Campaign takes on militarism and gender-based violence

13th March 2015

The annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence runs from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, until 10 December, International Human Rights Day, emphasising that gender-based violence is a human rights violation.

This year’s campaign challenges militarism, with a focus on peace. Building on 2013’s theme the focus is: “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women.

“If we look at nearly every part of the globe, we are contending with violent conflict, escalating militarization, proliferation of small arms, extremist groups, unprecedented gender-based violence, political, economic, and social rights violations, and targeted attacks and killings of women human rights defenders,” said Doctor Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director of CWGL in a press statement.

The 16 Days campaign originates from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991. The event was convened by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) which is still the campaign’s global coordinator.

This year over 5,000 activists are taking part, calling for action and accountability from policymakers and governments as well as pushing the responsibility of communities to end violence, discrimination, and inequality based on gender, disability, and sexual orientation.

Everyday throughout the 16 Days campaign BRIDGE, a specialised gender and development research and information service based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), is featuring anti gender-based violence work from around the world – from interviews to art projects, campaigns to key research.

Find out more about the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence at the CWGL campaign website or by following #16Days

Keep up to date with the BRIDGE 16 Days collection for 2014 in the Storify below.

[<a href="//storify.com/BRIDGE_IDS/16days-gbv-2014" _fcksavedurl="//storify.com/BRIDGE_IDS/16days-gbv-2014" target="_blank">View the story "#16Days 2014: From peace in the home to peace in the world" on Storify</a>]