2007 Sixteen Days of Activism Strategy

Date: August 10, 2009

What is the Sixteen Days?

Sixteen Days of Activism campaign is the period when activists highlight issues around gender violence. This year’s theme: Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence Against Women, is dedicated to calling on all stakeholders to move beyond promises to actual implementation in order to gain long overdue results in the struggle to end violence against women. Key dates include:

25 November: International Day of No Violence Against Women
1 December: World Aids Day;
3 December: International Day for the Disabled;
6 December: Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, when a man gunned down 14 women engineering students for allegedly being feminist;
10 December: Human Rights Day

GL Sixteen Days involvement in the past

Since its inception in 2001, Gender Links has played an active role in this campaign through training of the media in covering gender violence and building the capacity of NGOs and CBOs to run strategic campaigns. Under the banner “imagine a world free of violence and HIV/AIDSÀ these campaigns have placed a strong emphasis on the intersection between gender violence and HIV/AIDS. The 2003 Pep Talk campaign included activist research on the availability of PEP in health facilities and a campaign to ensure that every woman has access to Post Exposure Prophylaxis in the event of a sexual assault.

Since 2004, GL has spearheaded training in the use of new information and communication technologies for gender justice campaigns and facilitated online chats, or cyber dialogues that link women all over Southern Africa to experts and decision-makers. Under the banner, “Making IT work for Gender JusticeÀ GL has hosted numerous debates, run opinion polls and e-bulletin services on ending gender violence. GL also pioneered the “IÀ stories – first hand accounts of gender violence that have been carried as part of the GL Opinion and Commentary Service, which also carries in-depth analytical pieces during the Sixteen Day campaigns.

In 2005, GL conducted an audit of commitments made during these dialogues in South Africa and identified actions that still needed to be taken. The audit led to growing support for a National Action Plan to End Gender Violence. In May 2006, GL, the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) and UN Agencies convened a ground breaking conference: 365 Days of Action to End Gender Violence that led to the identification of key priorities for ending gender violence and the establishment of a multi-sector task team to work towards this end. GL, in partnership with the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network has since conducted similar 365 Days of Action to End Gender Violence planning workshops in Mauritius, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In 2006, while the organisation carried out its traditional activities, cyber dialogues and ‘I’ stories focus was also dedicated to raising awareness of women’s rights through Take Back the Night campaign. In this global campaign, women march down a dangerous street wearing white T shirts and carrying candles to make the point that women should be free, like any other citizen, to enjoy the night. GL worked in partnership with GEMSA and its country chapters, One in Nine, City of Jo’burg and other partners who held similar marches in their respective provinces.

Lessons learnt

Good partnerships work: Despite limited resources, GL has managed to carry out most of its planned activities. This was been made possible through the partnerships that GL has forged with civil society and a number of local and national government departments over the years. Partner organisations were able pull resources together and this resulted in the campaign activities having a greater impact.

Mobilising media before and during the campaign: Because of the deliberate effort GL made in engaging with the media before and throughout the campaign GL was able to influence content through its GEM Opinion and Commentary Service and events. There may be a need to reduce number of articles and improve on depth and diversity.

Involving survivors of gender violence most powerful tool to get messages across: “Always a winnerÀ À“ voices of survivors rightfully given the prominence during 16 days of Activism: print, radio, Television, Website, billboards. However there is need to develop strategies of sustaining relations post the campaign period.

Activism: Take Back the Night march provided a good idea, vibrant and well attended as people sometimes get tired of formal events. Power of partnerships manifest by the high level of mobilizing that took place, for example the Johannesburg march.

Splitting the campaign for women and children: There is a need to separate the campaign for women and children and so that each group gets the attention it deserves. Women and children have distinct issues and concerns that need to be addressed in different ways and this calls for a specific time period set aside for children for example use the Child Protection week celebrated in the month of June

Gaps

Limited Resources: Always difficult to fundraise for 16 days activities and responses come close to the period.

Cyber dialogues: They worked well when community groups were organised prior to the

event. In the future this level of mobilisation needs to be sustained on all days earmarked

for the dialogues. There is an opportunity to develop strategies around feeding cyber

dialogues into policy discussions.

Coordination: While GL’s events are well coordinated most of civil society’s activities happen in isolation and lack coordination and hence compromises the ability to achieve maximum impact. There is an opportunity for GL to play a national coordination role if resources are made available.

There is need to build new partnerships: Over the years partnerships have been formed, but there is need to engage with other partners in other sectors such as the private sector and government departments GL has not dealt with before who are relevant to the 16 days campaign.

Key issues for 2007

SADC has a draft Gender and Development Protocol, what will this mean for GBV? How can we capitalise on it as an organising framework and use the Sixteen Days campaign to raise its profile.
Many countries in the SADC region have developed multi-sector national action plans to end gender violence but where do we stand with these? What is the progress and where are the gaps?
How we can national action plans be cascaded to local level?
In what ways can we give voice to the voiceless?

Activities for 2007 include:

Raising the profile of the SADC Gender and Development Protocol

Cyber Dialogue: GL as member of the SADC Gender Protocol Alliance will host a regional cyber dialogue and video conference to debate what the Protocol will mean for victims and survivors of gender violence. Apart from the Alliance members, participants will also include key regional decision makers and survivors of gender violence

Opinion and Commentary Service: Commission articles the theme for circulation in mainstream media

Fact sheet on the Protocol and GBV: Profile the Protocol and link with regional national action plans to end gender violence.

Taking stock of national action plans

Taking stock panel discussion: As a member of the coordination committee of the South African National Action Plan Task team, GL will work with strategic partners to coordinate a high level panel to take stock of progress in ending gender violence since the 2006 Sixteen Days campaign and in the context of the National Action Plan to End Gender Violence

Video link up: The panel discussion will be followed up by a video link up between the seven countries (Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) that have extended the sixteen day campaign to 365 to share experiences.

Score Card: All countries will be encouraged to develop score cards against which progress to end gender violence can be measured and link these to the SADC Gender and Development Protocol.

Localising national action plans

North West 365 Day Conference: In the build up to Sixteen Days GL will assist SALGA North West in holding a provincial 365 Day Action Plan to End Gender Violence conference to adopt an action plan developed over the year. This has been drawn up after holding district consultative workshops involving local government, civil society and relevant government departments.

Colloquium on role of local government in ending gender violence: GL with partner with local government in holding a colloquium on role of local government to end gender violence. Municipalities will share what they are doing in their spaces to end gender violence and best practices will be documented. The meeting will also develop a score card that can be used by local government to measure progress in ending gender violence.

Reclaiming unsafe spaces: GL, in partnership with GEMSA, local government and other strategic partners, will hold the Take Back the Night campaign in Southern Africa on 24 November, 2007. This will involve mobilising women and men to march down dangerous streets and make the highlight the point that women should enjoy the night and the fact that local government has a major role in making those public spaces are safe for all.

Councilor Karolina Pieters and Ama Buruxa tour: GL will coordinate a Johannesburg tour with Namibia based Ama Buruxa group of children abandoned as a result of HIV and AIDS and or gender violence. The tour will highlight Councilor Karolina Pieters’ role as a local government official in mitigating the impact of GBV and HIV and AIDS. GL will host a workshop and skills exchange between the group and a South Africa based organisation, Let’s Grow from Orange Farm community.

Making every voice count

I stories: Building on past successes, GL will put out a call for first hand accounts of surviving gender violence and ex-perpetrators. These will be disseminated in written and audio formats as part of GL’s Opinion and Commentary Service during the Sixteen Day campaign. There will also be a focus on women who have experienced violence as a result of their disability as well as the

Gender violence and disability: GL will co-facilitate an empowerment conference being held for women with disability in collaboration with network of women living with disability.

Raising awareness on gender based violence

Media debate: On 14 November, GL will participate in the media debate whether media part of the problem or of the solution to gender violence? The media debate has become an annual event organised by the South African Gender and Media (SAGEM) Network in South Africa and GEMSA regionally. The GL website will be used for holding a dialogue on the same day among media practitioners across the region on how they see their role in the Sixteen Day campaign.

Thematic cyber dialogues: GL in partnership with GEMSA will host thematic cyber dialogues on six days of the campaign. These are: 14 November (media debate); 26 November (What will the protocol mean for gender violence), 28 November (trafficking); 1 December (World Aids Day); 6 December (the role of men). GL will be working with GEMSA and its country chapters and the Department of Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

Trafficking: GL will work with strategic partners and survivors of gender violence to hold a colloquium and develop an advocacy campaign on lobbying for specific legislation to end gender violence. A cyber dialogue will be held and fact sheets developed on trafficking of women and challenges SADC faces in the run up to Soccer 2010 world cup to be held in South Africa.

Opinion and commentary service

Press releases

Invitations to events

Media pack

Gender Justice Barometer

During the months of November and December GL will distribute five 16 day special editions of its monthly e-newsletter, Gender Justice Barometer.

2007 Sixteen Days of Activism Strategy

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