16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM CAMPAIGN 2010
A GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION

To: All Zontians

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence Campaign is an international campaign begun in 1991. It originated from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University in New Jersey. The dates chosen for the campaign are November 25th, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, through December 10th, International Human Rights Day. These particular days were chosen to reinforce that violence against women is a human rights issue and that violence against women is a human rights violation.

Each year, since 1991, the Women's Global Leadership Institute chooses a different theme. This year's theme is "Structures of Violence: Defining the Intersections of Militarism and Violence against Women" which will be a multi-year project and will address issues such as "the economic consequences of war on women, women's role in peace building and peace negotiations, violence against women committed by members of the military, sexual violence and sexual slavery in conflict situations, impunity for military personnel in cases of violence against women and women and girls' vulnerability as refugees and internally displaced persons." This theme is especially timely as we have observed, on October 20th, the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 which called for parties in conflict to respect women's rights and to support their participation in peace processes.

The issue of violence against women is at the center of Zonta's mission. The 16 Days Campaign is one that has been taken up by women's groups around the world in order to shed light on the problem and to make people aware that "Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation" (former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan).

The question now is what can we as members, clubs and districts of Zonta International do? We can raise awareness, organize an activity, or write a letter to the editor of the newspaper. If you decide on an activity, write a press release about it. Contact local mayors, councils, county officials, etc., and ask them to get on board with the campaign through resolutions to make the campaign official. The 16 Days website has a tool kit that you can use. Go to www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days to see what actions can be taken and to see examples of activities from around the world. Most of all we need to assist our local communities to understand that all women are vulnerable to violence no matter their socio-economic status. We need to be a voice for those who cannot be heard.

Yours in Zonta,

Mary Ann Tarantula
Zonta International United Nations Committee Chairman