WALLASEY Town Hall will be illuminated in orange from tonight, along with other iconic buildings and landmarks across Liverpool City Region, in a 16-day global campaign aimed at ending gender-based violence and abuse.
For the second consecutive year, Savera UK, a Merseyside-based leading charity that tackles culturally-specific abuse such as ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA), forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), has joined forces with Zonta Club London (part of Zonta International) to support the United Nations’ ‘Orange The World’ campaign.
The two organisations are partnering to raise awareness of gender-based violence and abuse in the UK and around the world, through a series of events and initiatives that will take place during the United Nation’s 16 Days of Activism, which runs from International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls to Human Rights Day on December 10.
Landmarks being illuminated include Liverpool Town Hall, St George’s Hall, Cunard Building, World Museum Liverpool, Merseyside Police Headquarters, Rose Hill and its Canning Place offices, Greystone Footbridge in Knowsley, Mersey Gateway Bridge in Halton and Wallasey Town Hall.
Everton FC will support the campaign by illuminating Goodison Park in solidarity, while Sefton Council will be “lighting up digitally” on 25th November to mark the start of the 16 days of the campaign.
Individuals are also being invited to light an orange candle or light at home after sunset and place it in a window, as a mark of remembrance and symbol of hope.
Savera UK and Zonta London’s campaign also features an activism toolkit that will make it easier for people to participate in and engage with the 16 days of activism. The toolkit addresses themes such as allyship, advocacy and knowledge, and includes a bank of resources including social media assets and fact sheets, information about local and national organisations tackling gender-based violence, and events that people can attend to learn more.
The campaign will culminate in an online panel discussion Culture is Beautiful: No Excuse for Abuse on Thursday, December 9 from 4pm-6pm.
The discussion which will tackle the harmful ways that culture is wrongly conflated with human rights abuses against women and girls.
This year’s campaign ‘Orange the World’ campaign is described as more vital than ever, as violence against women remains devastatingly pervasive in our society.
In the 28 weeks following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard on March 3 this year, 81 other women were killed in circumstances where the suspect is a man.
A recently-released government survey also found that 97% of 18–24 year-old women have been sexually harassed, while 80% of all women have been sexually harassed in public.
Savera UK’s chief executive and Founder, Afrah Qassim, said: “The statistics about gender-based violence are shocking yet, sadly, no longer surprising.
“Across their lifetime, one in three women – around 736 million – will be subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner. This figure has remained largely unchanged over the last 10 years.
“It has never been more important for people to take action against gender-based violence.
“Activism takes many forms and even the smallest steps, such as educating yourself about different forms of abuse or identifying yourself as an ally can have an enormous impact. Our Orange the World toolkit provides a starting point for people to enact change.”
For more about the Orange the World 2021 campaign and download the toolkit, visit: https://www.saverauk.co.uk/orange-the-world-2021/.
https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/19741313.wallasey-town-hall-illuminated-orange-world-campaign/
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