LatinaLista– November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. According to the Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women website, up to 70 percent of women will be abused in their lifetime.
While many dignitaries, from Vice-President Biden to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are making public statements denouncing violence against women, the most powerful messages come from women themselves.
For 16 days, beginning Nov. 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) – Dec. 10 (International Human Rights Day), the Nobel Women’s Initiative hosts the annual blog campaign called 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.
Sixteen women from all around the globe will be featured via blog posts and video as they tell their personal stories of combatting violence against themselves and other women in their countries and, in turn, how they became stronger because of their experiences.
The theme for this year’s campaign is “The structures of violence: defining the intersections of militarism and violence against women.”
Each year since 1991, tens of thousands of activists from around the world have taken part in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign. The campaign’s central messages – women’s rights are human rights and violence against women constitutes a violation of human rights – have been a rallying call of the women’s movement.
