As Zonta Clubs throughout the world fulfil an extensive and thought-provoking calendar of events throughout their 16 Days of Activism Campaign to eliminate violence against women, it is interesting to look back on how this event came about.
From Monday, November 25 to Tuesday, December 10, communities will come together with the encouragement and organisation of these Zonta Clubs for specialist days including A Day of Envisioning, A Day of Knowledge, a Day of Remembrance, A Day of Listening, A Day of Allyship, A Day of Advocacy and of course A Day of Orange as the colour orange symbolises a brighter future, free from violence and is the colour for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The history behind the 16 Days of Activism is both compelling and heartbreaking with the International Women’s Development Agency
On November 25, 1960, sisters Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal, three political activists who actively opposed the cruelty and systematic violence of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, were clubbed to death and dumped at the bottom of a cliff by Trujillo’s secret police.
The Mirabal sisters became symbols of the feminist resistance, and in commemoration of their deaths, November 25 was declared International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Latin America in 1980.
This international day was formally recognised by the United Nations in 1999.
In June 1991, the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL), alongside participants of the first Women’s Global Institute on Women, Violence and Human Rights, called for a global campaign of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
The 16 days begins with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and ends with International Human Rights Day on 10 December– highlighting that violence against women is a fundamental violation of human rights.
A far cry from Australia, but the sisters’ legacy has reached all corners of the globe and kicks off the 16 days of activism calls for an end to violence against women.
The dates for the campaign were chosen to link violence against women and human rights and emphasise that gender-based violence against women is a violation of human rights.
Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women began in November 2012 and Zonta International’s ongoing efforts to end violence against women and girls at the international level are carried out through the Zonta’s International Service Program and through Zonta’s partnerships with the United Nations and its agencies.
Since the program’s inception in 1999, more than US$32.7 million has been provided to support projects to improve women’s health, provide better economic opportunities and prevent gender-based violence in 66 countries.
