This year marks the twentieth year of the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign”. The campaign began in 1991 and originated from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute, sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers University. The idea of the campaign is to draw attention at a local, national and global level to the different forms of violence that women face. It also aims to show the link between violence against women and human rights highlighting that such violence is a human rights violation; thus the dates chosen for the campaign November 25 - International Day Against Violence Against Women - to December 10, - International Human Rights Day.
The theme for this year’s campaign is “Structures of Violence: Defining the Intersections of Militarism and Violence Against Women.” This theme was decided upon after much consultation with activists, organisations and experts and a consensus was reached that militarism is one of the structures that encourages violence against women. Militarism was defined “as an ideology that creates a culture of fear and supports the use of violence, aggression, or military interventions for settling disputes and enforcing economic and political interests.” It was not only examined in the context of war zones but also at the home level and areas where military-linked forms of violence may be hidden from the public eye.
Economic consequences of war on women, Sexual violence within the military, Women and girl combatants, the use of anti-terrorism laws to silence women human rights defenders, environmental contamination by military operations and its consequences for women and children and violations committed by peace-keeping forces are just a few of the issues suggested by the CWGL that can be addressed in this year’s campaign.
To learn more about the theme of this year’s campaign and the logic behind the choice, as well as other issues that can be addressed and how you can become active in the campaign, visit the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence website.
Culled from Announcing the 2010 16 Days Campaign theme! World YWCA
