November 25 to December 10
Join us! Colour your world orange and share your photos, messages and videos and participate in #TWDGshiningalight - #OrangeTheWorld - #HearMeToo
One in three women worldwide experience gender-based violence. Help us break the silence and stigma that has allowed violence against women to exist with impunity. For far too long, women and girls everywhere have been experiencing extensive abuse and their stories need to be brought to light. In recent years, the voices of survivors and activists, through campaigns such as #MeToo, #TimesUp, #MeTooIndia and numerous others across the globe, have opened the dialogue about gender-based violence.
Despite its prevalence, there are many in the Tamil diaspora who are unable to address gender-based violence due to a range of cultural barriers. There is a great need to break these barriers and deter gender-based violence, especially domestic and family violence which has become a major area of concern within the South Asian communities in Australia. Statistics indicate that most women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including the more vulnerable migrants, face more barriers when confronted with gender-based violence and lack the capacity to access services.
The time for change is here and now! This is a call to action to mobilize and highlight issues relevant to preventing and ending violence against women and girls. The Tamil Women’s Development Group (TWDG) from Sydney, Australia invites you to participate in #TWDGshiningalight - #OrangeTheWorld - #HearMeToo - a social media campaign during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence a time to take action to end violence against women and girls around the world.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence is from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. We join UNwomen and the UNiTE Campaign to Orange the World and support this year’s theme #HearMeToo. We stand in solidarity with survivors, advocates and human rights defenders who are working to prevent and end violence against women and girls. This campaign aims to create opportunities for dialogue between activists, policy-makers and the public.
Education, empowerment and communication are three ways we can equip ourselves to address the daunting subject of violence against women and girls. TWDG aims to do just this in November, in Sydney, Australia, reaching out to the Tamil diaspora and beyond.
RESIST, EMPOWER, RISE and TRANSFORM!
- Resist: Speak up and Speak out to prevent gender-based violence before it happens!
- Empower: Extend a helping hand. Show support to survivors of gender-based violence!
- Rise: Join others and stand together against gender-based violence!
- Transform: Challenge the stigma. Demand laws that protect women’s rights and condemn gender-based violence!
What do you have to do?
Orange your world and mobilize family, friends and work colleagues to orange their world in order to participate in the campaign. Wear something orange, decorate your world in orange or just send us an orange message. Share your messages, photos and videos on social media. Make sure to tag #TWDGshiningalight #OrangeTheWorld #HearMeToo
Share it with us at: https://www.facebook.com/twdgsydney/
At home, at work, with family and friends, or in the wider community, we can all do something to help reduce gender-based violence. Start the conversation and create avenues for more people to seek help and support.
#TWDGshiningalight - #OrangeTheWorld - #HearMeToo represents a personal commitment to fostering respectful relationships, taking a unified stance that violence against women and girls and violence of any sort is not acceptable in our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and homes.
Let’s all unite to raise awareness and break the silence!
For more information about Orange the World:
http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/take-action
