Noosa says no to domestic and family violence was a message sent by the Zonta Club of Noosa.

“Violence against women is not inevitable, it is preventable,“ Zonta Club of Noosa president Robyn O’Neill told a group of supporters who marched along Gympie Terrace last Sunday to say no to violence against women and girls.

“To end violence against women we need to challenge attitudes that perpetuate, rationalise and normalise that violence and deny women’s rights to safety,“ Robyn said.

“Violence is the language of the inarticulate. It’s so true. We’ve seen it in our own lives when people get so angry they can’t speak – that’s when they resort to physical violence. Too many people don’t understand how to express themselves without dominance, power and control.

“Respect starts with a conversation, so let’s start talking. We need to start real conversations about why ordinary people commit horrific acts of violence against the people closest to them.“

The club’s annual walk is part of Zonta International’s 16 Days of Activism campaign (from 25 November to World Human Rights Day on 10 December) against gender-based violence, aimed at raising awareness of the risks, impact and dangers of gender-based violence.

So far this year, 58 women in Australia have been killed in domestic and family violence situations.

Robyn described the campaign as a call for action, a critical part in a global movement “against one of world’s most persistent violations against human rights and that is violence against women“.

“Calls for action are crucial. They shine a spotlight on the issue of violence against women,“ she said.

“They are a moment to create public awareness of what needs to change to prevent it from happening in the first place at all at local, national and international level. Because as we know violence against women and girls is something that effects every country in world.

“To end violence against women we need to challenge attitudes that perpetuate, rationalise and normalise that violence and deny women’s rights to safety.

“Shifting behaviours is hard and slow but gender equality means all of us and working with all genders is the only way to see true change. We need the men to stand beside the women all the way.

“While men can be victims as well, they are overwhelmingly the perpetrators of gender based violence.“

After a week chairing public hearings held by the Youth Justice Reform Select Committee, Noosa MP Sandy Bolton told the group what she had heard taught her much more than a discussion was needed.

“What we’ve seen in households across Queensland – it starts right there,“ Sandy said.

“It’s all interconnected. The children who are coming out of those households – it is deeply disturbing that we haven’t broken the cycle and we have so much more to do.

“What we have found is there’s a lack of communication to the assistance available and also the early interventions that happen right in our schools.

“Just about every witness I’ve heard this week has said it takes a community, it takes a society. It’s not just up to government or one person, it takes all of us.

“I ask you to spread the word that there is help and within the homes to reach out. If you don’t know who to reach out to call council, call myself, call somebody and we will connect you and follow Zonta on Facebook.“

Source: https://noosatoday.com.au/news/29-11-2023/noosa-says-no-to-violence-2/

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.

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.

Click here to watch the entire interview

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. 

To kick off the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the Zonta Club of Makati and Environs, the Philippines, presented an art exhibition featuring the paintings, sculptures and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of the artist Carlos from 24-27 November. The exhibition took place at the Power Plant Mall, and a portion of the proceeds was donated to the Zonta Foundation for Women.

Carlos is a painter and sculptor whose career has spanned 40 years. He is best known for his vibrant colors, which are just as much a subject as the idyllic scenes he paints on his canvases. His work focuses on the joy of life, depicted in his subjects. His color palette encourages his viewers to savor and relish life’s moments of beauty, romance and love.

In honor of the 16 Days, several paintings and sculptures featured women as the subject of the works, together with their different roles. Beyond their roles in the family, which are usually depicted in art by renderings of mother and child, and which Carlos takes as a subject that goes beyond the literal, the artworks also offer depictions of their chosen professions, with some sculptures touching on figurative meanings rather than literal translations of their chosen roles.