Center for Women s Global Leadership. From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World 2015 Analytical Summary

Transcription

1 Center for Women s Global Leadership From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World 2015 Analytical Summary

2 The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is an annual international campaign, which began at and is coordinated by the Center for Women s Global Leadership (CWGL) since The campaign is dedicated to ending gender-based violence. It runs each year from November 25th: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to December 10th: Human Rights Day, emphasizing that acts of gender-based violence are human rights violations and eliminating all forms of gender-based violence is a human rights issue. The 2015 theme of the 16 Days Campaign, From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Make Education Safe for All!, focused on the relationship between gender-based violence and the human right to education, while continuing to link to militarism as an encompassing patriarchal system of discrimination with inequality based on access to power. This focus on education came as a result of overwhelming responses to a CWGL survey on the 2015 theme. Individuals and organizations that responded to the survey made it clear that the human right to education is at risk in many parts of the world. In highlighting the issue, the 16 Days Campaign emphasized that education is a public good and a fundamental human right that is impacted by discrimination, unequal access, conflict and environmental disasters. The 16 Days Campaign urged participants when planning actions to consider how increased militarism has affected the education of young people in countries that have recently experienced different types of armed conflict; how extremism through State and non-state policies and practices have affected the right to education, especially for girls; and how government expenditures on arms and other priorities of militarization set the tone in funding for safe and accessible education for all. The 2015 Campaign In 2015, CWGL tracked the participation of 729 organizations in a total of 93 countries across the globe. CWGL knows of approximately 6,000 organizations that have participated in the Campaign since its launch. The Campaign has reached almost every country in the world. Overall global trends in regional participation remained consistent with the greatest participation from Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and the Pacific. 2

3 Participation by Actions Over 700 organizations across six main regions have participated in the 16 Days Campaign through various initiatives Policy, Art, Community Mobilization, Information Sharing and Coalition, Media and Technology and other forms of action. In 2015, the most regional participation in the 16 Days Campaign came from Sub-Saharan Africa at 46% and Asia and the Pacific at 22%. Top Priority Areas Globally Participating organizations engaged in a total of 17 sub-themes, though a total of eight subthemes were highly focused: The two largest sub-themes were General GBV at 68% and Intimate Partner/Domestic Violence at 8%. The other 24% of sub-themes included were: General Militarism Harmful Practices HIV/AIDS Sexual and Reproductive Health Small Arms Trafficking Violence by State Actors against women/girls WHRDs 3

4 Regional Distribution Depending on the issues affecting each region, engagement in the 16 Days themes varied from region to region. Participation fell into six distinct categories: Similar to 2014, most organizations focused on Information Sharing and Coalition Building and Community Mobilization at 51% and 26%. Regionally, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, MENA, Europe and CIS, Asia and the Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa were especially active in Community Mobilization. Based on the statistics, there was a lack of participation in Art in Asia and the Pacific (6.52%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (8.40%). 4

5 Take Action Kit The Take Action Kit (TAK) was produced by CWGL and translated into English, French, Spanish and Arabic as well as other languages, such as Afrikaans, Bahasa Indonesia, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Dutch, Estonian, Japanese, Haitian Creole, Italian, Polish, and Ukrainian. These were translated with the help of volunteer translators - Elham Eidarous, Ruthlande Borga, Celine Colvin, Rada Elenkova, Iuliana Kalenikova, Talvike Mändla, Zofia Noworól, Marcela Olivera, Salomien Rudolph, Masako Tanaka, Agata Teutsch, Stella Vicenzotto and Foundation United Women Banja Luka. The 16 Days logo is available in more than 60 languages with major support from volunteer activists and advocates who have taken the time to translate and often distribute use of the logo to local, regional and international participants of the 16 Days Campaign. Traditional hard copies of the Take Action Kit were sent to 89 organizations around the world, most of whom served as primary level sources that shared the information with more localized groups. The Take Action Kit online page was accessed 9,973 times. The most popular version of the TAK was English, followed by Spanish, French and Arabic. The most used TAK item overall was the Theme Announcement, which was accessed 5,901 times from both the home page and the TAK page. Utilization of the Take Action Kit saw nearly a 458% increase internationally from 2014, and a 17% increase domestically from Global Engagement From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World kicked off the first day of the 16 Days Campaign with an online conversation on sexual violence and peace. As part of the online conversation, #BreakBarriers was trending to show solidarity with individuals and groups that are against gender-based violence. Participating organizations came together to ask U.S. President Barack Obama to #BreakBarriers and stand up for those who have been raped or sexually abused. For the #BreakBarriers conversation, CWGL collaborated with the Red Elephant Foundation, Invisible Girl Project, Amani Initiative, Hollaback! Bahamas, Thriving Survivors Training Foundation, Society Without Violence, Freedom From Torture-Survivors Speak Out, Real Generation and Urooj Jahangir Sindhu. The online conversation educated and raised awareness on violence against women, girls, and children, especially those who are victims in peace and conflict. Participants convened in discussing education as a tool for peace. The 16 Days participants posed various topics that were discussed, including human trafficking, child marriage, governments engagement with survivors, the power of education for women and girls, low-quality school environments and lack of female teachers connected to strategies, tips, and tools that can be used to address intimate partner violence, and restrictions and stigma around sexual and reproductive health and rights, among other issues. The full #BreakBarriers #16Days Teach-In is available online at Storify. 5

6 Teach-In CWGL also hosted an online-based Teach-In held from November 25 to December 10, 2015 with more than 70 local, regional, and international civil society organizations, including the United Nations Say-NO UNiTE Campaign. UN Women also mobilized activists, civil society and policymakers at the regional and national levels to participate throughout the 16 days, under its monthly Orange Your Neighborhood efforts toward eliminating violence against women. As co-conveners of the Teach-In, participants shared information and resources on particular issues related to gender, gender-based violence and human rights. The aim of the Teach-In was to strengthen awareness on the linkages between gender-based violence and militarism and to highlight information, stories and resources of genders, individuals and communities possessing marginalized identities - based on race, ethnicity, sexuality, caste, and socioeconomic, transgender and indigenous status - that can intensify experiences of violence and examine through information sharing the complicity of State and non- State actors in perpetrating acts of gender-based violence and other human rights violations. There was an organic participation of dozens more inspired by the Teach-In. Participants saw the activity online and they were prompted to share their own data and strategies with faraway activists and other individuals using #GBVTeachIn. These participants took to Twitter for one or multiple days of the 16 days to highlight a specific issue in which they have an expertise on, linking back to the theme of ending gender-based violence and militarism. Examples include: Amani Initiative: sexual violence with impunity against school children and young people Galaxy4Peace: how violence and increased militarism impinge on education of young people in northern Nigeria Peace is Loud: women in peace building Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children: Dominican Republic Girls Empowerment Group Girls Initiative for Self-Empowerment: access to education to all girls in the promotion of sexual, reproductive and health rights issues Women Living Under Muslim Laws: can we overcome (or resist) culturally justified discrimination against girls and women as a major barrier to education for girls? World Pulse: women changemakers from around the world working to end gender-based violence Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujers Defensoras de Derechos Humanos (IMDefensoras): the right to defend rights; no more violence against Women Human Rights Defenders The #16Days and #GBVTeachIn online platform series served in a similar function as traditional teach-ins, where individuals and groups with knowledge or experience on a particular topic share with other participants. This online Teach-In was a success in turnout of participants and sustained exercise of questioning, support, partnerships and sharing of knowledge throughout the 16 days. Each day of the Teach-In is archived online by week at Storify. 6

7 Campus Events At the Rutgers University campus, where CWGL is based, students participated in various organized activities. Douglass Friends of UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) hosted a Stopping Gender-Based Violence Photo Campaign, where students had the opportunity to make their voices heard through a 16 Days photo and social media campaign. Douglass Friends of UNFPA took photos of students holding up a sign beginning with Gender-Based Violence Needs to End Because Each student wrote a personal message that was shared via social media to spread awareness against gender-based violence. Some of the students messages include It can change a woman s life forever, All people deserve respect for their bodies and minds, and Everyone deserves equal treatment. The Peer Academic Leaders of Douglass Residential College at Rutgers University hosted their annual Java and Justice Open Mic event. Performers were able to tweet comments in relation to the theme using the hashtags, #JavaAndJustice and #16DaysCampaign. To further raise awareness against gender-based violence and gender inequality, students held various performances ranging from spoken word poetry to a performance by the Rutgers Belly Dance Troupe. Malikka Hutchins, a Rutgers junior, performed spoken word poetry. As a Black Muslim woman, Hutchins believed it was important to have her voice heard at an event that celebrated anti-violence and peace. By the end of the event, attendees left Java and Justice inspired by the performers, artwork and interactive discussions that initiated future activism and community building among the attendees. The Rutgers She s the First (STF) hosted their 16 Days Campaign-based event, She s the First (STF) Speaks on Women s Education and Health, on December 1, Rutgers STF facilitated a discussion regarding the effects of women s education on their quality of life in regards to healthcare. On December 3, 2015, Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA), the Rutgers student body government, hosted a speaker series in collaboration with the Rutgers Violence Against Women & Children Prevention to lead a discussion on gender-based violence. 7

8 Join the Campaign! Share your 16 Days Campaign actions! Share PHOTOS, VIDEOS, REPORTS, and other relevant materials with the 16 Days Campaign. Please let us know that we have permission to share them online and whom to credit for the resource. See Campaign photos sent by many of you at Read more about 16 Days Campaign online at Contact the Campaign via at Join the 16 Days Campaign Listserv by visiting Check out events on the campaign calendar Stay Connected! The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence 8