• Background
• The Campaign's Purpose
• Campaign Mechanism
• Government's Calendar of Events
• Communication Strategy
• Participating Companies, Parastatals and NGO's
• Campaign Impact
• Call to Action

BACKGROUND

The 16 Days of Activism: No Violence Against Women is a United Nations campaign. It takes place annually between 25 November (International Day of No Violence Against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day). The South African Government runs a parallel campaign that includes issues relating to violence against children. This campaign focuses primarily on generating an increased awareness of the negative impact of violence on women and children.

The Department of Provincial and Local Government is working closely with the Office on the Status of Women in the Presidency (OSW), the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP), the Office on the Status of Children (OSC) as well as other government departments.

In addition, strategic partnerships between government, civil society and business, have been established to broaden the potential impact of the campaign.

THE CAMPAIGN'S PURPOSE

• To generate an increased level of awareness amongst South Africans pertaining to the incidence of violence perpetuated against women and children, how it manifests itself within South African society and the negative impact on these vulnerable groups;
• To challenge perpetrators of these offences to change their behaviour;
• To enhance and increase partnerships between government, the private sector, civil society, organised labour, sectoral groups, the faith based organisations, the media (electronic and print) and the diplomatic community in an effort to spread the message;
• To align events in the national programme with that of the international theme for this year, which focuses on matters relating to Women's Health;
• To raise funds for NGOs that work within the sector, providing invaluable support to the victims and survivors of violence;
• To communicate through the most effective and appropriate channels aiming to reach the maximum number of people across the country, particularly women and children residing in rural areas;
• To engage actively with men and boys in the discourse about combating violence in our homes, our communities and in the workplace; and
• To highlight the stories of survivors of gender-based violence and the impact that the campaign has had on their lives.

THE CAMPAIGN MECHANISM

South Africans are called to support the campaign by utilising the white ribbon symbol in innovative and inventive ways to reflect solidarity. By wearing these ribbons for the duration of the 16-day period, employers and employees will provide an effective and striking visual tool through which to elicit campaign support. Unions and professional organisations will also be encouraged to garner support within their ranks alongside members and representatives from the sporting fraternity.

The white ribbon campaign will be managed in conjunction with the campaign postcard initiative - aimed at collecting pledges of support from around the country.

GOVERNMENT'S CALENDAR OF EVENTS

National, provincial and local government representatives in the National Gender Machinery prepare sector-specific, rural-and urban-based activities for the campaign. This information is fed into a national calendar of events, overseen and managed by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

GCIS and the broader media play a key strategic role in developing communication strategies and plans for the campaign. The interventions include a combination of formal advertising slots with public service announcements, participation in talk shows, magazine programmes and media information sessions. Radio advertising, targeting the various regions and specific language groups will form the backbone of the broader outreach programme.

In an effort to link the campaign to the country's 10-year democracy celebrations emphasis will be placed on the fundamental rights of women and children.

PARTICIPATING COMPANIES, PARASTATALS AND NGOs

Participating partners will be requested to feature the campaign logo extensively in internal publications and correspondence, on their websites and in messaging to their clients. They will also be asked to feature the campaign logo on product adverts and as part of their individual advertising campaigns. Corporate donations will be sought to augment the fundraising initiative on behalf of NGOs working with victims and survivors of violence.

Employers and employees will be encouraged to support the white ribbon campaign and to source their white ribbons (beaded, ceramic or lint fabric) from women's empowerment groups that supply these lapel buttons, pins and ribbons. A database of preferred service providers has been compiled.

CAMPAIGN IMPACT

The combination of Government, business and civil society activities and interventions, the envisaged saturation of media coverage via advertising, public service announcements, interviews and editorial pronouncements in conjunction with the extensive education campaign will undoubtedly contribute to a heightened national awareness of the issues related to violence and the importance of integrated solutions to the problem.

CALL TO ACTION

The rights of women and children are fundamental human rights entrenched in and protected by the Constitution. They are thus inalienable from, integral to and indivisible from the human rights framework. Gender-based violence in all its different guises is incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person, and must be eliminated.