Dressed in orange and carrying Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women signs and banners, members of the Zonta Club of Findlay, USA, walked in silence on Friday to raise awareness for the campaign and ending gender-based violence.
Click below to watch a video from The Courier.
The Zonta Club of Cotonou, Benin, held a sensitization activity with mototaxi men as part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
The rich, interactive debate included a representative from the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs, representatives from donors and international organizations, a local government representative, and people from other service clubs such as Inner Wheel, Lions Club, Soroptomist and the civil society.
The event was a successful mobilization effort and and partnership of activists interested in fighting violence against women.
The Zonta Club of Glens Falls efforts for the 16 Days of Activism included activities to raise awareness of violence against women in their community and to provide information about resources available for victims of abuse. On 3 December, members of the club gathered in City Park in downtown Glens Falls in an informational rally. The location was close to the local Glens Falls Transit bus stop where three city busses displayed the Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women message. The nearby Civic Center marquee displayed the same Zonta Says No logo. Club members asked local businesses to show support of the 16 Days of Activism by displaying placards and posters in their windows facing the main streets in the core of downtown Glens Falls.
With the help of many local businesses including Nemer Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge and Glens Falls National Bank, the Zonta Club of Glens Falls successfully “painted the town orange” for the 16 Days of Activism.
Cyber Violence against Women and Girls: A world-wide wake-up call, a report from UN Women, identifies three ways to combat cyber violence: sensitize to the dangers, safeguard against harassment, and sanction those who perpetuate internet abuse. Learn more and read the report at UN Women.
The members of the Zonta Club of Perth joined with the Zonta House Refuge Staff and the Positive Pathways Program (education program victims of family violence) by marching through the streets of the city of Perth to say “NO” to violence. Hundreds of people gather in the city of Perth annually to acknowledge those lives lost and families impacted by the such violence. Government ministers, community leaders and victims speak at the rally prior to the silent march. The march has maximum impact by marching through the lunch time crowds of city workers and shoppers.
The Police Commission of Western Australia also entered the march supported by many police officers who are also working to reduce family violence.
Zonta Club Punta del Este Maldonado with colleagues in the E-Club Uruguay 1 participated in the commemoration by the local authorities on 25 November.
Knowing that the University of Colorado (UC) community and surrounding college campuses are dealing first-hand with the atrocities of campus rape culture, the Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder CO is taking action around Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women! This year, the Club is implementing an in-depth plan to spread their message throughout Boulder County to take action. Members started with the “20 Minutes of Action” Rally at CU, and are now working with their community schools to create a “Culture of Respect” that protects women from sexual intimidation and reaches even more deeply to respect all students, teachers and members of the community.
Here is their story:
20 Minutes of Action
The Zonta Foothill Club of Boulder CO co-sponsored a CU Rally entitled “20 minutes of Action” that more than 200 people attended. Local TV and print media attended this rally, which was named from a quote by the father of a former Stanford University athlete convicted on multiple charges of sexual assault. The father told the press said his son should not have to go to prison for “20 minutes of action.” This rally brought the community together. MESA, the CU Women’s Resource Center, The Watershed School, and students of University of Colorado Boulder were one with the Zonta Foothills Club in saying “NO” to sexual violence on campus.
Boulder Valley Schools Board of Education on Zonta Says No!
The Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder CO had a contingent of speakers attend a public session to describe the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign, and urge the board of education to take action. Speakers included: Zonta members Julie Martinez and Kay Meyer, Camilo Casas (Men Standing Up coordinator, Moving to End Sexual Assault), Adela Aguirre (Boulder High School student and PantherZ Z Club President), and Libby Symes (CU student and Boulder HS alumna) Our call to action was the creation of a task force to look at possible curricula for K-12 that address gender, relationships, bullying and others related to violence against women. The Club is following up with individual meetings with board members to follow up on implementation.
Front Range Community College Silent Witness Project
Working with Women’s History class students at FRCU, the Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder CO created and hung Silent Witness silhouettes all around their local campus. They also hung fliers in every bathroom stall on campus urging victims to “Make the Call” and providing 24-hour hotline numbers for MESA and St Vrain Safe Shelter. It contains the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women logo and encourage victims to call MESA or St Vrain Safe Shelter for help.
The Boulder High School PantherZ Z Club ZSN project
The Club made 25 Silent Witness silhouettes in black (for sexual violence story) and yellow (for rape culture story) which will they hung in the school’s library. They also hung “Make the Call” fliers in bathrooms and bulletin boards throughout the school. Finally, the club produced a 40-second video for the school’s Panther TV to ask their school to sign in the “Culture of Respect” pledge. A banner of the pledge and a large sign up flier is hung in the school’s central hall.
Audrie & Daisy Screening
Club members and community guests viewed a screening of Audrie & Daisy, an impactful documentary that tells the real tragedy of a rape culture in a small Missouri town.
Displayed Silent Witness project at MESA’s Brave, Bold and Beautiful
This fundraiser supports Moving to End Sexual Assault. All funds raised will help to maintain the 24-hour hotline, educational work, victim support and other efforts, to help stem sexual violence in our community. The Club is proud to exhibit their 25 Zonta Says NO Silent Witness silhouettes, and their Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women information at this event. Their participation brought the Zonta International message to more than 200 Boulder County supporters. Ten club members also worked at the event helping set up and manage the silent auction.
“Culture of Respect” Campaign
The men’s and women’s basketball teams at two local high schools are working together to support the Culture of Respect in their schools. The Club met with team captains and they invited more than 70 team members, grades 9-12 to put together a full “Culture of Respect” plan and secure the team’s support for promoting in this pledge their school. They then went to the entire program and coordinated a two-hour session where 70 athletes worked together to create and hang their own Silent Witness Project around Fairview High School. The Boulder High School basketball program is also participating in the “Culture of Respect.” Working with their school’s PantherZ Z Club, they will be gathering signatures and then, at their January 27 competition, the teams from both schools will come mid court announce their support of the pledge and urge their communities to sign on in support of creating this community-wide culture.
Early marriage is a form of sexual and gender-based violence with detrimental physical, social and economic effects. Niger has the highest child marriage rate in the world with 77 percent of girls married by age 18 and 30 percent married by age 15. Forty-two percent of adolescent girls give birth before the age of 17. A high proportion of school-aged girls are not in school and 73 percent of adolescent girls, ages 15-19, cannot read or write.
Zonta International has committed US$1,000,000 to UNFPA to reduce early marriage and early pregnancy in a critical mass of communities in Niger. Learn more at: http://foundation.zonta.org/Child-Marriage.
The Zonta Club of Port Macquarie Inc., Australia, has set up a Zonta Says NO display in the Port Macquarie-Hastings Library. This display is seen by hundreds of library visitors each day. Club brochures are also being offered to attract new members. The Zonta club members are donating Christmas gifts to the Women’s and Children’s Refuge at the close of the 16 Days of Activism. Club President Margaret Bateman is pictured with the display.
On Friday, 25 November, the Zonta Club of Everett, Washington, USA, held a vigil and provided information to their community about ending violence against women while sharing how violence affected their own lives.
Join us in saying NO 