In November 2011 the members of the Zonta Club of Berry were chastising themselves for not doing something positive in our area for the White Ribbon day on November 25^th.  As such in March 2012 their Chair of ‘Status of Women’, Fay Lewis went in search of how our Club could advocate against Domestic Violence in our community.   Fay joined the local ‘Domestic Violence Committee’ and later recruited fellow member Megan Cleary to join her.  This committee comprised representatives of the local support agencies including the Police and a very strong Court Support & Advocacy program run by the YWCA.  They receive a small grant of $1,000 from the State Government to run awareness raising activities, but collectively came up with the idea of Cinema Ads to try to reach the general public.  A cinema director was found who responded to a tender and the committee commenced fundraising to cover the costs.  A huge voluntary effort came from the Police department and several agencies (including the Zonta Club of Berry) to project manage the programme.  The committee reached their $18,000 budget and were able to link the launch of the Ad campaign with the White Ribbon week activities to maximise publicity in November 2012.

The Ads can be viewed on YouTube –  they show three typical scenarios of – ‘Stalking’, ‘Physical Control’ and ‘Put Downs’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm0lFlBchU0&feature=youtu.be&w=320&h=240]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13kYXU_2Tek&feature=youtu.be&w=320&h=240]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3afEo8rOj_M&feature=youtu.be&w=320&h=240]

The quality of the production was exceptional due to the great fortune in having local (and also International) film director Christopher Collins implementing the brief.  The ad campaign will be shown for the first six months of 2013 for free in cinemas from Wollongong to the border and from Bega to Goulburn and the Highlands.

The Zonta Club of Berry was recognised as adding their support (actions & dollars) with other partner agencies in producing the Cinema Advertising Campaign launched at the Roxy theatre in Nowra on November 25^th 2012 (White Ribbon day).

Following an idea set forth by their governor, District 30, Area 03 Zontians teamed up with local men to say “HANDS OFF OF WOMEN” during sporting events (football, basketball, volleyball, rugby, water polo, hockey and curling matches), including athletes and fans.  Together, men and women denounced violence against women, catching the attention of the national media and eventually extending the campaign from the playing fields to shops, penitentiaries and street art.  The campaign continues in the new year.  On the first of the year, the Zonta Club of Imperia raised awareness of the issue of violence against women in the seaside town of Alassio, Italy when musicians in a local band played around town while wearing t-shirts with the campaign slogan – “HANDS OFF OF WOMEN”.  Zontians from the 22 clubs have been successful in motivating and including men in their efforts.

The Zonta Club of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA used a recent city council meeting to raise awareness of the issue of violence against women and girls. At this meeting, the mayor of Fort Collins read a proclamation opening the 16 Days of Activism.  Club president Bridget Masters later presented information on Zonta, and specific statistics about victims of misdemeanor and domestic violence in their area. This opportunity helped bring additional awareness to the problems facing women and girls in Fort Collins.

To recognize Zonta International’s support of UNiTE to End Violence Against Women and to bring awareness to a new advocacy project the members of the Zonta Club of Pierre/Fort Pierre wore orange in October.

The club expanded its effort to increase local awareness regarding violence against women and kicked off the 16 Days of Activism with the help of the local volunteer fire department and their advocacy slogan, “Real Men Raise Their Voice Against Violence”.  The club will create posters that will include the firefighter’s picture and a listing of pertinent phone numbers.  The phone numbers will offer people resources they can go to for help, or to receive more information.  Posters will be distributed throughout the area, including area businesses, schools, gas stations and even roadway rest stops.

In observation of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, the Zonta Club of Dhaka III recently hosted an event to help raise awareness and prevent violence against women. On 8 November 2012, the club welcomed Dr. Farmin Islam, a Zontian and Associate Professor of Law at Dhaka University, as the keynote speaker to address the issue of violence against women in Bangladesh, including dowries and domestic violence, harassment of women in the workplace and child marriage.  In addition to Dr. Islam’s speech, the Club assisted two victims of acid burning in entering a rehabilitation program.

To show their support for the Zonta Says NO and the Say NO – UNiTE campaigns, the Dhaka III members wore orange badges to mark the event. The club hopes to continue using such events to raise awareness of  and prevent violence against women in Bangladesh.

Welcome to Zonta Says NO – a campaign to raise awareness of violence against women and girls around the world.  Zonta International and its nearly 30,000 members in 63 countries worldwide are committed to preventing and ending violence against women and girls.  Over the course of the next year, Zonta Says NO will highlight the efforts of Zonta International and its more than 1,200 Zonta clubs to preventing and ending violence against women and girls.

Thank you for joining us in helping to make the world a safer place for women and girls everywhere!