The Zonta Club of Kathmandu and Golden Z Club Kathmandu in Nepal have partnered to spread awareness of gender-based violence throughout its city.

The clubs produced 100 Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women signs and placed them in major shopping areas across Kathmandu Valley that have high visibility.

The clubs’ objective with this initiative is to raise awareness and create a buzz around the issue of violence against women.

For more photos, check out the Zonta Club of Kathmandu’s Facebook album.

The Zonta Club of Nanaimo, Canada, celebrated its second year of  participating in the 16 Days of Activism and Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaigns with their local junior hockey team, the Nanaimo Clippers.

The club alerted local media, and the Nanaimo News Bulletin published a story. Following the publicity the article brought, club members attended a home game, where they set up a table and greeted fans while handing out hundreds of orange awareness bracelets and buttons to local fans. More than 90 people came by the table throughout the game to learn more about what we were about and why Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women.

The Zonta e-Club of Finland 1, Europe’s first e-club, started their Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign with a visit to the Finnish Parliament.

Members from the club gave orange wool socks to six female Members of Parliament, who belong to other Zonta clubs, and also to Eva Biaudet, Member of Parliament and president of the National Council of Women of Finland.

With these socks, the club aims to highlight the values and importance of actions to end violence against women and girls.

The Zonta Club of Cotonou, Benin, participated in the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign with three activities.

In partnership with a local nongovernmental organization that helps abused girls, the club walked in a march that ended in the biggest market of West Africa, Dantokpa Market, where the club held a sensitization event.

The club also turned Cotonou orange, dressing taxi motorcyclists in orange. They arrived in a convoy at the Place Lénine, where the club hosted a public debate on violence against women. The event was co-sponsored with Soroptimist.

For the third activity, the Zonta Club of Cotonou joined Soroptomist in organizing a conference to assess Benin’s progress in fighting gender-based violence and assessing how effective the law is in punishing violence perpetrators. Attendees included representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Supreme Court and UNFPA, judges, the U.S. ambassador in Benin, the director of Peace Corps, and a local civil society representative.

Throughout the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign, club had the opportunity to be visible in its community and convey the message and values of Zonta, particularly its commitment to empower women, fight for women’s rights and fight against violence against women, which prohibits them from living in dignity and having a flourishing life.

On Saturday, 26 November members of the Zonta Club of Accra II raised awareness of the issue of domestic violence as unacceptable behaviour by telling members of the public that they say NO to domestic violence. This was part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women & 16 Days of Activism campaigns.

Members of the Club identified a busy petrol station in the city of Accra and handed out leaflets to motorists who came to buy fuel. They also distributed leaflets to motorists along the road and engaged them in conversations about the need to recognize gender-based violence and work toward ending it. Members of the public were enthusiastic about the club’s initiative and requested for more fliers to distribute to others. They also expressed great interest in the activities of Zonta and commended the efforts.

The Zonta Club of La Union-San Fernando City joined the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign by educating the students of the Brain and Heart of a Christian and Don Eulogio De Guzman Memorial National High School.

The Club distributed flyers to the students to spread awareness about women’s rights and how to increase actions to stop violence against women. The Club also hung two banners in both schools and had a signature campaign of 2,000 students as a support to Zonta’s advocacy to end violence against women.

On Saturday, 3 December, the Clubs of Area 04 in District 27 met in Odessa. Governor Griet de Prycker and Lt. Governor Régine Deguelle visited the Area Meeting.  Attendees took a stand against Violence against Women.

On 26 November, the Zonta Club of Berlin took a stand against violence against women and raised money for the Zonta International Service Projects.  Past Governor Florence Fischer and Governor Griet de Prykcer visited the club’s event while they were in Berlin to organize the 2017 District 27 Conference. Upon their arrival they went to visit the stand of Zonta Club of Berlin.

Today is Human Rights Day, and the last day of the 16 Days of Activism. “We are very, very proud of all our clubs and members who have stood up for the rights of all women and girls globally over the last two weeks,” said President Sonja Hönig Schough. Read more in a blog post: http://bit.ly/2h0bIe0

In anticipation of the opening of the campaign, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, the Zonta Club of Ilocos Norte, Philippines, distributed banners with the heading, “Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women,” to the two cities and 21 municipalities in the province of Ilocos Norte, to the mayors.