On 25 November, the Zonta Club of Burg Staufenberg/Giessen Area, Germany, invited the public to participate in the Woyzeck performance. There, the audience listened to a lively discussion between three experts: an actress, a gynecologist, and a director of a women’s shelter about how we can eliminate violence against women.
The event was by newly joined Zontian Anja Horstmann. Giessen`s newspapers reported previously.
To say NO to Violence Against Women, the Zonta Club of Béziers Domitia, France, chose to promote tools to help victims seek help out of their situation. A video was created, charged free of charge, by youths from the Montepellier Journalism School and a young professional photographer and videographer.
The video is available to the Zonta community for dissemination.
Source: The Bradford Era
Zonta Club of Bradford was presented with a proclamation from Mayor Tom Riel at Tuesday’s Bradford City Council meeting.
Receiving the proclamation were (from left) club members Holly Puglio, president, and Ginny Crouse. Nov. 25 begins Zonta’s 16 Days of Advocacy shedding a light on violence against women.
From Nov. 25 to Dec. 10 orange lights at area merchants, local residences and public buildings show support of the We Say No to Violence Against Women campaign.
Visit the Zonta Club’s Facebook page for more information about how to get involved.
The Zonta Club of Darmstadt, Germany, joined Viva Vittoria, a project in Italy to end violence against women by knitting blankets to raise funds to end violence against women.
Viva Vittoria is a relational shared work and spreads the message that once a woman understands her value, she automatically becomes the creator of her existence and can bring about change in herself and society. Knitting serves as a metaphor for self-creation and self-development. It is also a tool to help realize this project. It proved a perfect medium because it consists of a widespread and quickly learned creative mode. In adults, it connects to familiar images, brings out memories, and creates an attitude of encounter and relationship.
Anja Kernchen, who lives partly in Italy and Darmstadt, brought the project to the club. The club collected and knitted hundreds of blankets together in the past 1.5 years. Through an article, many across Europe and Australia sent in blankets for the project.
In the end, more than 2,000 blankets were sewn from the squares by many hands, with at least seven people working on each blanket to create an impressive statement against violence.
On 4 and 5 March, the club covered the 1,000 meters squared Friedensplatzwith the blankets, which could be purchased for a donation of at least 20 €.
The club sold all blankets and raised more than 50,000 euros. All proceeds were donated to Wildwasser Darmstadt e.V., a professional counseling center for girls and women affected by sexualized violence, and the help fund of the Frauenhaus Darmstadt.
As a part of its “NO to cyber violence against women and children” initiative, the Zonta Club of Sofia, Bulgaria, held a training session about cyber violence with experts from the Chief Directorate for Combating Organised Crime. Held at the National School of Dance Art, more than 250 students from grades 7 to 11 attended the session.
Inspired by the presentation, some students volunteered for the club’s project to raise further awareness of cyber violence prevention by becoming peer educators.
The club is grateful to the school for the opportunity to enlighten its students about cyber violence for to its partner for their constant support.
During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, the Zonta Club of Toowoomba Garden City Inc, Australia, made headlines and grabbed attention on social media in their local area due to their numerous actions saying no to violence against women.
Bringing orange The club lit a local bridge orange throughout the 16 Days. On 25 November, club members marched back from that bridge to the downtown area. They also hung a ‘Zonta Says NO’ banner across one of the main streets and displayed Orange Ladies in businesses across town.
Engaging the youth Club President Charmain Searle visited the Toowoomba State High School to inform the students about gender-based violence and Zonta’s mission.
Market stall In collaboration with the Zonta Club of Toowoomba Area Inc and the Zonta e-Club of Queensland Inc, the club held a Zonta Awareness market stall to spread Zonta information and merchandise. Zontians Ansmarie Van Erp, Vanessa Priebe and Marie Cameron were also involved.
Campaign letter Tarsh Francis, Advocacy Chair of the club, proposed conducting a letter-writing campaign to house local women experiencing domestic violence, which was touted in the local shopping centers. The letter garnered many signed letters and increased awareness in their community about Zonta and its mission.
Human Rights Day ceremony On 9 December, the club participated with local authorities to hold a Human Rights Day flag-raising ceremony in the village square.
The Zonta Club of Herzogenaurach, Germany, was interviewed by Herzo TV, a local international television station, regarding the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, Zonta Clubs in Area 5, District 30, Bulgaria and Romania, did multiple actions to say NO to violence against women. Some of these actions included flash mobs, holding an art gallery and more.
Watch this video to learn more about how the clubs took action to say NO.
On the final day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, the Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley, USA, hosted a screening of Crushed Wings at the Santa Clarita International Film Festival (SCIFF). Written, directed and produced by British filmmaker Lalit Bhusal, Crushed Wings portrays the lifelong nightmare of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The club has been associated with the film festival since last year through its Zonta’s Wome in Film initiative. When selecting the films for the festival, Lisa DeSousa, Founder and CEO of SCIFF, immediately thought of Zonta when she viewed Crushed Wings. She understood Zonta’s mission to fight violence against women and girls, including international initiatives against FGM.
Zontians Cherise Moore and Lois Bauccio sat on a panel following the film to interview Lalit, who virtually joined the event from the United Kingdom. During the discussion, Lalit explained that he wanted to make a film about child abuse. People kept telling him about FGM as the ultimate example of abuse entrenched in certain cultures and wrongly attributed to religion. He has created the story of Ria, an innocent and happy seven-year-old village girl who is led to her nightmare by her mother in ignorance. The film goes through her childhood, adolescence, marriage and ultimate metamorphosis into a brave and independent woman. Some actresses in the movie are actual survivors of FGM.
Cherise and Lois explained the importance of ending global FGM and child marriage, which also addresses medical conditions such as obstetric fistula, crushing emotional health disorders and suicide and the social problem of keeping women in a subservient permanent under-class in cultures that practice them.
On 30 January, the Zonta Club of Dhaka IV, Bangladesh, engaged 50 rickshaws in the Pallabi and Mirpur area to carry “Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women” posters in their local language.
The club hopes that the posters will raise local awareness of gender-based violence.
Join us in saying NO 