WUNRN
World YWCA Week Without Violence
October 11 - 17, 2010
The World YWCA Week Without Violence is an annual global
campaign which takes place during the month of October and is geared towards
preventing violence in all its forms. For many decades the YWCA movement has
taken action in communities, schools, workspaces and public forums to raise
awareness on violence against women, its existence and its impact on families
and society. The week’s activities focus on promoting attitude change and
enabling individuals and organisations to begin positive actions towards ending
violence in their communities.
This year the campaign is being held from October 11 –
17, 2010. As the World YWCA
continues its preparations for World Council and the International Women’s
Activities for the Week Without Violence will include conferences, rallies, radio and television programmes, as well as workshops pertaining to conflict resolution which will target families, couples and individuals. As YWCAs around the world observe the Week without Violence, this is also a time when the movement calls for greater investment in women and girls, thus providing them with the knowledge, information and skills necessary for the prevention of violence. In addition the World YWCA calls for greater support to programmes and initiatives that enables women and girls to live in safety, free from stigma and discrimination.
__________________________________________________________________
World YWCA
A WEEK WITHOUT VIOLENCE - DARE TO
IMAGINE
11/10/2010
Imagine
a week without violence. Imagine a world without war. Imagine that rape and
domestic abuse are a thing of the past. Imagine women walking the streets at
night without fear. Imagine a world without guns and bombs. Dare to imagine…
Today
marks the beginning of the YWCA Week without Violence, an annual campaign which
was launched in 1995. For many decades the movement has taken action in
communities, schools, workplaces and public forums to raise awareness on
violence against women and its implications on society. The YWCA is known for
the safe spaces it creates for women and girls, for developing their leadership
and for providing services for survivors of violence.
A
world without violence is the vision of the YWCA movement and during this week
we campaign around the world to stop violence in all its forms. We invite
communities to consider the impact of violence and abuse on the lives of women
and to contemplate the possibilities for peace, security and dignity.
World
YWCA President, Susan Brennan, was visiting Geneva last week and the World YWCA
had the pleasure of talking to her about the importance of the Week without
Violence for the movement and for her personally. A barrister by profession,
Brennan’s specialty is in human rights, town planning and environmental law.
Despite her busy schedule, Susan still finds time to promote women’s rights and
to empower women and girls around the world.
The
Week without Violence is a moment of imagination, celebration and commitment.
During this week the World YWCA invites the YWCA movement and its partners to
think about what it would like if in our world there was just a moment that was
free from violence. It challenges us to say that if we can have a moment
without violence then we can have a minute without violence, and if we can have
a minute, it may lead to an hour and an hour may lead to a week. It requires an
exercise of imagination.
The
Week without Violence is also a celebration of the extraordinary work that the
movement does around eliminating violence. The World YWCA creates places of
refuge where women can flee violence in their home or in the context of
political violence. These spaces are also about providing women in YWCAs with
the opportunity to learn advocacy skills and to create campaigns to conceive a
culture of non-violence. Through YWCA programmes in the movement people can
have space to discuss have a zero tolerance to violence in a home, and to
resolve disputes, or strengthen international diplomacy. We have to image
different ways of dealing with conflict other than resorting to violence.
Therefore, celebrating the work that the YWCAs do in creating a culture of
non-violence is another part of what the Week without Violence means to the
movement.
The
Week without Violence is also about commitment - the commitment that each
individual woman gives and that each YWCA provides to defend peace, to speak
out for justice, and to challenge violent ways of life.
For
me it is those three components of imagination, celebration and commitment that
make the Week without Violence so meaningful to the movement.
Violence
against women is one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the
world. It does not respect geographic boundaries, affluence, race or ethnicity.
In every corner of the globe, tragically, we observe patents of violence,
either psychological or physical, where women are subjected to terrible forms
of violence that leave them damaged and also prevent the realisation of their
full potential and their participation in public life.
Therefore,
I think that if we really want to see a world of justice and peace, human
dignity, health and care for the environment, we must tackle this issue. As
long as women are prevented from exercising their full citizenship and so long
as they are diminished through violence, we will never achieve these goals.
What
we know is that no one strategy in isolation is adequate. We have to respond in
multiple ways. One fifth to a half of all girls worldwide report that their
first sexual encounter was forced, 70 percent of the world’s poor are women and
50 percent of those infected with HIV are women, while women and young children
account for 60 percent of the world’s refugees. We have to protect women who
are living with violence to escape and to find new ways of existing. We have to
defend and support those who protect women’s rights. We must also tackle
changes in culture and attitude, which are the most difficult to change. Having
the laws and policies in place to end violence is not enough if the mentality
around the issue does not change. Men and boys need to start saying no to
violence, women should say “this is unacceptable to me”. If we do not have
schools, churches and communities all insisting that there is another way, I
don’t think that we will see those attitudes change. Whether you are gathered
around the BBQ on the weekend, or standing in the queue in the shops, or
witnessing an interaction on the train - until we have the confidence to
intervene and to say this is not acceptable, find another way, then the
attitudes will not change.
That
is why it is so important to have safe spaces where women can come together and
share their own experiences of surviving violence, and where they can campaign
around messages of freedom from violence.
I
have witnessed the ways in which violence prevents women from becoming their
full selves. Violence denies them full personhood. I have also witnessed
extraordinary women of resilience and survival who have chosen not to be defined
by the acts of violence that they have experienced. I have tremendous personal
respect and admiration for those women.
We
also see how violence contributes to stopping young women and girls, often in
indirect ways, from having confidence, speaking out and becoming the best that
they can be. It is not always fear of direct violence, but rather the fear of
discipline, of sanction, or disapproval if they challenge attitudes about how
they can be safe. From a first hand experience I have seen women triumph over
terrible acts of violence, which is truly inspirational because it reminds us
of the great power of the human spirit to overcome.
Sadly,
there are also the cases of women and girls whose lives and futures are cut
short by violence. In honour of their memory, and all that they could have
been, we have to stand up and say “No more!” Whether one counts the cost in
personal terms, in terms of the community or in terms of the economic burden of
violence, there is no excuse, no justification and no rationale for allowing
violence to continue.
For
me the Week without Violence is fundamentally linked to greater questions of
peace making – until we see violence eliminated in the home, we will continue
to see violence in conflict situations and vice versa. We need to find
alternative ways of dealing with international conflict and we need to find
alternative ways of dealing with conflict in our personal lives. In my mind
militarism and domestic violence have a fundamental nexus and link. There is a
role for everybody to play – there is a role for men to champion and stand up
for non-violence, and equally there is a role for women to stand up for
peaceful solutions and to demand a different way.
In
my community I have been involved in 24-hour crisis lines for women fleeing
violence. I have also campaigned to provide laws and to provide education to
judges and ensure that police and peace keepers are sensitised to the impacts
of violence on women. For me ending violence against women is a deep personal
commitment, as well as a strong political conviction. We need to build a just
world, we need to recognise it when we see it and violence should play no role
in it.
I
would like to say to them that another way is possible and that violence is
never an answer, nor a solution. I would suggest that women, young women and
girls get involved and persist in whatever they intend to achieve. It is
important for them to speak out on what they believe in and to be active in
initiating change. After all, women have nothing to lose. Every move to change
might be regarded as an opportunity for a better future. I believe it is
through women’s leadership that we will see a better world.
I
also wish to tell them that we support them to say “no” and that we say it with
them. At the World YWCA we will continue to provide safe spaces where their
full selves can flourish and wh
ere
they are safe to explore new ideas, new kinds of relationships and new ways of
being that aren’t constrained by the damaging and limiting affects of violence.
I
would like to end with a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that really resonates with
the Week without Violence:
“The
future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”