16 Days of Activism
Virginia Woolf once said, “As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.” And little did we think these words would still ring true, an entire century after they were penned. For no matter what nationality you are, what your age is, which school of thought you belong to, which fashion statement you swear by, which god you believe in, what political stance you take, what the colour of your skin is, how much money you have in your bank, whether you were trained in martial arts or not –women face some form of violence and injustice, in every corner of the world.
48% of the world’s population are women. That’s a staggering 3.21 billion women out of a world population of 6.7 billion. That’s one fourth a woman in every square inch of space. What if all these billions of women joined hands together? What if even the men —standing tall at a ratio of 1.09 is to 1– decided to chip in? Imagine the deafening chorus of voices that would resound in our ears… enough to make the world actually sit up and pay attention.
And it is this simple thought –where the women of the world are one body, one pulse and one voice –that saw the birth of the 16 Days of Activism.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order 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 November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day and December 1, World AIDS Day.
The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organising 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 organisers can develop and share new and 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
Interestingly, Over 2,000 organisations in approximately 154 countries have participated in the 16 Days Campaign since 1991.
We at Bell Bajao also dare to dream, the colossal dream, where one day girls will be free to walk the streets at 3 a.m. in the morning, when no husband will ever beat his wife, when gender will not be a reason to refuse employment –when the phrase ‘It’s a man’s world’ will cease to exist.
So reach out to the world through your fingertips. Exploit the power of the internet. Tell us your story. What made you or broke you. What it feels like to be a mother taking care of two, a student struggling with a tumultuous emotional life, a career woman running to the finish line. Share with us any untoward experiences that you may have faced, whisper to us your fears and inspire us with your resilience and stoicism.
We will be listening.
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