Gender-based violence (GBV) remains one of the most pervasive and persistent human rights violations in the world. It reaches into every country, every community and every corner of our planet.
25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the first day of the annual 16 Days campaign. We’ve compiled a reading list as a starting point for anyone looking to learn more about what gender-based violence is, why it happens, and how it affects women and girls around the world.
Mexico’s Glitter Protests are a Movement Against Violence
“Like many other women across the country, we were part of the glitter protests. Bita marched in the city of Aguascalientes and Mariana marched in Mexico City. We both agreed that at a time like this, being among women was where we felt the safest.”
– Mariana Lizarraga & Bita Aranda
Sweden Deports Victims of Child Marriage and Torture to Afghanistan
“If Sweden deports girls (and boys) who have been victims of child marriage in Afghanistan, we are not acknowledging the human rights violation that affects 35% of girls. We are ignoring the fact that these refugees lack the support networks they need to avoid abuse and violence.”
– Julia Wiklander
Cyntoia Brown: 15 Years On – Free at Last?
“The case raised an enormous number of questions and issues – why was a young girl so scared for her life that she shot a man dead? Why was she tried as an adult when she was only 16? And most uncomfortable of all – would this sort of sentencing have happened to a 16-year-old white girl?”
– Lucy Small
Speaking the Unspeakable to Advance Human Rights
“The girl was 13 and forced to marry a man in his 30s. She was suffering from malnutrition. I could have wrapped my pinkie around her wrist. Although poor, they had a farm that produced fresh milk, eggs and vegetables. But she was starving because she was not permitted to eat.”
– Ashley Lackovich-Van Gorp
Eradicating Violence in Rural Zimbabwe
“It’s how we’re tackling gender-based violence in my community that makes us unique. By circulating information through word of mouth everyone has the opportunity to learn – even those who can’t read or write or access the internet – and so the possibility of leaving anyone behind is reduced.”
– Yunah Bvumbwe
What Does an Abusive Relationship Look Like?
“Relationship education needs to be prioritised in all schools. No young person should have to experience an abusive relationship – or watch a friend experience one – as a way to figure out what is and isn’t an acceptable way to be treated by another person.”
– Eleanor Gall
The Pattern of Domestic Violence
“It becomes almost impossible to have courage if you don’t have a voice. Sometimes, even those who do are stifled by the fear of humiliation and social stigma. Not everyone has a loving family or friends to fall back on. Not everyone can simply wake up one day, decide they have had enough, and leave.”
– Iram Rizvi
Denis Mukwege & Sexual Violence in Conflict
“I recently had the honor of attending a speech by Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has devoted his life to the rights and health of women in the DRC. For more than two decades conflict has been tearing the country apart, and rape and sexual violence used extensively as weapons of war.”
– Fatima Bashir Abdalrahim
An Open Letter to my Abuser
“I am not an excuse for your incapability to control your emotions. I am not the cause of your outbursts. I am not your rage or your hate. I am not your false pride or fragile ego. I am not the weakness you always claimed to see in me. I am not the names you called me.”
– Preeti Shakya
Justice for Evelyn in Landmark El Savador Abortion Trial
“What better way to restrict women’s power and agency than to lock them into child bearing. And if they appear to resist, what better way to punish them than to simply lock them up. Evelyn Hernandez’s release is a welcome reminder that activism works.”
– Eleanor Gall
Yes, Child Marriage is a Problem in Latin America
“I believe that child marriage is still not being fully recognised as a major problem in Latin America and the Caribbean. The rates of child marriage in the region are alarming – Latin America is the only region that hasn’t seen a decline in child marriage in the last 30 years.”
– Maria Rendo
Remembering Marielle Franco: #MariellePresente
“She was a black woman from one of Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous slums. She was gay, a feminist, and a mother. She fought for human rights and spoke out about police violence in Rio’s slums. She was 38 years-old. She was Marielle Franco. And on March 14 2018, she was murdered.”
– Gabrielle Rocha Rios
New articles will be be published on girlsglobe.org throughout the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence 2019. We invite everyone to subscribe, follow on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook and take action with Girls’ Globe. Together, we can eliminate violence and create a safer, fairer, more equal world.
