Tomorrow begins the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, which runs through 10 December.
In a new blog post, President Sonja Hönig Schough kicks off this year’s Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign and explains its focus on human trafficking.
Photo: Mariah Ellis/KGWN
Mayor Marian Orr, mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA, was among members in the community who are taking a stance against gender violence. Orr signed a proclamation at the Wyoming Supreme Court Building, helping kick off the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign.
Shortly after, Orr joined members of the public as well as the Zonta Club of Cheyenne and Cheyenne Triumph High School’s Z Club in a silent march to the Laramie County Library.
Triumph High School Z Club president Hannah Lipps said it was a great experience being joined by others in the community taking a stance. She said, “It felt really good because, you know, you’re not alone.” She added, “I think it’s a good thing to do, it’s a good thing to stand up for other people who can’t do it themselves or they feel too scared to do it themselves.”
Members of the Zonta Club of Ogdensburg, USA, District 2, asked their local city council to join them Monday in helping to raise awareness of the ongoing violence against women and children across the region and around the world.
Ogdensburg Mayor Wayne Ashley, along with City Council, issued a proclamation in support of the Zonta-led cause.
Click here to read more.
Leading up to their district conference, District 27 members cycled for four days to raise awareness for the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
With the goal of combining advocacy, service, visibility and friendship, District 27 Governor Griet De Prycker organized an event that would be very visible: a large group of women riding bicycles in a “sea of orange.”
District 27 has clubs in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, and Ukraine. Thirty district members rode from Braunschweig, Germany, to Berlin over four days. A tour bus with their luggage and a support team followed their route. The tour bus was decorated with a Zonta Says NO banner.
When the cyclists arrived at the district conference, 66 members joined for a bike ride and walking tour of Berlin. During the tour, each member wore an orange Zonta Says NO T-shirt and carried an orange balloon or umbrella.
Each participant also donated €5 (approximately US$6), collecting €11000 (approximately US$13,000) to be donated to the Zonta International Strategies to End Violence Against Women (ZISVAW) Fund.
Local news outlets covered the event. Watch a report on local television here.
As community members started their walk against domestic violence, an area woman approached them to find out who to contact to help someone in her family who she indicated was a victim.
Jennifer Nagle, president of Zonta Club of La Salle-Peru Area, USA, told the woman about A Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault Service in Streator — a service that provides a safe atmosphere for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. The woman searched for the service on her phone and found the contact information.
The club held the Luminary Walk Against Domestic Violence in October with about a dozen people joining the effort and attending the program afterward.
Click here to read the full article.
In June, the Zonta Club of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and the Harley Davidson Owners Group joined to protest violence against women.
The event spanned over the weekend and 200 km (about 125 miles) and participants dressed in safety jackets with the message, “Stop Violence, Zonta Says NO.”
The activity made front-page news, a first for any service club of Neuchâtel, and was picked up by the local TV station.
The Zonta Club of Nurmes, Finland, organized a seminar on safety in everyday life as part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign in early June. The guest speaker of the seminar was the highest ranking police officer in Finland, National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen.
Kolehmainen reminded attendees that nobody need or should tolerate violence in any form and that nothing justifies violent behavior toward other people.
According to Kolehmainen, the biggest threat to everyday safety in Finland is social exclusion. Preventing that is up to everyone, not just the police, he points out.
Kolehmainen says that the key issue is how young people are treated.
“Responsible parenthood, home-school collaboration, supporting freetime activities, creating common ground rules, supervision and intervention in delinquency,” he lists examples of measures how to tackle the issue.
Seventeen women died as a result of domestic violence in Finland last year. To symbolize these victims, 17 dresses were hung on a line on stage in Hannikaisen Sali in Nurmes-Talo. An installation similar to this one was on display at the district meeting in Oulu in April.
“Domestic violence is against the law, and the authorities are duty bound to intervene,” says the leading social worker, Maarit Haatanen. She and the chairperson of the multi-professional risk assessment group, Mika Kivelä spoke about the concrete help available for domestic abuse victims in the Nurmes area.
They assured that these resources were readily available all the time and at short notice. However, the victim must want to be helped, they pointed out. No adult can be helped against their will. To break the cycle of violence, there is help for the abuser, too, Haatanen and Kivelä reminded.
The audience asked questions about bullying in schools, which has been a hot topic in Finnish media in recent years. Kolehmainen says that the ground rules have to be clear: bullying is not allowed and the incidents have to be intervened. Haatanen mentioned that bullying is often cited in child protection cases.
The Everyday Safety seminar was created by the club’s Advocacy Committee.
The Zonta Club of Bombay III, jointly with Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action (SNEHA) hosted their activism 2016 project of ‘Say No to Violence with Power of Education – Our Daughter, Our Strength.’ Two movies conveying girl/women’s achievements with education and videos on domestic violence & sexual harassments were shown to eight communities of four slums of Mumbai.
The final program, attended by 160+ Sanginies (women volunteers of SNEHA) and Zontians, was held on 7 November 2016 at the Hall of SNEHA at Chhota Sion Hospital next to Dharavi Slums. Seven groups of Sanginies with songs, enactments, statements and a fashion show with placards conveyed the messages learned by them through watching movies and videos:
The purpose of the project was to convey to men, as well as women, the importance of education and social and legal awareness for girls and women. Zonta Club of Bombay III President Roshni Meherhomji and Mahazaver Dalal appreciated endeavors of Sanginies.
Call of the club banner was: Say No to violence with Power of Education – Our Daughter’s Education, Our progress – Our Daughter, Our Strength’. To symbolize the message orange pens with Hindi message ‘Hamari Beti, Hamari Shakti’ were given to all Sanginies. They will be the catalysts to spread the awareness with Zonta’s message in the communities of slums and to be there in need to help and guide.
The Zonta Club of Billings, Montana, USA, has a renewed commitment to increasing exposure and awareness in their community. Despite a long history of Zontians making a difference in Billings, it seemed a large majority of community members were yet unaware of Billings’ Zonta and their mission.
Armed with Zonta International’s Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women logo, club members with experience in graphic design worked with the Advocacy Committee to build an awareness campaign that challenges the public to report and put a stop to violence against women and helps to get the word out about Zonta.
It was a proud moment for members as the campaign kicked off with the installation of graphics on five buses and two billboards. The first billboard faces the interstate and the second billboard can be found in the heart of downtown Billings.
The club has also produced two 10′ banners, a 14′ banner, a pull-up banner, t-shirts and hand warmers. For more information on their campaign, visit www.billingszonta.org/sayno.
On 22 January, 3,200 people—mostly male—welcomed the Zonta Club of Alessandria, Italy, in to the local football stadium, Stadio Giuseppe Moccagatta.
Zontians and members of Z Club Alexandria were there before the football game to raise awareness of preventing violence against women.
Zontians displayed a banner on the field to remind everyone that the real men do not beat and do not wound women. “Hands off Women” has been the claim of the local Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign since 2012.
The stadium audience clapped at Zonta’s invitation to respect women and their will, also by wearing an orange colored item of clothing the 25th day of every month.
Finally, everybody honored the memory of 120 women killed by male violence in Italy in 2016 with a moment of silence.
The Zonta Club of Alessandria starts its 2017 advocacy campaign with football, the most popular sport played and loved by many Italian men.
Local press gave great visibility to the Zonta campaign before and after this advocacy action, allowing the club to reach and be seen by more than 50,000 readers.
Join us in saying NO 