Friday, November 25 will mark the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign.

The 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children is an international awareness-raising campaign. It takes place every year from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day).
The period includes Universal Children’s Day and World Aids Day.

South Africa adopted the campaign in 1998 as one of the intervention strategies towards creating a society free of violence.

The campaign continues to raise awareness among South Africans about the negative impact of violence against women and children (VAW&C) on all members of the community.

This year, the campaign is themed “Count me in: together moving a non-violent South Africa forward.”

Violence surrounds us, for some violence is all they know, in order to become a non-violent country we need to speak out, raise awareness and support this campaign. What is violence against women and children? Violence comes in many shapes, forms, and sizes.

Physical violence in the form of domestic violence, terrible violent crime such as murder, robbery, rape and assault. Emotional violence and trauma at many levels caused by many factors. Women and children in their homes, at work, at schools, on our streets, in our communities suffer this form of violence for various reasons.

Another terrible disease of our democracy is the violence of poverty, starvation, humiliation and degradation, especially against women and children. Poverty, inequality and unemployment are conditions under which violence thrives. Speak out against woman and child abuse.

• Encourage silent female victims to talk about abuse and ensure that they get help.
• Report child abuse to the police.
• Encourage children to report bullying behaviour to school authorities.
• Men and boys are encouraged to talk about abuse and actively discourage abusive behaviour.
• Seek help if you are emotionally, physically or sexually abusive to your partner and/or children. Call the Stop Gender Based Violence helpline (0800 150 150).
• Talk to friends, relatives and colleagues to take a stand against abuse of women and children.
• Try and understand how your own attitudes and actions might perpetuate sexism and violence.
• Spread the message on social media.