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25 November – 10 December

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence begins on 25 November, the International Day Against Violence Against Women. NCJWA and ICJW support this campaign and encourage their members to participate in it. The campaign reminds us that more needs to be done to protect women and children from the continuing high levels of violence in Australia and globally.

Encompassing many significant dates, the 16 Days ends with Human Rights Day on December 10. In many countries the campaign includes White Ribbon Day on 25 November, founded by Canadian men in 1991 to commemorate the Montreal Massacre and to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that underpin gender violence. For NCJWA the 16 days also include Founder’s Day, a day very much in accord with the spirit of the campaign.

This year, the 16 Days occur when the world gears up to mark the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Millennium Development Goals reach their deadline, and a new global development agenda takes shape. This moment therefore provides an important opportunity to galvanize additional attention around the issue of violence against women and girls.

For ideas on how to join this campaign, the ToolKit produced by the Secretary General of the UN UNiTE campaign gives many suggestions – large and small, local and national, targeted and specific.

More information can be found at:

  1. Center for Women’s Global Leadership
  2. Rutgers School of Arts and Science
  3. State and Territory Office for Women websites