With more than 2.6 million users daily, the Zonta Club of Vienna I, Austria, created Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women ads for all public transportation vehicles.
Every 15 minutes, the ad will pop up to tell the commuters a statistic about gender-based violence.
Visit this link to see the ads the club has created.
To raise awareness about the 16 Days of Activism and the crucial work Zonta members do during the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign, the Zonta Club of Tokyo I, Japan, is planning on holding a holiday charity party. All funds from the party will be donated to the campaign.
To get ready for it, club members went into the busy streets and passed out flyers explaining the Orange the World movement.
Last week, the Zonta Club of Christchurch South, New Zealand, held its 20th annual Zonta Says NO Breakfast.
Dressed in orange, club members welcomed their 100 guests, including special guests such as their city’s mayor, his wife and District Governor Phillippa Jacobs Lory. Some Avonside Girls’ High School Z Club members and the Rotary Sunshine Club supported the event.
The club sold raffles to fundraise and invited Celine Donovan to speak about domestic violence and how the community can respond.
The Zonta e-Club of Roma Parioli, Italy, kicked off the 16 Days of Activism with an art exhibition event to stand with the women in Iran. As thousands of Iranian women are risking their lives and taking to the streets to reclaim their rights, the club wanted to celebrate their courage and resilience. The exhibit will remain open for all 16 Days of Activism until 10 December.
The club invited experts such as Dr. Tiziana Ciavardini to speak during the event. Tiziana is an Italian cultural anthropologist and journalist who has lived more than 13 years in Iran – a country that she frequently denounces its anti-feminist regimes.
Many professional artists and beginners, who support the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign, donated their works to the exhibition. Two guests at the opening night were artist Pamela Squarta and Mahroo Hemati, a young Iranian artist.
Until the exhibit closes, guests are welcome to bid on any artwork, and all proceeds will be donated to Zonta International’s Foundation for Women. In addition to the exhibition, there is also a fundraising raffle.
In the Philippines, 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women is observed from 25 November through 12 December. Each year, the Zonta Club of Cebu II takes an active role in the 18 Days.
Honoring the theme “UNiTEd for a VAW-free Philippines,” the club will engage in several service, advocacy and information-generation activities that will allow women of all ages to make progress toward reaching gender equality.
Because education and open access to information is key to empowerment, the Zonta Club of Cebu II opened the campaign by inaugurating a Women, Gender and Family Studies Section at both the Cebu City and Mandaue City public libraries. This section is a repository of books, pamphlets, documents and other reading materials on women’s issues, gender mainstreaming, women’s legislative agenda, and methods and strategies to achieve gender equality in the workplace and the community. It is a vital resource center for women who seek to know more about their rights and the opportunities available to them.
“Saying no to violence against women is everybody’s business” is the strong over-arching message that Zonta Club of Cebu II is sending as it commemorates the worldwide global campaign to end gender-based violence. The club seeks to engage all sectors to unite and collaborate to actively fight against any or all forms of violence, discrimination and gender-based abuses and crimes.
In her welcome address, attorney Mae Elaine Bathan, Tourism Undersecretary and President of Zonta Club of Cebu II, stressed the importance of continued efforts to spread awareness of the rights of women and children. Atty. Bathan said. “The victims of these crimes, forms of discrimination and abuses do not have to fight their battles alone. “We are here to empower them. We are here to give them the necessary skills and knowledge. We are here to provide them the avenue by which they can be able to protect their rights and learn to stand up for themselves and say no to any and all forms of abuses,” she stressed.
On 25 November the campaign was launched with calls to action from three vigilant advocates. Ms. Emmeline Versoza, former executive director of the Philippine Commission on Women reported on the status of Filipino Women in the areas of economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, political empowerment and the prevalence of violence against their persons. She stressed that
Ms. Annabelle Maglasang, coordinator, the University of the Philippines Cebu Gender and Development office, talked about Psycho-social Support to Persons who encountered Gender Based violence.
Attorney May Aguilar, the founding partner of Cavad and Aguilar Law firm, discussed the topic “Issues and Challenges That A Woman Face In VAWC: Strategies in Place for Action. She stressed that the only thing eviler than violence itself is our apathy.
The webinar ended with the Zontians taking oaths of commitment to continue their advocacy to campaign against gender-based violence.
On 2 November, the Zonta of Cheyenne, USA, participated in a signing ceremony where Governor Mark Gordon issued a proclamation acknowledging the upcoming 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and the crucial work the Zonta clubs in Wyoming are doing. The proclamation also includes language urging citizens “to support those who work to end gender violence and to learn the detrimental consequences gender violence has on the well-being of the community.”
The club has arranged for a gubernatorial proclamation at the start of 16 Days of Activism for many years, and this year’s ceremony follows that tradition. Zontians at the ceremony had a chance to share a small portion of the history of 16 Days of Activism, and some of the work done in the community to raise awareness about the Zonta says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
District 31, Mongolia and the Republic of China (Taiwan), celebrated Zonta’s 103rd birthday with a Z and Golden Z officers orientation, advocacy on ending violence against women and a donation to a local shelter for survivors of abuse and violence.
Organized by District Z and Golden Z Chair Yu-Hua Peng, 20 officers of the student clubs participated in a weekend-long training camp in Hualian. Governor Lin Li-Chin and other district committee chairs joined the two-day event, informing the students about the Zonta spirit, its goals and mission.
During a visit to Mennonite Good Sheperd Taiwan, Li-Chin donated 100,000 Taiwan dollars (US$3,300) on behalf of the district. The student club officers also spent time with children at a local shelter for abused women and children.
A Zonta member kindly baked a cake for Zonta’s birthday. During the celebration, Li-Chin called for a joint effort of the Zonta, Z and Golden Z members to continue to say no to violence against women and to build a better world for women and girls.
The Zonta Club of Kowloon, Hong Kong, has always supported the Zonta Says NO campaign since it launched in 2012. After realizing that there was a scarcity of statistics on sexual and domestic violence in Hong Kong, the club decided to sponsor the “Hong Kong Women’s Experience of Violence 2021” research.
The Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities organized the research, and the lead researcher is Annie Chan from Lingnan University. Annie arranged the survey, which comprised of 1044 questionnaires that sexual and domestic violence survivors completed and 30 in-depth interviews.
The club held a virtual press conference on Rose Day to announce the findings and recommendations to the Hong Kong media. Their advice to combat sexual and domestic violence in Hong Kong were:
Many local media took interest, and their press conference was covered by 17 newspapers, radio and TV stations.
The club hopes that their recommendations will be helpful for the local government and other relevant bodies to incorporate into their planning and servicing models for the coming years.
The Zonta Club of Bad Nauheim-Friedberg, Germany, organized a workshop to empower girls against online violence. This was the first time the club started this cooperation project. They were responsible for finding cooperation partners financing the project, organization, media work and the advertisement before the workshop.
The club was impressed that more than 40 young women and girls all over Germany took part. They also noticed how many people were interested in the topic and how many girls were affected.
The club believes that it is essential to address and communicate with young women at their level, which led to the workshop’s great success. They are considering holding the workshop again.
The Z and Golden Z Clubs of Saint Michael’s College of Laguna, the Philippines, recently hosted a webinar called Safe Spaces: It Begins with You. The clubs invited attorney Terese Ray Anne O. Aquino as a guest speaker to educate their audience about the Safe Spaces Act. This law penalizes all forms of gender-based sexual harassment committed in public spaces, educational or training institutions, workplaces and online.
The clubs streamlined the webinar to more than 3,000 audience members and registered 5,000 engagements.
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