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16
days of activism against gender based violence: Let's end
politically motivated gender based violence
Youth Forum
November 26, 2012
The Youth Forum
joins Zimbabwe and the rest of the world in commemorating 16 Days
of Activism against Gender Based Violence. The theme for 2012 is
"From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let's
Challenge all forms of Gender Based Violence and End Violence against
Women!"
The 16 Days
of Activism against Gender Violence is an international campaign
originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute coordinated
by the Centre for Women's Global Leadership in 1991.
Participants
chose the dates November 25 - International Day against Violence
against Women - and December 10 - International Human
Rights Day - in order to symbolically link violence against
women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a
violation of human rights.
This 16-day
period also highlights other significant dates including November
29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day and December
1, World AIDS Day.
Domestic Violence
Awareness of
this period is evidently not high in Zimbabwe, as evidenced by the
sudden increase in the number of cases of gender based domestic
violence as shown by the newspaper headlines. We believe there is
a need for the government and other stakeholders to look at ways
of teaching men, from an early age when they are still boys, that
violence against women is bad.
Domestic violence,
a longstanding issue around which local women's organisations
have advocated, continues to be a reality in every part of the country,
and indeed, the world. It is estimated that a majority of women
experience violence by an intimate partner at some point in their
lives.
Politically
Motivated Gender Based Violence
Another form
of gender based violence occurs mainly around election time, and
as Zimbabwe gears towards elections, it is important to take effective
measures to ensure this form of violence is capped. This is violence
perpetrated by political activists and state actors, as they use
violence to achieve political goals, employing militaristic ideologies
and the need for state security to pass off violence and intimidation
as security measures.
It is also used
as a tactic to drive fear, and to humiliate and punish women, their
families, and communities. While there has been some attention to
this crime in recent years, sexual violence remains a major barrier
to women's safety, political participation and reintegration,
as its effects are physically, psychologically, and socially debilitating.
The lack of
state accountability and the failure to bring perpetrators of sexual
and gender-based violence to justice remains a critical challenge
to ending politically motivated gender based violence in the country.
This year's
16 Days Campaign provides an opportunity to reflect on what needs
to be done to end gender based violence, and the Youth Forums encourages
all stakeholders to start acting in:
Raising awareness
about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local,
national, regional and international levels
- Strengthening
local work around violence against women
- Establishing
a clear link between local and international work to end violence
against women
- Providing
a forum in which organizers can develop and share new and effective
strategies
- Demonstrating
the solidarity of women around the world organizing against violence
against women
- Creating
tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate
violence against women
Visit the Youth
Forum fact
sheet
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