16 Days of activism to end violence against women
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Promoted by the United Nations the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women is a worldwide campaign that aims to raise awareness and strengthen local interventions in violence against women and girls. The 16 days are from November 25th (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to December 10th (International Human Rights Day) were chosen to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasise that violence against women is a violation of human rights.
The Gender Research Network at the University of Newcastle is working on two large projects to showcase the 16 Days of Activism in Newcastle in 2019.
Turning Newcastle Orange
From November 25 – December 10 we want to turn prominent Newcastle buildings orange by lighting at night. In this way Newcastle participates in a campaign that is happening simultaneously around the world with buildings such as Houses of Parliament, pyramids and even Niagra Falls turning orange for the 16 days. We will apply to the Newcastle Port Community Contribution scheme to fund this project and we are aiming big: Nobby’s Lighthouse, Christ Church Cathedral, the Law Courts, Newcastle Museum and the Carrington Grain Corp silos, the latter of which we might be able to project images of buildings that have turned orange from around the world.
Hosting a Safer City Summit
The Safer City Summit is designed to capitalise on public awareness raised by the Turning Newcastle Orange campaign. It will be held 29-30 December and involve a range of local services that work to prevent violence against women in the community and to deal with its aftermath such as NOVA, the Hunter Women’s Centre, Got Your Back Sista and many others. We hope to provide a series of workshops on women’s self defence, cultivating positive masculinity, and cultures of consent as well as public talks by researchers and specialists designed to help the general public understand what they can do to help stop violence against women in our city.
More details about both these events are coming soon.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.