#PSAC16Days of Activism

Why is it urgent for everyone to address gender-based violence?

It costs lives: in 2022, 184 women and girls in Canada were violently killed, primarily by men.
One woman or girl is killed every 48 hours.

Children who witness violence in the home have twice the rate of psychiatric disorders as children from non-violent homes.

Gender-based violence rates were already at an all-time high, and statistics have proven that the pandemic has led to a dramatic increase.

Intimate partner violence can carry over into the workplace, threatening women’s ability to maintain economic independence. More than half (53%) of study respondents who experienced intimate partner violence said that at least one type of abusive act happened at or near their workplace. Almost 40% of those who had experienced abuse said it made it difficult for them to get to work, and 8.5% said that they lost their jobs because of it.

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).

Each year on December 6th, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, we take time to honour those who have lost their lives to gender-based violence.                                                                We recommit ourselves to taking action to ensure that women and girls can live lives free from violence.                                                      We remember the fourteen women killed in a misogynist act of terror at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989, simply because they were women. We reflect on the troubling fact that gender-based violence continues to be a daily reality.

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.

Now, more than ever, we call on you to participate in our 16 Days of Activism.
Gender-based violence impacts everyone and we all have a role to play in combatting it and taking meaningful action to ensure that tragedies which happen daily – tragedies like l’École Polytechnique de Montréal – never happen again.

It is through our activism that we are able to demand action from the government and we must continue to organize to put an end to gender-based violence.

In Solidarity,

The PSAC Winnipeg Regional Women’s Committee

Please share widely using hashtags 

#PSAC16Days #AFPC16jours #16DaysOfActivism #16Days #16Days2024

#RespectWomen #RememberThe14

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#PSAC16Days of Activism       Commit to the daily actions and share this campaign widely
Day One November 25	Use the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence 2024 background during your virtual meetings at work, and use the visuals on your socials
Day Two November 26	Men and boys need to be part of the solution   Join the Moose Hide Campaign Join the White Ribbon Movement
Day Three November 27	Ask for domestic violence training in your workplace
Day Four November 28	Watch the film BACKLASH: Misogyny in the Digital Age
Day Five November 29	Familiarize yourself with your workplace harassment and violence policies
Day Six November 30	How men and boys can help stop family violence
Day Seven December 1	Watch the film POLYTECHNIQUE
Day Eight December 2	Attend the PSAC Winnipeg Regional Women’s Committee in-person meeting at 175 Hargrave Street, PSAC Boardroom, at 5:30pm
Day Nine December 3	Speak out: add your voice to call out violence. Intervene: find a safe way to help when you see acts of gender-based violence.
Day Ten December 4	Lobby to urge the federal government to take swift action regarding third-party harassment and violence
Day Eleven December 5	Educate yourself and others about consent
Day Twelve December 6	Find a vigil in your community to attend on December 6th, and Remember The 14
Day Thirteen December 7	Donate to a local women’s shelter and encourage others to do the same
Day Fourteen December 8	Safely intervene by knowing the Signal for Help
Day Fifteen December 9	Learn the STATS
Day Sixteen December 10	Give your time to organizations working for gender equity, and to end gender-based violence