16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign
25 November – 10 December

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign that was started by the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) in 1991. The 16 Days runs from November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women to December 10, International Human Rights Day to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasise that such violence is a violation of human rights.

This 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 in 1989, when 14 women students were massacred by a lone gun-man opposed to the affirmative action policies promoted by feminists at the University of Montreal.

Since it began, the 16 Days of Activism has been used as an organising strategy by women’s groups to call for the elimination of violence against women by:

Raising awareness about gender based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels
Strengthening local work around violence against women
Establishing a clear link between local and international work to end violence against women
Providing a forum in which organisers can develop and share effective strategies
Demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organising against violence against women
Creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women

The campaign has been gaining momentum over the years and around 2,000 organisations in approximately 156 countries have taken part since 1991!

WOMANKIND’s involvement in the 16 Days of Activism

A central and ongoing priority for WOMANKIND Worldwide is working towards the elimination of violence against women, both nationally within the UK and internationally through partnerships with women’s groups across the world.

WOMANKIND became involved with the 16 Days campaign in 2000. Since then we have provided annual support for our partners worldwide to participate in the 16 Days of Activism. We also carry out our own awareness-raising events, for example, in 2009 we launched CEDAW — the 30-year struggle for equality.

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