Gender-based violence is never ok. Ever.

Today is an important day. It is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and it is the first day of the 16 Days of Activism. Each year, from 25 November to World Human Rights Day on 10 December, the 16 Days of Activism campaign calls for action against one of the world’s most persistent violations of human rights – violence against women.

How did it come about?

On 25 November 1960, sisters Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal, three political activists who actively opposed the cruelty and systematic violence of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, were clubbed to death and dumped at the bottom of a cliff by Trujillo’s secret police.
The Mirabal sisters became symbols of the feminist resistance, and in commemoration of their deaths 25 November was declared International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Latin America in 1980. This international day was formally recognised by the United Nations in 1999.
In June 1991, the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL), alongside participants of the first Women’s Global Institute on Women, Violence and Human Rights, called for a global campaign of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

The 16 days begins with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and ends with International Human Rights Day on 10 December– highlighting that violence against women is a fundamental violation of human rights.
( Extract from https://www.iwda.org.au/what-are-the-16-days-of-activism-and-why-should-you-care/).

Sincere thanks to all of those people and organizations who are working to stop the ongoing violence towards women around the world. We are grateful for their courage, determination and passion which is making the world a better place for us all. For more information click on this link.