On 25 November, the Feminist Collective, in collaboration with the Human Rights, Conflict & Peace Initiative (HRCP), will begin a 16-day awareness campaign targeting gender-based violence. Here they discuss their actions and goals for the campaign as well as why it's important.
What events and activities are planned for the 16-day awareness campaign?
The Feminist Collective in collaboration with the HRCP Initiative will start off the campaign targeting gender-based violence with a poster-making session on 24 November at 14:00 in the Fab. People can come by and make posters, which they can then take into the Geneva city centre on 25 November where feminists will gather for a demonstration against gender-based violence. The feminist collective invites members of the Institute's community to come along and join the protest together!
In addition, from 25 November to 12 December, we will display posters with information and statistics on worldwide gender-based violence as well as anonymised personal stories from members of the Institute’s community in the Hall of Petal 2.
Last but not least, we will host a panel discussion on "Activism against Gender-based Violence" on 29 November at 18:30 with activists and political actors from Geneva to discuss about gender-based violence and ways of combatting it. More information will follow soon, but we encourage everybody to come and bring their questions!
What are some of the outcomes you hope to achieve with this campaign?
We are hoping to create a room for discussion on the matter, to give a platform to activists and those concerned by gender-based violence and most importantly, to raise awareness. Gender-based violence is not an issue of the past; it is very relevant in our everyday lives today.
Also, it is our aim to create a network of activists and those interested in becoming one, in order to create more possibilities for change-making.
What is gender-based violence and why is this campaign so important on a larger scale?
According to UN Women, “One in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner. Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, and the immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating, including death.” Gender-based violence also includes violence against LGBTIQ+ minorities.
This campaign is so important because it concerns more than half of the global population and, unfortunately, this violence is still prevalent today. If we want to create a sustainable world, this is one of the first steps to take.
Hence, it is absolutely crucial to make this sort of event as big as possible to raise awareness on a large scale.