The 16 Days of Activism against Gender based Violence take place between 25 November and 10 December each year. The theme for 2020 is “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!”
As the world retreated inside homes due to the lockdown measures introduced to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, reports showed an alarming increase in the already existing pandemic of violence against women.
“Accompanying the crisis has been a spike in domestic violence reporting, at exactly the time that services, including rule of law, health and shelters, are being diverted to address the pandemic,” stated the UN Secretary-General’s report, “Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19“.
Club members wore orange at our recent Zoom club meeting to show our support for the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Along with other Soroptimist clubs, we posted message on social media.
Many towns and cities – locally, nationally and internationally – also showed their support on 25th November by bathing some of their public buildings in orange light.
From SI St Albans – lighting the St. Albans museums
From our friendship link, SI Caserta – the Royal Palace in orange