16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence
My phone popped like fireworks that night.
Earlier in the day, I had posted the first of 16 daily messages about how to end gender-based violence. Each post was meant to be a thing those of us among the “regular folks” could do in our lives to nip early signs of something going wrong or to step in safely in cases of escalated violence. The objective was to put both awareness into people’s minds and power in their hands. My lit phone told me people appreciated it.
From 25 November to 10 December, we commemorate the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence. That night I talked about happened 10 years ago when we were standing up the Ministry of Status of Women in Alberta and realizing that our strength was to connect with people in ways that helped to show that even small changes are changes.
Ending violence can only happen with action. If you can give funds, give. If you can share a message, share it. If you can stand up as a bystander, do it. And if violence is the way you have learned to deal with hurt, please get help.
Search online and you will find myriad actions, like the ones I will be posting from Canadian Women’s Foundation through the 16 days. You may have seen message after message over the years, and pushed the words into the background. Stay vigilant: it is critical for us to keep ourselves active in the work to end violence in our personal and professional lives. Push against the idea that you already know what to do. That path only leads to complacency. Continuing to care might save someone’s life.
Try these resources for more information on what to do about gender-based violence at work:
- Gender-based violence in workplace prevention - Canada Safety Training Centre
- Violence and harassment in the workplace - Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
- Roadmap to a stronger gender-based violence workforce - Ending Violence Association of Canada