November

Starting in November, the ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign raises awareness about gender-based violence against women and girls as a human rights issue, focusing on the importance of grassroots work on violence against women as well as providing an international platform for advocacy and campaigning.

The campaign starts on 25th November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and runs until 10th December (Human Rights Day).

The dates for the campaign were chosen to link violence against women and human rights and emphasise that gender-based violence against women is a violation of human rights.

During these 16 days, individuals, organisations, and communities come together to advocate for a world free from gender-based violence.

As we reflect on the 16 Days of Activism, it is important to consider that women are not a homogeneous group and gender-based violence affects some women to different degrees or in different ways.

Experiences of gender-based violence are informed not just by gender, but also by race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, and other identities.

The term “intersectionality” refers to the ways that different forms of discrimination interact. Some examples of how different inequalities affect women’s experiences of violence against women:

• Disabled women are more likely to experience domestic violence than non-disabled women in the UK 
• Minority ethnic and migrant women face higher levels of domestic homicide
• LGBTQ+ women, trans and non-binary people also experience higher levels of Intimate Partner Violence