History of 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 emphasize that such violence is
a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights
other significant dates including December 1, which is
World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary
of the Montreal Massacre.
The 16 Days Campaign has
been used as an organizing 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 organizers can develop and share new and effective
strategies
-
demonstrating
the solidarity of women around the world organizing
against violence against women
-
creating tools
to pressure governments to implement promises made to
eliminate violence against women
Since 1991, approximately
1,700 organizations in 130 countries have participated in
the 16 Days Campaign!
The 16 Days of Activism
begins on November 25th which has been declared an International
Day Against Violence Against Women. This day was chosen
to commemorate the death of the three Mirabel sisters
who were detained, tortured and assassinated in 1960 during
the dictatorship of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.
Today, November 25th is internationally recognised as
a day of protest against violence against women.
The period also includes:
-
1st December - World
AIDS Day
-
3rd December - International
Day of the Disabled
-
6th December - Montreal
Massacre Anniversary
-
10th December - World
Human Rights Day
6th December
commemorates the deaths of 14 young female engineering
students who were shot dead at Montreal University in
Canada in 1989. The gunman opened fire in two classrooms
and the cafeteria after ordering 48 men in the room to
leave. Before opening fire, the gunman shouted “
You’re all a bunch of feminists, and I hate feminists!”
10th December
celebrates the anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, proclaimed in 1948. Article 2 of the
Declaration proclaims “everyone is entitled to all
the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration
without distinction of any kind such as race, colour,
sex…..”
This action played a vital role at the 1993 Vienna World
Conference on Human Rights in recognising violence against
women as a human rights violation. The Conference drafted
a Declaration to this effect and appointed the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women.
Funding
for Local Domestic Violence Prevention (PDF
28kb)
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