The global campaign is on: The goal is to make the #16days hashtag a trending topic on Twitter to reach the widest audience possible and raise awareness about gender-based violence.
November 25 marked the beginning of the 16 days of activism to end Violence Against Women (VAW).

Yesterday, The Inter Press Service’s Gender Wire hosted a Tweetathon in collaboration with multiple civil society organisations to raise awareness about gender-based violence (GBV). Here’s what they wrote:

“We will be tweeting throughout the day on Friday with an intensive campaign starting at 1400 GMT and continuing for several hours afterward. With your help, we hope to make the #16days hashtag a trending topic on Twitter to reach the widest audience possible and raise awareness about GBV and VAW. At the very least, we hope to spark meaningful discussions about these issues across borders and timezones, from Pakistan to Iceland and Nigeria to Uruguay.”

Up until December 10, which marks the end of the 16 days of activism, on Human Rights Day, hashtags #16days and #VAW will be used when sending out twitter messages.

‘Take Back the Tech — Take Control of ICTS to End Violence Against Women,’ a global campaign, has been coming up with lists of daily actions to be carried out during these 16 days each year. Every day, a daily action is announced. For example, today, Day 2’s daily action is: “Violence is not our culture. Change it.”

The Take Back the Tech website reads: “Each daily action explores an issue of violence against women and its interconnection with communication rights, and approaches different communication platforms – online and off – in creative and tactical ways.” To find out more, visit their website.

In Pakistan, the White Ribbon Campaign: Men Working to End Violence Against Women, has launched a “one-million signature campaign.” It reads:

I PLEDGE Never to Commit, Never to Excuse and Never to Remain Silent about Violence against Women.

To sign the White Ribbon Campaign Pakistan’s pledge, click here.

Uks, a research, resource and publication centre on women in media in Pakistan, is running radio programmes on issues pertaining to women over the course of the campaign on their website. Have a look here.

Over the course of the remaining days, numerous organisations will be holding on-the-ground events as well making content available online. Look out for it.