Central Oklahoma achieved new heights in advocacy in the campaign to end violence against women and girls in their local community. Following Zonta International’s lead with the “Zonta Says No” billboard campaign, Central Oklahoma is very pleased and excited to announce the new “Zonta Says No” billboard that now adorns a key Oklahoma City street.
The Zonta Club of Hamilton 1, District 4 in Canada, joined many other women’s organizations on Thursday, 12 September 2013 at their annual Take Back the Night march.
Hundreds of women rallied, then marched. Zontians handed out Zonta Says No postcards and ribbons as they all advocated for safe streets for women.
The Zonta Club of Wellington continued its focus on the Zonta Says NO campaign at its August meeting when it hosted Sue Lytollis, from Women’s Refuge to be its guest speaker.
Sue is passionate about defending women’s rights especially the right to safety and a life free from violence. Sue reminded the club that as adults, they need to be very careful about the messages they send girls when discussing violence. Members need to encourage girls to talk with an adult if they are concerned about their safety, rather than have them be afraid to tell adults how they are feeling.
Sue not only talked about violence against women, she demonstrated some women’s self defense skills, which the members eagerly practiced! Throat releases and the punch were some of the techniques.
A great occasion which combined fun, and some practical skills!
Below: Members practice the punch self defense move.
The Zonta Club of Kansas City II, MO, USA recently presented a Zonta Says No to Violence.
In addition to offering information about Zonta International and the local club, orange Zonta Says No T-Shirts were sold to event participants.Against Women information booth at the 2013 Women’s Equality Week of Greater Kansas City Kickoff Rally.
A great way to spread the word about Zonta and the Zonta Says No campaign!
From the Magazine of Santa Clarita:
Zonta “Says NO!” This 2013 campaign is to raise awareness of violence and increase actions to end violence against women and girls around the world. During the 16 Days of Activism, November 25 to December 10, Zonta International’s goal is for over 30,000 members in more than 1,200 clubs, in 64 countries to work simultaneously to prevent violence against women and girls in their communities.
For the 16 days of Activism in the community of Santa Clarita, Zonta will display a visual “mountain of shoes” in Westfield Valencia Town Center. Each shoe will represent a local victim of domestic violence – male and female. Red shoes will represent those individuals who have died as a result of domestic violence. Each shoe will represent an individual who has suffered domestic violence abuse; this “mountain of shoes” will be secured to a frame and have an attached tag to identify the age of each. Zonta, partnering with Domestic Violence Center, will provide educational information to those who view the “mountain” about the signs, symptoms and impact of domestic violence and abuse on victims and others.
Zonta’s annual Celebrity Tribute “Awesome Elegance” will honor Marlee Laufer, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications for Newhall Land, a contributor of community support and involvement extraordinaire. This event will be held November 8, at the Hyatt Valencia.
For more information about the Zonta Club of Clarita’s activities and the full article, click here: The Magazine of Santa Clarita
On May 18, 2013, the Zonta Club of Prowers County had an entry in the Lamar Days Parade as our Advocacy project. Lamar Days is an annual event that celebrates the local community.
The club had two bright orange banners made that said “ZONTA SAYS NO”. Below that caption was printed “STOP THE VIOLENCE”. The banners were displayed on a four-wheeler being driven in the parade.
In August, the club plans to use the banners and have a table at our County Fair. They will distribute information on the “Zonta Says No” campaign
Zonta Club of Ibadan II in collaboration with Zonta Club of Ibadan organized a successful rally on 4 December 2012 in Ibadan, Oyo State on preventing and ending violence against women and girls. Professional women groups were invited to take part in the rally, including:
1. National Association of Women Journalists.
2. Nigerian Union of Journalists
3. International Federation of Women Lawyers.
4. Oyo State Officials Wives Association.
The clubs started with a press release about the rally on 29 November 2012. During the rally, club members went round major streets in Ibadan North and Ibadan North east.
All along the route, the members addressed men, women and girls on the need to end violence against women, using public address systems to explain the purpose of the rally.
Banners with the following inscriptions in English, translated into Yoruba, the local language, and a couple in French were displayed.
Major Media Houses and Newsprint media in Nigeria with representation in Oyo State carried the news on television, radio and newspapers. It was an effective and successful rally.
On Sunday, 10 February 2013, the Zonta Club of Bremen, in District 27, Germany, organized a fund-raiser soirée with the dance theatre performance “March to a different Drummer”.
The club enabled this performance by co-operating with the sophisticated choreographer Christine Witte who worked with 20 children from the Bremen region. These youngsters live the most different social and cultural backgrounds. None of them have any dance experience, let alone stage experience. It is absolutely remarkable how Christine inspires and motivates these teenagers. Within three months of rehearsal they set up a complete stage performance. The young dancers flirt, fight, addict themselves to romance and show their own special world of teenagers between rebellion and adaption. Their language is the dance – modern, African, street dance, hip hop with Togo elements and Arabic melodies.
This project illustrates how to motivate young people by creating feelings of success and help them getting out of lethargy, frustration and aggression – before violence results from it. The 320 guests were excited about the performance and enthusiastically applauded the dancers, the choreographer and the unique performance. The evening was such an overwhelming success so that a second performance took place on 20 April 2013.
The stage design was created by our club member Karin Friedrichs, a widely known painter.
With the fund-raiser event the Zonta Club of Bremen created a double effect: It enabled the dance project of Christine, the intensive rehearsal work and the stage performance. In addition to that, the revenue of this event was donated to “notruf” (emergency call), a psychological counseling service for women and girls who have suffered rape.
The Zonta Club of Bremen has already been supporting “notruf” and their important work for the last years. Especially their so called “knockout drops project”, which is an affair of the heart of Zonta Bremen. In many cases young people, mostly girls, are knocked out by these drops and then got raped. The persons concerned need uncomplicated, but competent help. “notruf” provides this help, and also runs an information campaign for prevention in schools.
On Sunday, 10 February 2013, the Zonta Club of Bremen, in District 27, Germany, organized a fund-raiser soirée with the dance theatre performance “March to a different Drummer”.
The club enabled this performance by co-operating with the sophisticated choreographer Christine Witte who worked with 20 children from the Bremen region. These youngsters live the most different social and cultural backgrounds. None of them have any dance experience, let alone stage experience. It is absolutely remarkable how Christine inspires and motivates these teenagers. Within three months of rehearsal they set up a complete stage performance. The young dancers flirt, fight, addict themselves to romance and show their own special world of teenagers between rebellion and adaption. Their language is the dance – modern, African, street dance, hip hop with Togo elements and Arabic melodies.
This project illustrates how to motivate young people by creating feelings of success and help them getting out of lethargy, frustration and aggression – before violence results from it. The 320 guests were excited about the performance and enthusiastically applauded the dancers, the choreographer and the unique performance. The evening was such an overwhelming success so that a second performance took place on 20 April 2013.
The stage design was created by our club member Karin Friedrichs, a widely known painter.
With the fund-raiser event the Zonta Club of Bremen created a double effect: It enabled the dance project of Christine, the intensive rehearsal work and the stage performance. In addition to that, the revenue of this event was donated to “notruf” (emergency call), a psychological counseling service for women and girls who have suffered rape.
The Zonta Club of Bremen has already been supporting “notruf” and their important work for the last years. Especially their so called “knockout drops project”, which is an affair of the heart of Zonta Bremen. In many cases young people, mostly girls, are knocked out by these drops and then got raped. The persons concerned need uncomplicated, but competent help. “notruf” provides this help, and also runs an information campaign for prevention in schools.
On 8 March, 2013, International Women’s Day, the Zonta Club of Kitchener Waterloo held its first “Join Us on the Bridge” event in support of the Zonta Says NO Campaign.
More than 60 people gathered with banners, signs and informational postcards to let the local community know that violence against women and girls is a major issue locally, across Canada and globally. The participants all donned bright orange t-shirts (orange being the color of the Zonta Say NO campaign), making a great visual impact at the bridge.
Join us in saying NO 