The “Zonta Says No To Violence Against Women” (aka “Zonta Says NO!”) campaign includes the 16 days of November 25 through December 10, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Day and Human Rights Day, respectively. The focus of the campaign is on actions to raise awareness and prevent violence against women and girls.
We will be running three articles during the campaign and this is the first in the series.
Day 1 – November 25
Zonta is an international service organization founded in November of 1919 in Buffalo, NY by a small group of women with a vision to help all women realize greater equality while using their individual and collective expertise in service to their communities. Its’ nearly 26,000 members in 63 countries envision a world in which women’s rights are recognized as human rights and every woman is able to achieve her full potential. In such a world, women have access to all resources and are represented in decision making positions on an equal basis with men. In such a world, no woman lives in fear of violence.
Day 2 – November 26
Zonta works around the globe to empower women through service and advocacy. Internationally, they work through agencies of the United Nations, like UNICEF, while local clubs support the work of like-minded community organizations to address issues impacting women, including inequality, access to education, health care, safe places to live, and violence.
Day 3 – November 27
The mission of Zonta is to be a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy. Zonta’s ongoing advocacy effort is built around the Zonta Says NO! advocacy campaign. This is held during the Global 16 Days Campaign (aka the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign), a campaign used worldwide to call for the elimination of gender-based violence and initiated in 1991 by the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute held at Rutgers University. This international campaign has gained traction in more than 187 countries, with participation from over 6,000 organizations, and a reach of over 300 million.
Day 4 – November 28
Launched in 2012, Zonta Says NO! has continued to raise awareness to this global epidemic of women’s rights violations and has united Zonta clubs around the world in conducting impactful advocacy actions to fight violence against women and gender inequality. During the 16 days of November 25 – December 10, all Zonta clubs and districts are encouraged to take part in the Zonta Says NO! campaign and to take local, national and international actions to influence the making and implementation of laws, as well as changing gender-based attitudes and behaviors to end violence against women.
Day 5 – November 29
Zonta is committed to educating the world about violence against women and girls, which knows no national or cultural barriers; it takes place at home, in the workplace and in open spaces, and affects millions of women and girls in peacetime and conflict. Violence against women and girls threatens countries, inhibits economic progress, and prevents women from contributing to their community and creating better lives for themselves and their families.
Day 6 – November 30
Gender-based violence includes psychological, physical and sexual violence, and harmful practices such as intimate partner violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation and human trafficking, according to UN Women.
- 35% of women worldwide have experienced intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
- 30% of women who had a relationship report experiencing some form of physical or sexual violence by their partner.
- 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.
- The first sexual experience of some 30 percent of women was forced. 45% of those under 15 at the time of their sexual initiation report the experience was forced.
- Children who grow up in families where there is violence may suffer a range of behavioral and emotional disturbances. These can also be associated with perpetrating or experiencing violence later in life.
Be sure to check next week when more information will be shared on the kinds of violence women and girls are subjected to daily, both here in the U.S. and around the world. It is alarming.