Going into its fifth year, the annual Zonta Says NO Golf Day held by the Zonta Club of Maryborough Inc will be held in August.
The golf day raises awareness of violence against women and also raises funds to support initiatives that help women and girls.
The event will begin the club’s activities in support of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign.
The Zonta Club of Lebanon was pleased to host the 2017 Area 4 Zonta Says NO Advocacy Walk in Lebanon’s beautiful Memorial Park and plans to host the 2018 Advocacy Walk in Indianapolis in October.
The third annual walk was held in October and allowed clubs and concerned individuals to gather to advocate against domestic violence. The walk was held in Memorial Park in Lebanon. Zontians and Z-Club students from all over Area 4 were present to walk to raise awareness of the dangers of domestic violence.
A representative from the mayor’s office spoke and welcomed participants and then Pascal Fettig from Mental Health America Boone County spoke on things being done in Boone County to address violence against women.
After a brief warmup, the walkers carried signs and posters along a state highway and around the park. Cars were honking their horns and people were waving encouragingly.
At the main corner of the park, the Zonta clubs from Indiana had their Zonta Says NO posters posted next to orange pinwheels. Each pinwheel represents a life that was lost due to domestic violence.
The group advertises the walk at an event earlier in the fall. At the event, Lebanon’s Lincoln and Civil War Reenactment, the club pairs with the Boone County Historial Society to sell food at the event.
This provides the members, as well as the Z Club students, an opportunity to fundraise and advertise their upcoming advocacy event.
During Beef Australia 2018, Australia’s triennial National Beef Industry event attracting over 100,000 national and international visitors, the Zonta Club of Rockhampton Inc, District 22, mounted a display at the local regional airport, raising awareness for the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
The display prominently provides awareness about the campaign, as well as information about local support services for those affected by domestic and family violence.
The display will run for the whole month of May, which also coincides with the local Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month, which is marked every May in Queensland Australia.
The Zonta Club of the Fleurieu Peninsula Inc, District 23, created a digital display promoting the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign. The Shine the Light project was a joint project between the Zonta Club of the Fleurieu Peninsula Inc and the local government of the city of Victor Harbor.
The façade of the local cinema which is in the main street of the city was illuminated with a digital art display that reflected ‘Zonta Says NO to Violence.’
The façade has been used by the city in the past to promote tourism and city council embraced the concept of supporting Zonta to further the cause. Council staff and Zonta members workshopped with local digital artists to produce a dynamic and thought-provoking digital display.
The display shone during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and was seen by thousands of people. The display ran on a loop from 25 November to 10 December, from sun down to sun up.
The digital display aimed to communicate the responsibility community members have to end the perpetuation of abuse toward women. It conveyed the message that boys need to be taught how to show respect toward women from a young age.
The digital artists were mindful that this was a public place open to all ages and were asked to use orange as a predominant color. White was also used to reflect White Ribbon.
Along with this display, the Zonta Club of the Fleurieu also provided bystander training, facilitated by the YWCA as part of their Rise Above the Pack program.
The Zonta Club of Nurmes organized a seminar on safety in everyday life as a part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
The guest speaker of the seminar was the highest ranking police officer in Finland, National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen.
Other speakers talked about the importance of making concrete help available for victims, as well as holding authorities accountable.
The audience asked questions and at the end of the seminar, a local Gypsy king and 70-year-old, Seppo Palm, sang a song.
The Zonta Club of Trondheim organized a Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women campaign together with 24 other organizations, including the municipality of Trondheim, NGOs and labor unions.
About 1,000 people visited 20 multicultural arrangements during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
There were 16 days of exhibitions, seminars, movies, discussions, dances and various artistic performances engaging the local community for the sake of understanding and stopping violence against women.
In the context of advocating for women’s rights and taking part in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, members of the Zonta Club of Ibadan II, District 18, adopted two tools.
First, the Nigerian club members embraced the HeForShe campaign to engage men of all ages in the mission to end violence against women. Then, they used social media to broadcast their message to a larger audience.
The HeForShe partners posted pictures on Facebook and Instagram wearing or holding shirts with the message. This generated engagement in the form of over 1,000 likes and many comments.
The HeForShe partners included national and community leaders as well as youth advocates.
Photo caption: The city manager of Iisalmi and local industrial entrepreneurs took photos wearing their orange squares to show their support for Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women.
In 2017, the Zonta Club of Iisalmi actively campaigned for twenty days instead of sixteen as part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaigns.
The extended campaign was in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Zonta Club of Iisalmi, which was established in 1997. The advocacy committee of the club chose to focus on the education of girls for the theme of the extended campaign.
Funds were gathered for the Let Us Learn Madagascar program to support girl’s education. The club sold 1,200 lottery tickets and was able to donate EUR $2,400 to the cause. The slogan was “An educated girl can choose a better life.”
The club also took the opportunity to challenge men to take part in the HeForShe campaign. One club member sewed over 200 orange pocket squares that were handed out by Zontians to men in power both locally as well as in the parliament of Finland. The club members hoped these would be used as a symbol of the men’s commitment towards the goal of global equality. In the parliament, there were fifty pocket squares handed to male members. The president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, who is an Impact Champion of HeForShe, got a pocket square. The city manager of Iisalmi and local industrial entrepreneurs took photos wearing their orange squares.
The local newspaper published the writings of six local men in powerful positions regarding violence, equality and education supporting the campaign. A panel discussion was held on the local radio station, featuring the same themes as well as poems regarding women and education. The poems were chosen and read by Zontians and were performed almost daily.
The Zonta Club of Gaylord Area, District 15, arranged for the Gaylord High School wrestling and varsity boys basketball teams to take the White Ribbon Pledge to end violence against women.
The event, titled “Our Team Says NO,” came on the heels of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. The event featured local men in Michigan who stepped forward to add their voices to the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
On 20 December, the Gaylord High School Wrestling and Varsity Boys Basketball teams took the White Ribbon Pledge.
The pledge read: “I pledge not to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls. From this day forward, I promise to be part of the solution to end all forms of this violence.”
Now a worldwide campaign, the White Ribbon Pledge was created in 1991 by a group of Toronto men as a way for men to raise awareness of violence against women. According to the pledge, it is the responsibility of all men to step up, speak out and take action against violence. The campaign seeks to promote healthy relationships, gender equity and a compassionate vision of masculinity.
Megan King of the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan urged Gaylord athletes to use their visible role to help make positive social change by initiating respect. In addition to leading the young men in the white ribbon pledge, she explained the origins of the White Ribbon Pledge and shared two short videos. The first featured the Red Riots high school basketball team in Maine who said they chose, “not be defined by the strength of our arms and legs, but rather by the strength of our character.” The second video featured professional football players from the Toronto Argonauts who said it is about “leading by example both on and off the field.”
Zonta Club of Gaylord Area President Amber Theriault followed King’s presentation by asking the athletes to not initiate or encourage inappropriate jokes. Rather, she called on them to help make a cultural shift. Theriault challenged the student-athletes to commit to and share the message of respect for women.
Cherie Nutter, a Zonta member and president of the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan Board of Directors, closed the event by speaking of the goal to keep local young athletes from making gender-biased slurs.
The Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan has also created a program titled “Coaching Boys Into Men,” designed to encourage coaches to teach young athletes about respecting women and working to end violence against women.
The Zonta Club of Central Oklahoma and local partners gathered at the Oklahoma City Skydance Bridge on 30 November to show support of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign during the 16 Days of Activism.
The color of the Skydance Bridge was changed to orange in support of the campaign. Pictures of the event were shared on social media to increase awareness.
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