On 29 November, the Zonta Club of Washington County Area, PA, USA, wore orange hats and went to a popular local restaurant. Sat in the middle of the building, other patrons spoke with members about the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.
Pleased with the amazing conversations, the club brought needed attention to the issue to those in their county.
On 18 November 2023, the Zonta Club of Zonta Club Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada, participated in a fundraising event called Voices Empower: Walk to Break the Silence. This fundraising event was for the Women’s Crisis Services Waterloo Region (WCSWR). Zontians, who were unable to participate in the event, supported financially.
The club was the top group fundraiser.
As part of the awareness campaign during “Day 10: A Day of Awareness, the Zonta Club of Tuguegarao (ZCT) in partnership with local government unit of Lal-lo, Z-Club of Lal-lo National High School and PNP Lal-lo conducted the stickerZ Campaign to tricycle operators, public utility vehicles, and private vehicles among others.
This activity was successfully done with the help of PNP Lal-lo station, Apprehending Officers of the Local Government Unit of Lal-lo, and officers of the Parent-Teacher Association of Cagayan.
A total of 500 stickers was utilized during the said undertaking. Zonta Says NO StickerZ were posted inside tricycles and other vehicles as show of support to the ZONTA SAYS NO to Violence Against Women and Girls Campaign.
ZCT informs.. We campaign, we raise awareness, and we dare to make a change.
During the “Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women”, the Zonta Club of Vevey-Montreux financially supported the Malley-Prairie reception center for women victims of domestic violence through an evening organized in Vevey, within the magnificent Château de l’Aile.
A festive and supportive evening dedicated to exchange. We had speeches from the municipal council, from a member of the Malley-Prairie Committee, from the President of the Club. They all recalled the importance of fighting against violence against women.
Communication on social networks was activated ahead of the event and made it possible to reach a wide audience. In the end, we welcomed more than 70 people for this evening of exchange and support.
November 25th, the City Hall of Assen, among others, turned orange once again. With this initiative, the municipality of Assen says NO to violence against women and joins the global campaign Orange the World.
This year’s campaign theme in the Netherlands was: Safe, everywhere and always. The Orange the World campaign runs from November 25 to December 10.
The Orange Assen working group organizes and supports various activities during this period. Campaign Opening on November 25: The campaign in Assen kicked off on Saturday, November 25, at 5:00 PM at the market square with speeches from alderman Broekema and members of the Soroptimistclub Assen and Zonta Drenthe.
The market square was chosen for this event because harassment in the hospitality industry and on the street is addressed through the “Ask for Angela” project. This will also be highlighted during the opening.
The event concludes with a flash mob featuring youth from 1lovedancecenter by José Fraai. November 27 at 4:30 PM: Launch of Musical ART Video Clip The launch of the video clip takes place at Garage TDI.
In collaboration with Orange the World Assen, Garage TDI has created a video clip with young people from the theater pre-training. The viewer is made aware that violence against women occurs in various places in society. Violence can happen anywhere, where men and women gather; also at work, during social outings, at sports clubs, in public transportation, in education, in healthcare, in student associations, at festivals, at the beach, and not to forget in cyberspace.
After the launch, participants engage in a discussion led by the Center for Sexual Violence and Safe at Home Drenthe. The Musical Art video clip will be widely distributed on social media after the launch. November 29 at 7:30 PM Theme Evening in the council chamber of the municipality of Assen.
A theme evening on “Safe, everywhere and always, now and in the future” took place in the council chamber of the municipality of Assen. Anyone involved in work and/or volunteer work or who is interested was invited.
The evening began with showing the Garage TDI’s video clip and the short film “Dear Diary” about the present and the future. The theme of the evening was further introduced by the Center for Sexual Violence and Safe at Home Drenthe, followed by a speech from Alderman Jan Broekema and Provincial Executive Yvonne Turenhout discussing their approach to street harassment and social safety. Subsequently, a discussion was held.
December 9 Red Shoes at Koopmansplein Assen against Femicide On December 9, the municipal council members of Assen organised an action at Koopmansplein in Assen by putting 43 pairs of red shoes on the pavement, this is the number of women that were killed in 2022 in the Netherlands just because they were women.
This was to draw attention to violence against women and femicide. A pamflet was offered to Mayor Marco Out. Education in Action Drenthe College and the secondary schools Dr. Nassau College and CS Vincent van Gogh displayed the Orange the World flag and organized various activities for students, pupils, and staff to raise awareness about the theme “STOP violence against women”.
Businesses in Action More and more businesses, sports clubs, and socially engaged organizations in Assen color their buildings orange, fly the flag, display #Medestander (#we declare ourselvers ally ) posters, and/or use other means to support the campaign.
Zonta Club of North Sydney members participated in both a local Council “Walk for Women” and a walk across Sydney Harbour Bridge organised by Zonta Club of Sydney Breakfast to raise awareness of domestic violence.
As well as being visible to the public, we met new people to partner with (both inside and outside Zonta) to support women and work to eliminate domestic violence.
On the 10th day of the 16 Days of Activism of the Zonta Club of Tuguegarao dubbed as “A Day of Awareness” signals its strong campaign to END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.
As such, efforts like engaging students and letting them become allies in efforts to empower women and girls in our society is one of the crucial steps towards achieving gender equality.
So, President. Maria Olivia B. Pascual saw the opportunity to launch the ‘WALL OF Z’s” in 4 public high schools in the Municipality of Lal-lo headed by Mayor Florante “Anteng” Pascual in partnership with the Z-club of Lal-lo National High School.
WALL OF Z’s were created which echoes ZCT’s campaign to raise awareness of the global pandemic of women’s rights violations in line with Zonta International’s campaign. Proudly we serve the Zonta Way.
ZCT warmly appreciates all the Public Schools District Supervisor, School Principals, and Schools who participated:
– Lal-lo National High School
– Magapit National High School
– Logac National High School
– Cabayabasan National High School
By working together, ZCT believes to pave the way to uproot violence on women and girls!
Our “Zonta Says No” activities begin in late October to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month and then tie in to Zonta Says Not and the “16 Days.” This year we coordinated a collection of projects with our Z Club, and local community partners and our club members.
We began with our Boulder High School Pantherz Z Club which created a Silent Witness display in their school library to advocate against sexual assault and domestic violence. They trace large life-sized silhouettes on construction paper which then post a story of a victim killed by violence. These 20 plus silhouettes are on display in the school for a month along with materials about “Zonta Says No” and community victim resources.
A similar display was also created by students from Front Range Community College’s Feminist Club. Here the silhouettes (all with the Zonta Says No logo) were hung throughout the halls of the student center and support materials are provided. We then sponsored a 2-hour presentation by Dr Amy Bonomi, who presented the findings of her recently published book” Recantation and Domestic Violence: The Untold Story.” Co-authored with David Martin, the book illustrates the precise interpersonal dynamics of recantation in criminal cases in which felony-level abuse has occurred.
Finally, each year our club members join our criminal justice community to fund the Beth Haynes Memorial Award and participate in the selection process. As our District Attorney’s Office Domestic Violence Response team describes it:
“That great time of year again where we get to recognize and honor all the amazing work that our law enforcement partners do for the safety and dignity of domestic violence victims in our community. The Beth Haynes Award is given to a select individual among our law enforcement partners who has demonstrated excellent skills, commitment, and passion in addressing intimate partner violence as a significant public health issue.”
Officer Beth Haynes was shot and killed in 1994, upon arriving at the scene of a domestic dispute. This Award is funded by our club, honors her memory, and encourages continued awareness and response to this prolific public health challenge. We are honored to partner with The Boulder County Domestic Violence Task Force to recognize those who have demonstrated excellence in handling DV cases and protecting victims.
Finally, to have our voice heard in the community, our Advocacy Committee submitted a Guest Opinion entitled Guest opinion: Sheila King: This month, raise awareness to prevent domestic violence and this letter to the Editor Ranelle Randles: Help raise awareness about domestic violence in Colorado.
During the 16 Days of activism, member of the Zonta Club of New Providence tied orange bows and displayed lawn signs with the Say NO to Violence message throughout the island of New Providence, Bahamas.
The purpose was to remind the country of the importance of this message.
The lawn signs were placed in strategic high-traffic areas to ensure high visibility. Club members also visited parliament and placed orange pins on the parliamentarians and senators to remind the government leaders of the need for ongoing action in relation to women’s rights and violence against women.
Our message was discussed in the House of Assembly and the Senate which was broadcast live to the country. The Head of the Senate praise the club for the work that it has done and continues to do in the country to combat violence against women and girls.
Zonta Club of Mitchell, a small club of 9 women, combined with the local shire council, police, health services etc.
We are a Shire with a very high rate of family violence. As a club, we thought that family is supposed to be a safe and comforting environment, like a blanket, so we proposed to use yarn bombing with orange blankets to bring to the attention of the local community, the scourge that is family violence and the voice that is Zonta.
We spent several months, crocheting and knitting orange squares, rectangles etc and used our gathering times to put these together into large blankets to fit various trees in our shire. We selected prominent trees in each of the four major towns, sought permits and approval and yarn bombed at the start of the 16 days or activism.
Signs were attached that explained the role of Zonta, and that Zonta says no to violence. Zontians took part in the walk against family violence and at the conclusion of the walk, there was public address from a victim survivor of abuse and the final tree in Seymour was bombed.
Many people asked to be photographed in front of our tree. There were articles in the local newspaper, reports on local radio and social media. The yarn bombing was removed at the end of the 16 days.
Even as we were sewing the blankets around trees we had people stop and ask what was happening, asking about the role of Zonta and the 16 days of activism. There were many comments about the orange trees.
After we had removed the blankets, the shire council contacted us to ask if we would be prepared to wrap a couple of trees in the pop up family park that the shire had constructed for the Christmas and New Year period, so the message of Zonta and No to violence is still out there.
As stated, we are a very small club in a small rural community, and this event has brought the work of Zonta into the public view. We have had some welcome enquiries from women thinking of joining, and offers from others prepared to assist with our work.
Join us in saying NO 