Samantha Keogh, Violence Against Women Project Manager at the IS, writes about the 16 Days of Activism campaign and what comes next in Scotland.
The prevalence of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our society has a detrimental impact on the health and safety of people and communities. 1 in 3 women experience physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner, and women and children who experience VAWG are at increased risk of experiencing inequality of outcomes throughout their life, including lower levels of physical and mental wellbeing and increased risk of harm. The annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign begins on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. This campaign first began in the early 1990s and is used as an organising strategy by individuals and organisations around the world to call for the prevention and eradication of violence against women and girls.
The prevention and eradication of violence against women and girls continues to be a joint ambition and priority in Scotland, and is the vision of Scottish Government and COSLA’s Equally Safe Strategy. The Equally Safe strategy highlights the need for agencies across every area of Scottish life to work together to tackle violence against women and girls. The National Violence Against Women Network – coordinated by the Improvement Service – brings together local multi-agency VAW Partnership leads across Scotland and other key stakeholders to ensure a joined-up approach is taken to delivering Equally Safe. This includes awareness raising activity throughout the year but especially during the 16 Days campaign when there is an opportunity to place a spotlight on violence against women and girls.
The global 16 Days campaign can be accessed on the UN Women website; the campaign calls for global actions to increase awareness, galvanise advocacy efforts, and share knowledge and innovations. In Scotland, the National VAW Network have developed specific themes, events and resources for the campaign in Scotland and have released a toolkit of resources to maximise the impact of the campaign. This toolkit is intended to complement the global campaign, as well as providing specific resources and key messages developed by partners in Scotland. The toolkit can be accessed on the Improvement Service website along with a calendar of events demonstrating the huge variety of work taking place across Scotland both online and in-person.
The 16 Days theme chosen by stakeholders in Scotland this year is #WhatNext - to ask what more we need to do as we move forward while also acknowledging how much work has already taken place to embed Equally Safe in Scotland. We are all operating in a policy and delivery landscape changed by the impacts of COVID-19, the cost of living crisis, a challenging recruitment and retention environment and an increasingly digital world providing new spaces for abuse to take place. The campaign this year recognises that this is an important time for us to re-double our efforts to drive progress through our collective endeavours, across the whole system.
The #WhatNext theme also provides an opportunity to consider what should inform the next phase of the Equally Safe strategy in Scotland, and how we can align VAWG within other key policy developments. #WhatNext will inform a series of Spotlight Workshops on key themes during 16 Days, and the National Summit at the end of 16 Days 2022, highlighting the work across the campaign and targeting decision makers to engage with the actions identified. The Improvement Service will publish key learning materials and content from these events and will showcase the work taking place across Scotland during 16 Days following the end of the campaign.
There are a number of ways you can get involved in the 16 Days campaign:
- Download the toolkit of resources and raise awareness by using the 16 Days logo and virtual meeting backgrounds
- Register for local or virtual events on the calendar, or share your own events with the IS team to be included on this page
- Use the #16Days and #WhatNext hashtags on social media and share the resources provided in the toolkit
Find out more:
- For more information on the Improvement Service’s work on 16 Days and/or coordinating the National VAW Network, contact vaw@improvementservice.org.uk
- Access our library of briefings and other resources from our programme of VAW work
- Join the National VAW Network KHub Group, an online forum for professionals working to improve outcomes for women and girls affected by VAWG in Scotland to share information, learning and resources