What is the 16 Days of Action Campaign?
25th November to 10th December 2011
One in three women worldwide face abuse, violence and rape everyday. In no country of the world are women free from this fear and terror. In Ireland, one in five women experience domestic violence during their lifetime, and it is estimated that 213,000 women in Ireland are living with severe abuse from their boyfriends, husbands and partners.
Since 1996, Women's Aid has used the 16 Days Campaign to raise awareness of the reality of domestic violence and to push for positive change to increase women's safety. Women's support services, groups under the Local Community and Development Programme, Family Resource Centres, student groups, and others hold local awareness raising events throughout the country during the 16 Days of Action.
The Campaign grows every year with more people getting involved and speaking out about violence against women.
What is the 16 Days Campaign?
The 16 Days Campaign is an international campaign that started in 1991. Since then, over 3,400 groups in 164 countries have taken part. In Ireland last year, over 100 groups took part in the National Balloon Action or organised other events like art competitions, exhibitions, memorials, film showings, postcard and poster campaigns, information stands and media campaigns.
The 16 Days Campaign is successful because of the support of people in local communities and organisations nationwide, raising more awareness of the issue of domestic violence in our communities each year.
The 16 Days Campaign provides us all-community groups, students, rape crisis centres and domestic violence support services, political pressure groups and individual activists, each and every one of us-with the opportunity to break the silence around domestic violence. By organising events in our local communities that highlight the issue of domestic violence and promote the services available for women, we make the issue visible, we give hope to women who are suffering and we hold perpetrators of abuse to account.
Why those dates?
The 16 Days of Action run from 25th November, UN Day Opposing Violence against Women, to 10th December, Human Rights Day. The campaign spans these 16 Days in order to highlight the link between violence against women and human rights. Today, women and girls are subjected to many forms of human rights violations solely on the basis of their gender.
The 16 Days period includes other significant dates like International Human Rights Defenders Day (29th November), World Aids Day (1st December) and the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre (6th December).
What are the aims of the Campaign?
The 16 Days Campaign is an opportunity for individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women by:
- Increase women's safety
- Highlighting the nature and prevalence of violence against women
- Raising awareness of violence against women as a human rights issue
- Showing solidarity among women around the world
- Promoting women's leadership
- Lobbying government
- Strengthening local work to tackle violence against women