discussion.
Contact CWGL to receive a free copy of the Take Action
kit for the 16 Days campaign. The Take Action kit will be available in September
and includes:
The contents of the Take Action kit will also be posted
online.
CWGL requests that
participants in the 16 Days campaign – past as well as present – send
descriptions of your current or past 16 Days events to the contact information
below for posting in the electronic International Calendar of
Activities. CWGL would also be
pleased to receive other materials, including posters, fliers, photographs,
t-shirts, video footage, poems, songs, statements, and reports for the campaign
archives. If you have photographs, documents, or other examples of your work
that you can send in an electronic version, please do so and we will post it on
the website.
CWGL will post information about the 16 Days campaign
online at: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html.
Phone (1-732) 932-8782 Fax: (1-732)
932-1180
E-mail: cwgl@igc.org