History of launching and conducting the campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence”
The international global campaign “16 Days Against Violence” was initiated by the Center for Women's Global Leadership and participants in the Forum on Women, Violence and Human Rights, presented by participants from 20 countries in June 1991.
Since then, the United Nations, governments, international human rights organizations, thousands of citizens, hundreds of state and public organizations from more than 100 countries have participated in annual events under the slogan “Stop Gender-Based Violence” and called for an end to all forms of violence. In 1999, the UN General Assembly officially launched the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. However, this day has been celebrated since 1981 in memory of the tragic death of the Mirabal sisters, who were brutally killed by order of the Dominican ruler Raphael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic in 1960. On November 25, 1960, three of the
Mirabal sisters - Patria, Minerva, Maria Theresa - were killed by dictator Trujillo's secret police. The three women went to meet their husbands who were in prison. The bodies of the strangled three sisters were found at the bottom of the cliff. The news of the brutal assassination shocked and outraged the citizens, and intensified the political movement against the Trujillo dictatorship. Every year from November 25 to December 10, seminars, forums, press conferences, discussions, demonstrations, pickets, exhibitions, radio and TV programs are held all over the world. Ukraine joined the World Global Campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” in 2000,
and in 2001 this action reached the national level.
Main campaign dates:
November 25 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is on this day that the “16 Days of Active Action Against Gender Violence” campaign begins.
November 29 - International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
December 1 - World AIDS Day. The immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome are spreading threateningly around the world. Women are more susceptible to infection and become infected faster than men.
December 2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.
December 3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
December 5 - International Day of Voluntary Action for Economic and Social Development.
December 6 - the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, when 14 female students were killed by a criminal just because “they were feminists”.
December 9 - International Anti-Corruption Day.
December 10 - International Human Rights Day. On December 10, 1948, the governments of the UN member states recognized the human rights “to life, liberty and security of person for all without exception”, by signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
From 2019, state and municipal buildings are highlighted in orange. Orange is the official color of the campaign and symbolizes a bright future free from violence against women and girls. The main goal is to draw public attention to the urgent problems related to overcoming all forms of gender-based violence and the formation of zero tolerance and intolerance to any manifestations of violence.