16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence.

November 25 - December 10, 2002

For the past eleven years, over 1,000 individuals and organisations from over 100 countries have sponsored activities in their communities during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, November 25 - December 10, to raise awareness about all forms of violence against women. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence has become an annual event in many towns, states and regions. Activists have used this 16-day period to create a solidarity movement that raises awareness around gender based violence as a human rights violation. The movement works to ensure better, protection for survivors of violence and calls for the elimination of all forms of violence against women.

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence has been an organising strategy of individuals and groups from around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women. Growing out of the Global Centre's first Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991, the Campaign links violence against women and human rights, emphasising that all forms of violence, whether perpetrated in the public or private sphere, are violations of human rights. The, dates that participants chose for the Campaign symbolically makes this link: November 25 marks the International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10 is International Human Rights Day. The 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including December 1, which is World AIDS Day and December 6, which marks the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

RELATED ARTICLE: Join the 16 Days electronic discussion

The Centre for women's Global Leadership invites you to join a new recently launched 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence electronic discussion taking place in the form of a list serve. The discussion will allow activists to collaboratively develop themes and strategies for the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence. In addition, we can use it to discuss how groups are raising awareness about gender based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels, to uncover and learn from the ways in which activists have strengthened local work around violence against women, to continually resurface the link between local and international work to end violence against women, to share and develop new and effective strategies, to show the solidarity of women around the world organising against...