16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign which started in 1991 to challenge gender-based violence across the globe. The annual campaign begins on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and concludes on December 10, International Human Rights Day. It encompasses other significant dates including International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (November 29), World AIDS Day (December 1) and the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (December 6). 

Gender-based violence is rooted in gendered inequality, the abuse of power and harmful social norms directed towards individuals and communities based on their gender, gender identity, gender expression or perceived gender (YWCA 2023).  Systems of oppression like patriarchy and toxic masculinity perpetuate gender-based violence meaning that women, girls and gender-diverse people are at greatest risk, especially if they also identify as Indigenous, Black, people with disabilities or 2SLGBTQQIA+. These groups are disproportionately impacted by gender-based violence because of the intersections of sexism with other forms of oppression like racism, colonialism, ableism, heterosexism, homophobia and transphobia. 

• Owing to persistent colonial violence including internationally condemned violations of Indigenous rights, Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely than other women in Canada to be murdered or go missing (see the 2SMMIWG final report). 
• According to Egale Canada, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, as well as gender-diverse and Two Spirit people, encounter discrimination, stigmatization and traumatic violence at much higher rates than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. 
• According to Dawn Canada, women with disabilities are twice as likely as women without disabilities to be sexually assaulted and are at a higher risk of abuse due to intersecting experiences of sexism and disability-based violence.