Campaigns to End Violence against Women and Girls - Virtual ...

Communication Strategies: The dates chosen for the campaign are meant to indicate
a symbolic link between VAW and violation of human rights: November 25 marks the
UN-established International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and
December 10 is International Human Rights Day. The 16-day period also highlights
other significant dates including December 1 (World AIDS Day) and December 6 (the
anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, 1989, in which 14 women students at the École
Polytechnique were systematically killed).
In coordinating the campaign, CWGL helps individuals and organizations plan activities
that focus on developing and calling for the implementation of local, national, and global
policies aimed at eliminating VAW. Resources available for campaigners include:
� an International Calendar of Campaign Activities, developed annually to highlight
organizing efforts as part of a broader movement for women's human rights, to
provide others with examples of activities and strategies used during the Campaign
and to give activists an opportunity to join and support plans already in existence;
� an interactive website that includes resources and opportunities for global campaign
organizing and collaboration.
With these tools in hand, activists have engaged in the following approaches:
- raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local,
national, regional, and international levels
- creating tools to hold governments accountable to their promises made to eliminate
VAW
- strengthening local work around VAW
- establishing a link between local and international work to end VAW
- providing a forum in which organizers at different levels can develop and share new
and effective strategies
- demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organizing against VAW.
Each year, a particular theme is chosen; materials (e.g., the "take action kit") and
activities are shaped around the theme. (To read about past campaign themes, please
visit the 16 Days website).
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Campaigns December 2011