Feminist Peace Network

As we continue to observe the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, here are a few of the ways the campaign is being observed around the world:

From Fiji:

Fiji’s disciplinary forces will join the Department of Women in the fight against gender violence.

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces, the Fiji Police Force, the Prisons Department and the Department of Women will take to the streets tomorrow in a show of support against gender violence.

Ministry of Health, Women and Social Welfare Communications Officer Fred Elbourne said the march would mark commitment from the disciplined forces to be advocates against gender violence.

“These officers will in a sense be put on the spot, because by taking part in the procession march they will be publicly showing their commitment as advocates in the fight to curb gender violence in Fiji.

“There will be some skepticism shown by the normal retractors of an initiative like this, but we have to start somewhere and this is just one small step in the right direction.”

From South Africa:

KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele and several government and political organisations launched the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign on Sunday with the message: “Don’t look away, act against abuse.”

Ndebele said at the launch on the South Coast: “The rights of women and children are fundamental human rights entrenched in, and protected by, the constitution.

From Jamaica:

Executive Director of the Bureau of Women’s Affairs (BWA), Faith Webster, is calling on women to reject and break free of the notion that if a man physically abuses them, it is in some way done out of love.

“That’s a serious myth that we have been trying to address even in our public education sessions. It’s something that we always try to highlight as one of the myths of domestic violence and explain to them that you are under an illusion because there is no way that somebody can really love you and abuse you in this manner,” she says in an interview with JIS News.

From Japan:

The unresolved legacy of Japan’s military sexual slavery during the Pacific War is a case in point, as it remains a thorn in Japan’s side with respect to its East Asian neighbors. For 18 years and counting, the former “comfort women” and their supporters have turned out for their weekly Wednesday Demonstrations in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in the expectation of achieving justice for past wrongdoings. Time is not necessarily a great healer. • The cooperation and leadership of men is absolutely essential to preventing and reducing acts of violence against women. This should not surprise, given that men occupy the vast majority of positions of power and influence in public, corporate and religious life worldwide.

From Canada:

On Thursday, December 4 - a Day of Action and Remembrance - there will be a candlelight vigil held in memory of the 14 women murdered in 1989 at University of Montreal’s school of Engineering- Polytechnique and the murdered and missing women on Highway 16.

It takes place at 7 p.m. at the CAW union hall on Enterprise Avenue in the Service Centre.

The Haisla Youth Program will be presenting their Super Power Project on Dating Violence along with Men Speaking Out on Violence Against Women.

Coffee and Dessert will be served.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Sheroes, Gender-Based Violence, Violence Against Women, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence