Fri Nov 25 07:48:00 UTC 2011
The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women is an international campaign that takes place every year from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day). Although the global campaign focuses on violence against women only, South Africa added children to its campaign because of the high incidence of child abuse in the country.
The rights of women and children are fundamental rights entrenched in and protected by the constitution. The 16 Days of Activism Campaign aims create a greater awareness of violence still being perpetuated against women and children, and to raise funds for those that prove invaluable support to the victims and survivors of violence.
For the past twenty years the global 16 Days of Activism has marked activities around the world to end gender-based violence. The 16 Days Campaign has been used to create a world-wide movement to raise awareness, to address policy and legal issues, to campaign for the protection of survivors of violence and to call for the elimination of all forms of gender violence.
This year, the 16 Days of Activism campaign will be undertaken under the Theme: “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Proliferation of small arms and their role in domestic violence.”
The campaign will focus on 5 main issues:
- Bringing together women, peace, and human rights movements to challenge militarism
- Proliferation of small arms and their role in domestic violence
- Sexual violence in and after conflict
- Political violence against women, including Pre/During/Post-election violence
- Sexual and gender based violence committed by the police and armed forces
South Africans can show their support by, amongst other things, participating in campaign events, and/or wearing a white ribbon to reflect their solidarity with the cause.
For more information on the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, and how you can participate/contribute, visit their web sites: