The Zonta Club of Geelong Inc, Australia, was overwhelmed and touched by its community’s support at its annual Walk Against Family Violence event during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
The club also proudly collaborated with local councils and businesses in lighting up buildings in its efforts to Orange the World during this period.
While the Zonta Club of Pori I, Finland, annually kicks off the 16 Days of Activism by wrapping orange scarves around statues in their city, they planned other activities to further their mission of saying NO to violence against women.
Exhibition at local library
In the lobby of Pori’s library, an exhibition was organized in cooperation with the Mother and Child Homes and Shelters Association of Pori, Soroptimists and other Zonta clubs. The exhibition aimed to raise awareness of gender-based and domestic violence in their community. The presentation included brochures from organizing associations, literature on the topic and, of course, orange color.
Open-air concert
In an open-air concert led by the Mother and Child Homes and Shelters Association, Zontians and Soroptimists relayed information regarding gender-based and domestic violence. Orange-colored items were distributed to attendees to further the message.
Together with the Hong Kong Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities task force, the Zonta Club of Kowloon, Hong Kong, met with officials from the Equal Opportunities Commission in November. The Equal Opportunities Commission is a statutory body set up by the Hong Kong government. It is responsible for implementing the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the Disability Discrimination Ordinance, the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance, and the Race Discrimination Ordinance in Hong Kong.
A Survey on Sexual Harassment in Hong Kong from 2021 showed that one in eight ( 11.8%) of the 5,027 respondents reported being sexually harassed at the workplace in the past 24 months. Most victims were harassed by men (66.7%). They were harassed by colleagues of the same rank (44.6%), but more female victims were sexually harassed by someone more senior in rank (30.5%) or by clients. (15.9%).
The meeting focused on sexual harassment in the workplace, and the club explored how NGOs can contribute to solving this issue. The groups agreed that we should encourage corporations, especially Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), to establish sexual harassment policies, set up frameworks for internal complaints and investigation and establish staff training in their own companies. They also discussed the issue of how to generate more awareness on this issue in their community, as well as organizing public educational programs. There will likely be joint advocacy activities on this issue during International Women’s Day in March 2023.
The photo above shows participants of the Equal Opportunities Commission meeting, with Ricky Chu Man-Kin, Chairperson of the Equal Opportunity Commission and his team, Winnie Teoh, Chair of Advocacy Committee of Zonta Club of Kowloon and other Zontians, as well as Sisi Liu together with the seven NGOs under the Hong Kong Women’s Coalition on Equal Opportunities – Hong Kong Federation of Women’s Centres, Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions, Progressive Labor Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong, The Association of the Advancement of Feminism, Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association, Hong Kon Young Women’s Christian Association, Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women.
To kick off the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the Zonta Club of Makati and Environs, the Philippines, presented an art exhibition featuring the paintings, sculptures and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of the artist Carlos from 24-27 November. The exhibition took place at the Power Plant Mall, and a portion of the proceeds was donated to the Zonta Foundation for Women.
Carlos is a painter and sculptor whose career has spanned 40 years. He is best known for his vibrant colors, which are just as much a subject as the idyllic scenes he paints on his canvases. His work focuses on the joy of life, depicted in his subjects. His color palette encourages his viewers to savor and relish life’s moments of beauty, romance and love.
In honor of the 16 Days, several paintings and sculptures featured women as the subject of the works, together with their different roles. Beyond their roles in the family, which are usually depicted in art by renderings of mother and child, and which Carlos takes as a subject that goes beyond the literal, the artworks also offer depictions of their chosen professions, with some sculptures touching on figurative meanings rather than literal translations of their chosen roles.
This year, the Zonta Club of Austin, MN, USA, did several projects to raise awareness for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, such as:
The club plans to continue with the same projects and more for the following year.
To raise awareness of gender-based violence, Zonta clubs in District 16, Area 3, New Zealand, teamed up to hold a garden party at the home of Suffragette Kate Shephard. Many local dignitaries and Members of Parliament (MPs) attended the event.
The clubs also invited speakers from inspirational organizations working to prevent violence against women.
To raise public awareness of violence against women, the Zonta Club of Montevideo, Uruguay, visited several populous locations in their city with the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women banner and handed out Zonta Says NO flyers with the number of help hotlines for those experiencing domestic violence.
This year, all 25 Zonta clubs and Golden Z club members in District 26, Japan, promoted the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign all over the country to raise awareness of gender-based violence. Some actions that the clubs took this year included public demonstrations such as lighting up local landmarks in orange, marching through their cities, handing out flyers and more.
On 3 November, the Z Club of Taichung Hong Wen, Republic of China (Taiwan), held a Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women parade in a busy area with all participants wearing orange to raise awareness about gender-based and domestic violence.
During the parade, club members handed out balloons with the Zonta logo and the “Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women” slogan to the crowd.
Leading up to this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, the Zonta Club of Bunbury, Australia, invited local schools to participate in its ‘Choose Respect, Expect Respect’ poster competition as a strategy to focus on respect.
“By talking about respect and exploring what respect looks like, sounds like and feels like through art, we believe that what is and is not acceptable will reinforce positive behavior and contribute to a positive change for the future,” said Club President Kerry Kerr.
Building on the club’s program, Kerry also said that “the Zonta Club of Bunbury is proud to support the Australian Government’s Stop it at the Start campaign and the WA Government’s Path to safety: Western Australia’s strategy to reduce family and domestic violence 2020-2030 to help create a future free from violence for women and children.”
The club received 100 competition entries, and 16 finalists from local schools were invited to attend a presentation afternoon with their parents on the 3 November. Deputy Mayor Tresslyn Smith congratulated the students and presented them with their awards.
The event was also featured in a double-page coverage in a local newspaper, which gave greater visibility to the project.
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