16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence Campaign

In 1991, twenty-three activists met at the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute organized by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. At this meeting, the activists launched what we all know today as the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence Campaign (http://16dayscwgl.rutgers.edu/). This campaign was designed to “build awareness about gender-based violence and facilitate networking among women leaders” and “to symbolically link November 25th (International Day Against Violence Against Women) and December 10th (International Human Rights Day)”. Twenty years since this idea was first born, more than 2,800 organizations in 156 countries have organized around this global campaign.

We wanted to see what experiences the Visionary Voices Network had to share about collaborating in global campaigns. Here are some questions, please feel free to answer a few of them or ask your own!

• How did you first come to know about the 16 Days Campaign?

• Have you or your organization participated in this campaign? Tell us about it: Did you use information and communication technology? Did you collaborate with other groups in your community or other countries? What were your successes and challenges?

• What have been your favourite initiatives around the 16 Days Campaign that have been organized by other groups?

• This year’s theme slogan is: From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women! Do you or your organization have any plans to participate this year?