16 Days of Activism Campaign launched

On Thursday, November 25, 2021 together with international and national partners, the UN agencies launch its 16 Days of Activism campaign in Georgia to raise awareness around violence against women and girls and to support moves towards gender equity.

Despite the tremendous amount of resources and amount of time invested in the prevention of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), significant challenges remain and some forms of GBV remain insufficiently addressed. Sexual violence in Georgia persists as one of the most latent human rights violations. According to UN recent studies, at least 9% of women in Georgia have experienced some form of sexual violence in childhood and one in every 11 married women in Georgia is subjected to physical, sexual and other forms of violence from her husband or partner.

From November25 to December 10 2021 several events are  planned, including a movie screening that tells stories of women with disabilities who experienced GBV, sexual violence and abuse; Men Talking to Men training sessions; a presentation of the research on Gender Equality; a presentation of the book "Luna and the planet of Firelflies"; workshops for rural women’s groups, healthcare professionals and reproductive health care professionals;  and high-level meetings on harmonizing Georgian legislation to Istanbul Convention and on the importance of economic empowerment in preventing gender-based violence.

TV companies TV1, Mtavari Arkhi and Euronews joined the campaign. TV hosts also joined the campaign and took a stand against gender-based violence in Georgia by wearing a campaign pin for one day - November 25, 2021.

On November 25 the UN system in Georgia, international organizations and diplomatic missions issued the joint statement and called for further resolute action to prevent and eventually eliminate violence against women and girls once and for all.

The 16 Days of Activism is an international campaign to eliminate gender-based violence in all forms. It kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. 

The global theme for this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is “Orange the world: End violence against women now!

The 16-Days of Activism campaign echoes the United Nations’ global call to take urgent action to fund women’s rights organizations, support for health and social services,  make services to address gender-based violence services essential in order to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls (VAWG).

The full calendar of events is available below.