The Zonta Club of North Sydney Breakfast Inc recently presented to 1,200 girls at Burwood High School as part of its Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women campaign. After the assembly, 10 members facilitated workshops with 250  Year 11 students. It kicked off with a mini movie about violence against women. During the workshop students learned how they can help their school end gender-based violence. Zontians learned from the experience, and the school plans to host workshops again next year. “We are happy to share our learnings and experience with other clubs that may want to approach schools in their area,” says Zonta Club of North Sydney Breakfast Inc President Linda Bisnette.

On Saturday, 5 December, the 50 women in the Fairview High School  basketball program in Boulder, Colorado, USA, let their school and community know that they stood with the Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County and Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women.

The club introduced the young women to Zonta International and Zonta Says NO to Voilence against Women, and then they created approximately 20 Silent Witness silhouettes, posters and statistic boards to post around the school. These powerful messages will be seen by hundreds of athletes, students and families over the coming weeks, as well as participants at next week’s Fairview Festival tournament, which hosts boys’ and girls’ basketball teams from all over the state.

The club thanks Varsity Head Coach and Program Director Rod Beauchamp and his staff for their support of their project and for giving them the attention of teams and his fans.

The Zonta Club of Ipswich Inc, Australia, is using “orange ladies” to spread awareness of violence against women throughout its community. The 16 cutouts of orange women will appear in various spots for the Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women campaign over the 16 Days of Activism, 25 November-10 December.

Zontians stand with the orange ladies ahead of the 16 Days of Activism

The orange ladies stand as witness to the launch of the campaign

Deputy Principal and Zontian, Rhonda Nolan with representatives of the Zonta Club of Ipswich Inc at the launch

Day 2: An orange lady at Drakes IGA Store, Roswood

Day 3: Cr Andrew Antoniolli at the Domestic Violence Action Centre

Day 4: An orange lady at the Domestic Violence Action Centre

Day 5: Ipswich city Mayor Paul Pisasale and Councillors pose with an orange lady

Day 6: Ipswich Jets Rugby League Club CEO, Wayne Wendt, with Area 4 Director, and Zonta club of Ipswich member Sandy with an orange lady

Day 7: An orange lady appears with the cast of “It all Begins with Love” at the theatre for Creative Regions.

Day 8: IGGS staff with an orange lady

Day 9: Member for Ipswich, Jennifer Howard MP, and her staff support Zonta Says NO.

Day 10: First National in Brisbane Street, Ipswich.

Day 11: Cr Victor Attwood’s staff support Zonta Says NO by hosting an orange lady as she stands in silence at Redbank Shopping Centre.

Day 12: Cr Victor Attwood’s staff support Zonta Says NO by hosting an orange lady as she stands in silence at Redbank Shopping Centre.

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The Zonta Club of South Puget Sound, Washington state, USA, is spreading the Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women message through The Clothesline Project. The CLP was started in 1990 “to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women.”

The Zonta club also has a Zonta Says No to Violence against Women campaign advertisement on the back of four city buses in the Olympia area. The ads will be displayed for four weeks.

The Zonta Club of Auburn and its Z Club met at Auburn’s City Hall, on the 28^th of November, and began a demonstration with a walk with a Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women banner to the Loop Rd. where the club members stopped and stood in a line to show their support of the 16 Days of Activism campaign. The concept of stopping traffic for 16 minutes was in direct response to the stop violence 16 day campaign. Christine Alexander, member of the Zonta Club of Auburn, created a video of a portion of the demonstration set to music with visuals of women and young girls who have been victims.

The club had a live blogger on the walk who pushed the demonstration out as it was happening, and the club had direct feedback. The club then put the video on its Facebook page and people are sharing it and commenting. The club found it very powerful to share this message and moment with the Z club members who walked beside them and got to see what Zonta works toward worldwide.

Watch the video: https://www.facebook.com/christine.remaleyalexander/videos/10207285738554080/.

On 2 December, the Zonta Club of Harrisburg-Hershey held a “Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women” rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Speakers included Representative Karen Boback, Representative Sue Helm and Representative Thomas Murt, who spoke on his proposed House Bill 135 to make female genital mutilation against the law in Pennsylvania. This event was covered by the press, and shown on both Channels 21 and 27 that same night.

In addition, the Club purchased a month’s time on three (3) digital billboards located in key freeway exits, highways, and streets in Harrisburg, PA. The billboards say in three (3) scrolls: Scroll 1: The Zonta Club of Harrisburg-Hershey (with Zonta logo) invites YOU to join us in celebrating the “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence”. Scroll 2: Zonta Says NO: Join the Campaign To End Violence Against Women Scroll 3: WHAT CAN YOU DO? * Support the Women Shelters in your Community * Educate yourself and others on the issue of Trafficking * Encourage Action on “Safe Harbor” Legislation.

Since the beginning of May 2015, members of the Zonta Club of Kungalv have been knitting, crocheting, embroidering and stitching in orange with the message Zonta Says NO. Late at night on 25 November, club members went out in the rain and storm and decorated the two parks of the towns of Kungälv and Stenungsund with their knitted Zonta Says No graffiti. Statues, benches, posts and trees were all decorated in bright orange. Attached to the messages was a QR-code that directed the viewer to the club’s home page where a presentation of the campaign was posted with the Zonta logo and Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women banner.

During the same night, the club sent a press release to all the local newspapers wrapped in an orange tube to catch the attention of the editorial staff. The club’s president was interviewed by all three local papers and the club got the front page and two full pages with pictures of its message plus a smaller article. This was the club’s way of sending a hard message in a soft way to the local community and the local media.

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The Zonta Club of Kathmandu, Nepal, held an event for high school and college students on Friday, 4 December. Supported by the World  Health Organization, “United Against Violence” used drama, dance and poetry to spread awareness against gender-based violence.

From The Kathmandu Post:

Children from various schools and colleges on Friday staged various programmes such as drama, dance and poem recitation to spread awareness against gender-based violence.

Through the programme, they portrayed the forms of domestic, sexual, physical and mental violence women face both in the public and private sphere of their lives. “We live in a patriarchal society which discriminates against women and causes violence against them. It is important to spread awareness on violence against women and spread a message to stop it,” said Pema Lama of Rato Bangala School.

The programme was organised by Zonta Nepal to mark the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign. The campaign runs through November 25-December 10 every year.

At the programme, Zonta Nepal President Pramila Acharya Rijal spoke on the importance of breaking the silence against gender-based violence. Rijal said the event was aimed at advocating for making education safe from gender-based violence for all, with a particular focus on young women.

Madhu Prasad Regmi, secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, said collective effort from the government, civil society and development partners was necessary to eliminate it. “The government has enacted laws against domestic violence and workplace sexual harassment. However, we feel that the law alone is not enough,” Regmi said.

The Zonta Club of East Auckland recently teamed up with Macleans Z Club in Howick, New Zealand, to pass out 2,000 orange ribbons. There were orange dolls with sashes on display, and the band rotunda was decorated in orange and with Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women posters. The Zonta and Z club members were supported by the Counties Manukau Police, local MP Jamie Lee Ross and family, and Adele White from the Community Board of the Auckland City Council. To increase awareness, retailers displayed information cards on counters and in windows.

The Zonta Club of Porterville was the shining beacon of orange in their town’s local holiday parade. Members walked the route holding a giant NO cutout and also rode in in a truck featuring clever, eye-catching signs reading “Dreaming of a Violence Free World”.