Today marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, a global campaign dedicated to ending gender-based violence.
Every year from November 25 until December 10 the campaign aims to highlight that gender-based violence is a violation of human rights.
This year is a milestone for the event celebrating its 25th year.
The Center for Women’s Global Leadership is the global coordinator. The start and end dates of the Campaign are November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence, and December 10, Human Rights Day. The Campaign has been very successful because of the activism of millions of women and tens of thousands of organizations worldwide, who are committed to ending gender-based violence.
The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organizing strategy by individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms 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 organizers can develop and share new and effective strategies
• demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organizing against violence against women
• creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women
Over 4,100 organizations in approximately 172 countries have participated in the 16 Days Campaign since 1991!
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence Campaign was launched by Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991 as an annual campaign that demands the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
The dates of the campaign align with significant dates, including:
• November 25 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
• November 29 – International Women Human Rights Defenders Day
• December 1 – World AIDS Day
• December 5 – International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
• December 6 – Marks the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, observed in Canada as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
• December 10 – International Human Rights Day and the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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