Every year, hundreds of thousands of women, feminist organisations and civil society actors take part in the international campaign 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence to highlight the fact that violence against women is a violation of human rights.
The international campaign "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence" was launched in 1991 by the Women's Global Leadership Institute in the USA. It starts every year on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on 10 December, International Human Rights Day.
The aim of the campaign is to sensitise the public and decision-makers to violence against women, to network like-minded organisations and to jointly develop new approaches to prevention. The campaign draws attention to the fact that gender-based violence has structural causes and is a multidimensional, social and political problem.
Since 1991, more than 6,000 organisations and over 185 countries have participated in the campaign. They set their own national priorities and campaign themes. In 2008, our cooperation partner, the feminist peace organisation cfd, launched the "16 Days against Violence against Women" campaign in Switzerland for the first time. We support the campaign in Switzerland and through our network partners abroad.
Gender-based violence is one of the most common human rights violations worldwide. Particularly in conflict-affected contexts, violence against women increases in all its forms. Gender-based violence is a major obstacle to gender justice and lasting peace.
For decades, Burundi has been rocked by recurring armed conflicts. Women are particularly affected: more than half experience gender-based violence in the course of their lives. We support the healing, social reintegration and economic independence of these women.
Podcast with PeaceWoman and SGBV activist Jeanne Gacoreke, Burundi
During the current health crisis, in addition to an increase in domestic violence, an increase in gender-based violence in digital spaces has been observed.
Women's rights are human rights. We work to ensure that core human rights standards are respected in conflict-affected regions too. Our work is based on the UN’s "Women, Peace and Security" agenda.
Since 2015, we have been organising Women's Peace Tables with our local project partners with the aim of sustainably strengthening the participation of women in peace processes and making their engagement in peacebuilding visible.