Blog

25.11.2021

Marking 16 days of activism

Today marks the beginning of  16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.  16 days is an annual international campaign which starts on the 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day.

Inspiring Scotland are Programme manager of Delivering Equally Safe, the Scottish Government’s funding programme which supports third sector organisations and public bodies contribute to the objectives, priorities and outcomes of the Equally Safe Strategy. We recognise the importance of local and community led support when it comes to tackling this issue, with 16 days of activism providing a key opportunity for communities to come together and raise awareness in whatever way they can.

It has been agreed that the 2021 theme for the National VAW Network and partners will be ‘Light Up’. The theme of ‘light up’ aims to place a spotlight on the issue of Violence Against Women and Girls(VAWG) whilst encouraging people to get involved using awareness raising and community-led activities. So today we are highlighting some of the many events happening across Scotland over the next 16 days for anyone who wishes to support, raise awareness of or simply educate themselves more on the issue of gender based violence.

• Perth and Kinross Violence Against Women Partnership shared the 2021 programme of events to mark #16days across Perth and Kinross. Everything from films, discussions and the showing of ‘Consent’ to students at Perth College feature in the event programme.
• Glasgow Women’s Aid launch their campaign today in which 16 organisations across Glasgow have signed up to host their QR code posters – once scanned they lead to animations challenging misconceptions surrounding domestic abuse.
• Scottish Borders Rape Crisis Centre is hosting : Reclaim The Night – Candlelight Vigil – Thursday 25^th November -6pm – Hawick.

• The candlelight vigil is being held to remember the women who have lost their lives to Gender Based Violence and honour all the women who have survived.
• Every year, the Dundee Violence Against Women Partnership (DVAWP) works closely together to deliver a number of awareness raising events as part of this campaign. All of the events are open to all members of the public and communities within Dundee – no one is excluded – this is everyone’s issue!
• Young Women Rise is a young women’s advisory leading on partnership work between Scottish Women’s Aid and YWCA Scotland – The Young Women’s Movement. They are hosting an event on young women, healthy relationships and domestic abuse. 
• There will be a debate in Scottish Parliament happening on the 25th November on Violence Against Women and Girls, to coincide with the start of 16 Days of Action (running between 14.55 and 17.00) Watch it live. 

The above is simply a snapshot of the many events happening across Scotland, you can view a more in depth calendar of events from The Improvement Service.

The slogan #WhatWillYouDo for #16Days is a call to action for people to get involved and commit to action, whether this be people individually or collectively by leadership and from “civic Scotland”.

So with that in mind what can you do?

• Further reading on 16 days of activism.
• Download the 16 days of activism toolkit.
• Utilise social media to raise awareness by using the hashtags #LightUp #WhatWillYouDo.