Today, 25 November, marks the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence Campaign, a campaign established to galvanise action to end gender based violence around the world.
This year, the focus is on the effects of militarism and militarisation.
What are the 16 Days of Activism all about?
The campaign begins on 25 November, which is also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on Human Rights Day on 10 December.
The timing of the campaign symbolically links violence against women and human rights and rightfully stresses that gender based violence is an international human rights violation.
What does gender based violence have to do with militarism?
Everything!
This year’s theme, “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Gender Based Violence!” underlines diverse challenges and contributors to gender based violence and the effects of militarism and other factors on our identities and experiences.
“It is more important than ever for us to join together in one strong voice and say enough to gender-based violence and its root causes of discrimination, inequality, and violations of economic and social rights,” says Dr. Radhika Balakrishnan, global coordinator of the 16 Days Campaign.
The link between gender based violence and militarism is a topic WILPF has been working on for many years, as reflected in our latest publications, You Get What You Pay For, which argues that “an overtly strong military presence creates insecurity. Thus demilitarisation and disarmament are essential components for achieving gender equality.”
What’s WILPF doing for 16 Days?
WILPF has had a strong partnership with the Campaign for many years. This year’s theme aligns particularly well with WILPF’s own Integrated Approach to advocating for peace by looking at intersecting issues of disarmament, human rights, women’s participation, peace, and security.
It also aligns with our Anniversary movement, Women’s Power to Stop War, which emphasises the importance of promoting disarmament and demilitarisation as the solutions to the gendered impacts of war.
If you are passionate about challenging militarism and ending gender based violence, then you won’t want to miss out on WILPF’s Anniversary Conference. Several panels at the conference will cover these interlinking themes.
In support of the 16 Days Campaign, we are offering a special discount for the Anniversary Conference tickets to all our members and regular participants who buy their tickets from 25 November to 10 December. For each day of the Conference, we will offer a €16 discount, so a total discount of €48.
Anniversary Atlas: the 16 Days Special
WILPF is also celebrating the 16 Days Campaign by opening up our Anniversary Atlas to our partners for contributions. The Anniversary Atlas is an interactive timeline that enables you to view the past, present and future activities of women peacemakers all over the world. With the special blue markers, you can now explore our partners’ peacemaking activities as well as our own.
Want to get involved in the 16 Days Campaign?
Make sure you don’t miss our 16 Days of Discount by registering now!
Follow the official 16 Days Campaign on Facebook and Twitter, and join the discussion by using the #16days and #EndVAW hashtags. We hope you will actively participate in spreading the word as widely as possible with us!
