For at least one Chatham-Kent family, fighting violence against women transcends generations.

Heidi Vidler, her daughter Sara Vidler and her grandchildren, Ravyn and Addison Doughty, marched on the Parry Bridge over the Thames River Friday as part of the Zonta Club of Chatham-Kent’s Say NO to Violence Against Women rally.

“I’ve been in the military for 28 years and this is the kind of stuff we fight against,” said Heidi Vidler. “I want my girls to know that it’s just as important for them when they grow up.”

The rally was against all types of violence and abuse against women across the world, including child brides, genital mutilation and sexual violence.

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Zonta International members raise a flag to kick off its campaign against gender-based violence Sunday at Niagara Square. (John Hickey/Buffalo News)

Sunday marked the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

At Niagara Square, the Zonta Club of Buffalo hosted a gathering to commemorate the occasion and launch its annual “16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence” leading to Human Rights Day.

The international organization, which was founded a stone’s throw away at the Statler Hotel in 1919, used the occasion to also mark its 100th anniversary next year by hosting a Centennial Flag. But the main focus was on the issue at hand.

“Advocacy is important, but it is not enough,” said Bonnie Clesse of Boston, N.Y., District 4 governor and member of Zonta Club of Hamburg-Orchard Park. “Action has to be taken to eliminate violence against women.”

Twenty underprivileged schoolgirls with the sewing machines they received from Zonta Club of Dhaka IV at Azampur Government Primary School. Photo: Prabir Das

Thirteen-year-old Bokul stopped going to school, feeling unsafe because of eve-teasing. Despite her mother’s protest, Bokul’s father and grandmother married her off forcibly.

At her in-laws’ house, Bokul found it hard to make everybody happy. She gave birth to a baby girl, making her life even more difficult. She now wants to return to school. But it is impossible!

This is the story of “Voice of Bokul,” a play performed by a troupe of underprivileged children from Protigga Foundation, at a program held at Azampur Government Primary School yesterday.

The Zonta Club of Dhaka IV, Bangladesh, organized the event as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Protigga Foundation is a partner of Zonta Club of Dhaka IV, which works for advancing the status of women.

A total of 20 underprivileged girls were given free sewing machines at the event, on completion of a three-month-long training program.

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Seven red dresses hung outside of KHTS Radio on Tuesday as part of an annual “Red Dress Project” display honoring seven Santa Clarita women who were killed by domestic abuse.

“We’re glad to participate in the Red Dress Project event,” said KHTS Radio Owner Carl Goldman.“It’s a powerful way to send a critical message to our valley.”

Throughout the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the campaign is aimed toward bringing awareness to domestic violence in the community and is part of the annual Zonta says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.

“Yes, domestic violence is in Santa Clarita,” said Susan Hayward, a member of the Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley, USA. “The dresses are red because of the blood that was spilled during the time that they were abused.”

The project is put on by the city of Santa Clarita, along with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, the Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley and the domestic violence program of the Child and Family Center.

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The Zonta Clubs of Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Fort Erie, Canada, joined at Table Rock Welcome Centre in Niagara Falls to celebrate the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

The event featured speakers and demonstrations, followed by a walk to the Falls—which turned orange to mark the event—and a candlelight vigil.

Zonta International members pose for a photograph with the teachers and students of Dhaka Gaoyair High School in Dhakkhinkhan at a programme titled ‘End violence against women and girls now’ on Tuesday. 

The Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh, kicked off its Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign on Sunday with a rally titled “Orange the World” at Baridhara Park in Dhaka.

Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka President Tootli Rahman and club members gathered at the park in orange dresses. They lit lamps for enlightenment and held pens as a symbol of education in their hands. They later paraded through the park in a procession.

Rahman said the club is working to end child marriage.

“We’ve already saved over 1,000 girls from falling victims to child marriage in Kurigram,” she told the newspaper New Age.

Rahman also said the club will be holding events throughout the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence to create awareness of the negative impacts of child marriage.

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