20 October 2019, New York : The Center for Women’s Global Leadership today announced the release of the 2019 Global 16 Days Campaign Advocacy Guide to support and strengthen efforts by advocates worldwide in engaging, mobilizing and scaling up efforts to end gender-based violence.
The Advocacy Guide which focuses on the 2019 theme of 16 Days to end gender-based violence (GBV) in the world of work also supports actions to ratify the newly adopted International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 190 that establishes global standards to end gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work.
“Ending gender-based violence in the world of work will require joint action by women workers, Unions, Parliamentarians, Journalists and Human Rights Activists. This Advocacy Guide helps show the way and, if utilized, will create a surge in demands for ratification that Governments will not be able to ignore,” said Melissa Upreti, Senior Director, Program and Global Advocacy at CWGL.
The Advocacy Guide is released as part of preparations leading up to the annual Global 16 Days Campaign – a global effort that was launched in June 1991 when feminists from 21 countries were convened by CWGL. The gathering agreed to designate the period from November 25 which marks International Day against Violence Against Women in Latin America to December 10 which is International Human Rights Day as the 16 days of Activism to End Violence Against Women. The Global 16 Days Campaign has since been used by 6000+ organizations in 187 countries to expose the scourge of violence against women and demand its elimination.
“Recent women-led movements such as #NiUnaMenos and #MeToo have indeed helped break the long silence surrounding sexual harassment in the world of work on a global scale and forced a conversation about the need to fundamentally transform the power structures and discriminatory norms that enable gender-based violence and discrimination,” said Upreti.
The Advocacy Guide will be distributed to all partners of the Global 16 Days Campaign, in English, Spanish and French, and utilized in actions with partners and stakeholders around the world. It contains key information on background, approaches, contexts and actions for campaigning on issues related to economic insecurity, intimate partner violence, women’s health, invisible labor and other issues relevant to ending gender-based violence in the world of work. It also contains a set of resources including examples of promising practices and shareable items on the 16 Days Campaign website www.16dayscampaign.org.
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