12 November was a big day for the Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County, Colorado, USA, as they participated in two events for the Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women campaign. First, the club hosted two inspirational speakers, Kathy Robertson, founder of Abby’s Voice and Janine D’Anniballe, Director at Mental Health Partners and former Executive Director for Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA).

Next, the club joined members of its Boulder High School Pantherz Z Club, along with MESA, University of Colorado (CU) Boulder students and CU-Boulder Women & Gender Studies, as they organized over 100 marchers on the steps at the University Memorial Center on the university’s campus. The marchers took to the streets with signs and chants to spread the message to the community that “No means no.”

As part of its Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women campaign, the Zonta Club of Southern Black Hills, South Dakota, USA, hosted an educational and informational forum. Held on 14 November, the “Empowering Women and Teens for Violence Prevention” event included guest speakers, videos, presentations and discussions.

On 21 October, when the Zonta Club of Kaohsiung Yu-Hsiuan presented awards to merit students in Kaohsiung Municipal Girls’ Senior High School, the principal, winners and members of Kaohsiung Z Club took a group photo with the Zonta Says NO to Violence against Women banner to raise awareness and increase actions to end violence again women and girls.

On 25 October, during a meeting of the Zonta Club and Kaohsiung American School Z Club, members raised their right fists and showed their support for ‪#‎ZontaSaysNO‬

The Zonta Club of Bunbury Inc., Australia has had a set of orange high visibility “Zonta Says NO Vests” donated and club members are pictured here, ‘trying them on’ at a Zonta meeting!
The club plans to wear the vests during their ‘Zonta Says NO’ campaigns.

photo by: http://www.frostillustrated.com/

On Saturday, 3 October, five Zonta Clubs of Indiana (Columbus, Fort Wayne, Frankfort, Indianapolis, and Lebanon) along with about 100 walkers, met in Indianapolis at Monument Circle to stage a walk to give voice to the Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women campaign.

Zontians, their family, and friends gathered to hear Linda Majors, Director of Domestic Violence Initiatives from the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office speak on the issue of violence against women. After, the group walked to the Indiana State House where attorney and former Bartholomew County Deputy Prosecutor Kelly Benjamin spoke. The group then returned to the Circle for more interactions. The walk was free and open to the public.

The most important lesson learned is the tremendous power of women working together and what can be accomplished when this happens. The clubs partnered with like-minded such as Agape Alliance, which works with sex workers. The club also passed out flyers about Zonta and water bottles with Zonta Says NO labels.
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The Zonta Club of Stara Zagora held the first of three events, as part of their project “Sport Against Violence”. The event for the general public was full of joy and happiness and supported from a lot of people, including whole families who learned about Zonta Says No and are waiting to learn more.

Watch a short film about this event below: (English subtitles)

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“Say No to Violence Against Women” Mirco-Film Project was sponsored by the Zonta Club of Hong Kong East and organized by Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Jockey Club M21.  The project aimed to raise the awareness of the subject among the young generation and to nurture their creativity in spreading the message via the internet platform.  It commenced in early 2014, and was in several phases.

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On 8 March, the Zonta Club of Central Oklahoma, USA, in partnership with YWCA’s sexual assault nurse examiners, Beautiful Dreams Society, and other local women’s programs, held a rally at the SkyDance Bridge in Oklahoma City to say NO to violence against women.

Oklahoma ranks third in the nation for the number of women killed by domestic violence. Members sent a message of unity to raise awareness of and increase actions to end violence against women and girls.  All participants were encouraged to wear orange in support of the event and the SkyDance Bridge was lit in orange lights for the cause.

The death of 4 –year-old girl believed to have been subjected to a violent beating by her stepmother and biological father has caused great concern among the Mongolian public. On Saturday, 28 February, thousands of people were crowded at Chinggis Square to light a candle for the memory of the little girl and expressing their condolences. This vigil was initiated by the Facebook group and Zonta Clubs in Mongolia actively participated in the event along with representatives of NGO’s, clubs and thousands of city residents.

The aim of the event was to honor the memory of the little girl who died as a victim of violence and to and to protect the rights of children living with domestic violence, calling for state attention to the violation of children’s rights.