A serious topic transported with a twinkle in the eye, that’s what has been achieved by the two Zonta Düsseldorf clubs and the Zonta Club of Niers-Schwalm-Nette. 

The slogan just underneath the campaign logo translates from German with: “Violence against women won’t be put in our paper bags”, meaning: VAW is totally unacceptable for us.

 

On 23 November, the Zontians offered paper bags with sweet rolls to passers-by in return for a donation and engaged them in dialogues about VAW. The proceeds go to a well-known Düsseldorf organization that provides practical help and consultancy for women who experience violence.

 

 

 

 

 

Around 25 November, the top local bakery sold bakery goods in thousands of paper bags with this imprint. The German-wide VAW hotline is also present on the bags.

 

 

 

Watch a video of this event below:

On Sunday 24 November, the Zonta Club of Tübingen  joined an open talk with a social worker, two police officers in responsible positions concerning problems of prostitution, and a filmmaker who showed his movie,’Women as a merchandise’.

The title of the open talk was ‘Forced prostitution because of poorness’, which was chosen because European borders are open between west and east, and some young women especially from very poor regions in eastern Europe, are sent away by their families to make money in Germany through prostitution. These activities are hard to be controlled even through law, but it seems that prostitution exist like in a subculture.

At their own table, the Zonta Club of Tübingen had the opportunity to explain to the public about the Zonta says NO action and Zonta’s regional, national  international activities.

 

The Golden Z Club of ACLA College Mabalacat recently held a public event at their local shopping center, which gained much attention to the cause to end violence against women.

Click here to see more photos of their event: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.430865057013898.1073741841.371802296253508&type=1

Elder abuse day place mats were distributed to Food and Friends recipients throughout Josephine and Jackson counties Oregon thanks to the Zonta Club of Grant’s Pass and the RVCOG Senior Advisory Council on 4 December as part of the 16 days of activism against gender violence and the Zonta says NO campaign.

In addition to 4 December distribution, place mats will be used again and again until the supply is exhausted, thus, reinforcing the messages. One woman said she was unaware of Elder Abuse, which according to a member was a scary thought.

Masks Off – A Challenge to Men

On 25 November, the Zonta Club of Punta del Este- Maldonado marched through the streets of the city of Maldonado to the central square. Other organizations joined the march and together they advocated for NO MORE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.

From the UNICEF Report: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change:

“The 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights was a landmark event in which two important developments occurred. First, ‘female genital mutilation’ [(FGM/C)] became classified as a form of violence against women (VAW); second, the issue of VAW was for the first time acknowledged to fall under the purview of international human rights law.

With FGM/C considered as a form of violence against women, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) can be invoked.

The abandonment of FGM/C is framed not as a criticism of local culture but as a better way to attain the core positive values that underlie tradition and religion, including ‘doing no harm to others’. We have found that, addressed in this way, efforts to end FGM/C contribute to the larger issues of ending violence against children and women and confronting
gender inequalities.”

Read UNICEF’s full report here:
UNICEF: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change

A Zonta club from District 30, Area 03 that is in the process of being chartered in 2014 has already begun to take action against violence against women.

Watch their video about their actions for Zonta Says NO:

To promote the 16 Days of Activism, The Zonta Club Kathmandu, Nepal, premiered the Jhola (Bag) movie. The club had an overwhelming response from an audience of five hundred and was attended by the Minister for women, children and social welfare, Constituent Assembly members, Chief of the Army, Chief Secretary and Secretaries to the government of Nepal, private sector, civil society, academicians, diplomats and the media.

The movie Jhola effectively lifted the veil on a practice that has plagued countries like Nepal. Young women are being made to end their lives prematurely and in a horrific manner. Though this most cruel form of violence against women (self immolation), has been abolished, it has manifested in different inhuman forms such as dowry, girl trafficking, forced marriage to name a few.

 

The Zonta Club of Austin embraced the Zonta Says No message to create bookmarks.

The bookmarks have the Zonta Says No image on one side and a list of local service projects and contact information on the other side. The bookmarks were used at the club’s fundraiser where they had four different local authors sharing the story of their latest books.

The club’s advocacy committee also contacted the Austin Public library and the bookmarks were made available in all 22 branches of the Austin Public library.