TOPIC

16 Days of Activism

16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence

16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. 
The campaign runs every year from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day


CALL TO ACTION

Catherine Sozi, Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa’s video message to mark 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence

“This year the United Nations marks 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence by taking a stand against rape.
Gender-based violence is directed at a person because of his or her sex assigned at birth or gender identity.
It includes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, financial and psychological violence, in public or private life.
And it disproportionately affects women.
Put yourself in my shoes. All I want is to feel safe, no matter where I am.
Every time we remain silent, we conspire against women and girls.
So, let’s not be silent.
Not because women are our mothers, sisters, wives or loved ones, but because women are people.”


STORIES

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  • Munyono Landing Site, Uganda

    My name is Hope Harriet Waseni. My working name is Cindy. Formerly I was a sex worker; nowadays I no longer go to the landing sites. I stopped last year. My organization is called Justice and Economic Empowerment for Women and Girls Foundation. I started it because most of the sex worker organizations are in Kampala and they don’t reach the landing sites.

    READ
  • Dodoma, United Republic of Tanzania

    I am 19 years old and have worked in different houses as a domestic worker since I was 15 years old when I finished Grade 7, which I didn’t pass. My family couldn’t afford to send me to private school to continue my education. The biggest issue with being a domestic worker is that the employers do not pay me—they promise to pay, but then they never do.

    READ
  • Mukono, Uganda

    My name is Sandriano, AKA Rasta Pussy. I stay in Mukono, Uganda. I have two kids; a Danish boy who is 9 years old and an Indian daughter who is five. This Indian man was the one who taught me heroin, but we divorced. What is paining me is that the man spoilt my life.

    READ
  • Morija, Lesotho

    This is a true story. It all started in 2018 at Thabeng High School, when I saw a new girl. She was short, beautiful and brown in complexion. She was a cool, quiet and generous girl. She liked people as much as they liked her. She took good care of herself and always looked good. Her name was Nthabiseng.

    READ

 OPINION

By Catherine Sozi
932210bf cropped 1db32f8b 00 government rape counselling services saved just weeks from slated closureThe brutal rape and murder of 19-year-old Uyinene Mrwetyana by Luyanda Botha, a post office clerk, in August this year left us all shaken, battling to make sense of our excruciatingly violent world.
Mrwetyana went to collect a parcel from her local post office on Saturday morning and never made it out alive. The sheer banality of the circumstances sent shockwaves through social media.
She was wearing brown corduroy pants and a white t-shirt. She was not drunk. She was not walking home late at night. She hadn’t been at a shebeen or a club. There was nothing about the circumstances that could be used to “victim shame” her.
Read the full story on bhekisisa.org ...

The body swap is an old Hollywood trope: Boy meets girl, boy swaps bodies with girl,
boy has an epiphany about love, life and patriarchy. Too bad that in 2019,
this kind of empathy is still just the stuff of movies. 

 


FACEBOOK LIVE

16days facebook21022021

UNAIDS Eastern and Southern Africa was live.
Watch the video here ...
Read the transcript here ...

16days live Invitation final 

Invitation
View ...

  FACEBOOK LIVE HIGHLIGHTS

 Pontsho 21022021 “We must continue to give voice to survivors; to start addressing the pain and hurt that has happened at a societal level, so that there is national healing.”
Pontsho Pilane, writer, journalist and activist,
South Africa 
 
  “As women we blame ourselves for the violence that is done unto us. We must unlearn the things that we have been taught.”
Otilia Chinyani Liachinyani, Katswe Sistahood,
Zimbabwe
 Otilia 21022021
 Lineo 21022021 “16 Days of Activism creates awareness on how society can collectively impact gender-based violence; and how we value women and children and gender non-conforming people.”
Lineo Tsikoane, Nairasha Legal Support,
Lesotho
 
  “For the longest time there has been too much silence. When survivors talk about their experiences there is still too much blame. We need to start assisting survivors, stop the silence and give people the benefit of the doubt.”
Sibusiso Mkwananzi, Wits University,
South Africa.
 Sibusiso 21022021