The Zonta Club of East Auckland Area, District 16, partnered with a local organization to raise awareness of ending child marriage.
The club, along with Shakti, a women’s refuge organization, installed a display at a local library.
On 25 November, the Zonta Club of Burg Staufenberg/Giessen Area, District 28, organized a ceremony in Giessen’s main church.
During the event, attendees heard four reports from women who were victims of violence.
This was followed by a short period of meditation and words of condolence spoken by a cleric. The singing of the gospel choir increased the feeling of empathy and compassion. At the end of the ceremony members lit candles in memory of all women who have suffered violence in the city and in the world. The church, along with other prominent buildings, was illuminated inside and outside with an orange light which made the whole even more of a spiritual experience.
As part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign, the Zonta Club of Prowers County, District 12, worked with the city of Lamar, Colorado to issue a proclamation. The proclamation declared the days between 25 November and 10 December as the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Club members are also raising awareness of the issue of violence against women around their community by distributing posters and banners to local businesses.
This year, Zonta clubs in Germany broke a record by having a whopping 90 percent of its 130 clubs conduct a Zonta Says NO action. Together, the participating clubs lit up an estimated total of 700 bridges, landmarks, offices, banks and schools in orange light in alignment with UN Women’s campaign to orange the world to end violence against women.
In all 16 federal states from North to South and East to West, from the smallest rural towns to the major German cities, the country radiated orange on the night of 25 November as a symbol of hope against the problem of violence against women and child marriage. Famous buildings such as the Munich airport, Funkturm Berlin radio tower, Parliament building in Düsseldorf, St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt, Alster Lake in Hamburg and even the world-famous football arena from FC Bayern in Munich, Allianz Arena, were lit up in orange light.
From the Zonta Club of Ludwigshafen-Pfalz, these photos showcase the nationwide effort to “orange the world,” where more than 100 clubs in Germany lit buildings in orange light and took to the streets to raise awareness of the problem of violence against women.
Zonta clubs around Germany worked tirelessly for months convincing local politicians, institutions, corporations and like-minded organizations to cooperate with them and join in the campaign. Some clubs, such as the Zonta clubs of Dortmund and Osnabrück Westfälischer Friede, managed to light up over 80 buildings in their town alone and others such as the Zonta clubs of Leverkusen and Moenchengladbach Area helped decorate city buses in orange.
This concerted nationwide campaign was accompanied by a huge press campaign on local, regional and national levels. The campaign appeared on German television, radio, online media, newspapers and magazines. The combination of the strong visual theme, the urgency of the problem, the concrete club activity, often in cooperation with other local partners and states, as well as the nationwide campaign, was powerful enough to garner the interest of the press.
Around 25 Zontians helped to make this happen by volunteering to join the national Zonta Says NO Action Group – an inter-district group with representatives from all seven areas in five districts. They developed a huge catalog of promotional materials with a graphic designer, a fellow Zontian. A flyer, poster, banner and roll-up in German, as well as branded umbrellas, scarves, giveaways and more, were designed and could be ordered and customized by all German clubs.
Furthermore, they developed a comprehensive press kit with facts and figures on all aspects of the campaign, thanks to the extensive research done by the German Advocacy Group, and provided the clubs with a press release template they could easily customize for their local activity. They worked endlessly to contact regional and national media and helped find interviews.
One Zontian managed to convince a production company to produce a professional radio spot, which many German radio stations aired at no cost.
Students in one district produced an outstanding video that clubs and other districts could use to motivate local state institutions and corporations to join the campaign. The Zonta webmasters for the German website and Facebook pages ensured the information was current, attractive and motivating for Zontians, the media and the general public alike.
This great success demonstrates the power of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign and what can be achieved if clubs join forces and a national committee or action group leads and motivates clubs, coordinates and consolidates activities and produces concrete tools and guides for clubs. That inspiration and concrete support of the clubs makes all the difference.
The Zonta Club of Bad Nauheim-Friedberg, District 28, organized a public display as part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
They created a stage that held informational stands and a lightning campaign focused on “organging” the town in orange lights on 25 November.
There were about 200 people who visited the stage and were interested in learning more.
The club partnered with multiple city officials to put on the event and light up eleven buildings in the city area. Eighty shops were decorated in orange as well.
Zontians also handed out orange flowers and oranges in honor of the color theme.
Frankfurt glowed orange on 25 November in recognition of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
The buildings of Alte Oper, Paulskirche, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Deutsches Filmmuseum and DGB Gewerkschafthaus were all lit in orange lights.
In cooperation with the Women’s Department of the City of Frankfurt am Main, the Zonta Club of Frankfurt/Main and the Zonta Club of Frankfurt II Rhein-Main, both in District 28, together with other women’s networks, sent a strong message opposing violence against women.
If it is all about visibility and advocacy, Jessica Thamm reckons orange does the cause justice. In the run-up to 25 November, Jessica’s club, the Zonta Club of Bielefeld, picked a spot, or two, got some lights sorted, chilled the wine, and made sure that everyone around them knew they would be “oranging” Bielefeld, Germany. It worked.
An otherwise organized mini-demonstration ended at the Hermann Stenner Kunstforum where the club was “oranging” everything up in orange light. Members united as one to say NO to violence against women and girls.
“If people haven’t seen us, Zonta, yet, it is because they were either asleep or had their eyes closed. The awareness we strive for has no end. It is a constant. It is something to be proud of,” Jessica said. “And we are channeling our energy and time and dedication for a cause that will never stop needing us for as long as there is violence against women and girls.”
The members are proud to be in District 29 and found great pleasure in the beauty of all the orange spots dotted around their district and in Area 5.
“Women who have the spirit to join forces for the cause are – if you like – to some extent invincible,” Jessica said. “Zonta says NO. The Zonta Club of Bielefeld says NO. With no end in sight.”
The weekend leading up to the kick off of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the Zonta Club of Mitchell, District 23, held their inaugural community art and craft show to showcase works completed by members.
Money raised will go toward funding Zonta service projects. The event also served as a platform to display projects and provide information to the public about Zonta International in its Centennial year.
On 28 November, members of the Zonta Club of Mitchell participated in the inaugural Walk Against Violence in Kilmore, Victoria, Australia. The club initiated the walk and members were proud of the community support they received. Police, the local hospital, and many men advocated to call out violence against women and the local Shire were well represented.
The Zonta Club of Lebanon in Indiana, District 6, is participating in the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence in two ways this year. The first is by displaying orange pinwheels, the domestic violence hotline phone number, and the “Zonta Says NO” slogan and Zonta Club of Lebanon logo on the Boone County Courthouse lawn during the 16 days, bringing attention to both the club and to the Zonta Says NO campaign.
Club members also participated in a photo shoot during the September meeting, each member holding a placard with a statistic relating to gender violence, violence against women, FGM, and/or child marriage. These photos are being released and shared to Zonta Club of Lebanon’s Facebook page each day over the 16 days.
On 23 November, the Zonta Club of Berlin, District 27, informed community members about support for women affected by violence in Germany and especially in Berlin at the Schönhauser Allee Arcaden shopping centre.
Zontians distributed bags with the slogan “Gewalt kommt nicht in die Tüte!” or “Violence is completely out of the question!” The bags also contained informational material.
Join us in saying NO 