2006 International Calendar of Campaign Activities

NORTH AMERICA

CANADA | UNITED STATES (New Jersey | New York | Vermont | Washington DC)

CANADA

Alliance des femmes de la francophonie canadienne (AFFC)
The AFFC launched a campaign beginning Nov. 25 and ending Dec. 10. Their website contains information and tools put together not only to deliver the message of the importance of French services for francophone women in situations of abuse, but also tools and information on prevention and a calendar of 16 days of action for francophone women. For more information, see website, campaign, and take a look at their poster in French and English on the question of violence against women and francophone women living in minority settings in Canada.

White Tiger Montreal Girl Conference 2006
Contact: wtiger@qc.aibn.com
December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day coincides with the sad anniversary of the death of 14 women who were tragically killed on December 6, 1989 at l'École Polytechnique in Montreal because of their gender. Beyond commemorating the loss of these fourteen young lives, this day represents a time to pause and reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. The Conference will focus on violence against women – particularly teen girls (15 to 19 yrs). Our objective is to pro-actively provide information that participants can bring back to their high schools and share with their peers. Also featuring interactive workshops with front-line professionals, educational activities, video presentations, musical performances - targeted to teen girls from ages 14 to 17. Please click here for flyer.

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UNITED STATES

New Jersey

Rutgers University, RU Choice
Contact: Katie Blouse, kblouse@eden.rutgers.edu
RU Choice is planning a video screening of the movie “If these walls could talk” on December 4, 2006, in the Women’s Center at 8pm.

Rutgers University, RU Women’s Center
Contact: Lindsey Seltzer, lseltzer@eden.rutgers.edu
The RU Women's Center presents BELOW THE BELT: A Menstrual Health Workshop, Tuesday, December 5, 2006 at 8 pm in the Women's Center (third floor of the DCC, behind the fire door). Come learn about menstrual products and the effects they have on the body, the planet and society at large. Make your own cloth pads - learn simple ways to reduce your cramps. All genders welcome! This workshop is led by Yonah EtShalom of The Below the Belt Resource Center, a distributor of cloth pads and an online resource center for information on sexual, genital and reproductive health. For more information: belowthebeltresourcecenter@gmail.com, http://www.deadletters.biz/belowthebelt

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New York

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN CAMPAIGN Violence against women is the greatest human rights scandal of our times.  From birth to death, in times of peace as well as war, women face discrimination and violence at the hands of the state, the community and the family.  Please click website to access Amnesty International USA individual country Shelter Stories.

Center for Women's Global Leadership
Contact: cwgl@igc.org
CWGL will host an event, Claiming our Rights, Defending our Future: Celebrating 16 Years of 16 Days of Activism, at the Church Center, 777 UN Plaza, 2nd Floor, New York, NY on December 7th from 5:30-8pm. Click here for flyer with full details. Click here for event photos.

Connect NYC
Contact: Patricia Martinez, pmartinez@connectnyc.org
Connect will organize an event on December 7, 2006, in which women organizers will come together in a training/dialogue to explore and discuss the challenges they face as women leaders in the community. Topics include discussion on gender based violence and the challenges faced by activists and solutions to address these issues. For more information, click here.

International Rescue Committee & the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children
Contact: shogufaa@womenscommission.org
Film Fest for the entitled EVERY DAY during lunch from November 27th to December 8th 12:00pm – 1:30pm at the IRC/Women’s Commission offices 122 East 42nd Street – 11th Floor (unless otherwise noted) Discussion will be held after each film. For flyer, click here.

St. Bartholomew's, UNAIDS, The Hunger Project, the Population Council, the World Council of Churches, the World Council of Conservative Synagogues, the Islamic Cultural Center of NYC, and the Interfaith Center of New York
Please join us at a free public event for World AIDS Day! The event on Thursday, November 30, 2006 will start at 6:30pm sharp and will be followed by a reception from 8-8:30pm. Please arrive before 6:20pm due to security. The event will be held at: St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, Park Avenue & 51st Street in New York City.  Please RSVP to RSVP@thp.org. Confirmed speakers: Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General; Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS; Joan Holmes, President of The Hunger Project; a representative of the movement of people living with HIV/AIDS; and featuring the Swaziland Redemption Choir here in New York as part of their AIDS benefit tour.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Contact: symposium@unfpa.org, Cecile Mazzacurati at 212-297-5202
The United Nations Population Fund will hold a presentation and panel discussion entitled “Addressing Sexual Violence in Liberia: a follow-up to the Brussels Symposium.” The event will be held at the United Nations Secretariat in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium on December 6, 2006 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. The speakers will give an overview of the situation in Liberia and discuss the development of the country's new National Action Plan to Address Sexual Violence and challenges related to its implementation. Speakers include: Annie Demen, Deputy Minister of Gender and Development, Liberia; Rosana Schaack, Director, THINK (Liberian NGO); and Mendy Marsh, Program Coordinator, Christian Children's Fund, Liberia.
The panel will be moderated by Susan Purdin, Senior Technical Advisor on Reproductive Health at the International Rescue Committee and will also include experts from UNFPA and UNIFEM. This will be the first event in an ongoing series of follow-up events to the International Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond held in Brussels in June of this year. For more information on the symposium, including presentations, the Call to Action, and the final report, please visit our website. Please confirm your participation via email to symposium@unfpa.org by Friday, December 1.

UNIFEM/USA/NYC/Young Professionals, NYC
As part of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence we are holding a Holiday Party to Benefit the UN Trust Fund to Eliminate Violence Against Women.  Wednesday, December 6th from 7 - 10 p.m., at Pianos, featuring live music by the El Michels Affair, 158 Ludlow Street (between Stanton and Rivington) Drink Specials, 7 - 8 p.m., Admission: $20 ($15 for UNIFEM/USA members).  Please RSVP to Shari Gruber at sgruber@unifemusa.org.  All proceeds to benefit the UN Trust Fund to Eliminate Violence Against Women.

Violence Intervention Program, Inc.
Contact: Eliana Godoy, Art for Change, 212-348-7044
As part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign a diverse group of NYC women came together to share our stories of joy and frustrations that come with being a woman. To bring theses issues to light – a theater production of the Vagina Monologues will be performed by these same women in order to denounce violence against all and particularly in women who should be visible and sexual without the threat of harm to their mind, body, and spirit. To emphasize that derogatory, degrading and dehumanizing language and actions towards women harms us all and perpetuates a cycle of intolerance, hatred and violence. We encourage all people to come to our performance and take the first step in inciting change: being present and open to our experiences.
Performance dates:

• Wednesday, November 29, 8pm
• Saturday, December 2, 2pm
• Wednesday, December 6, 8pm
• Sunday, December 10, 3pm

Location: Carlito’s Café y Galeria
1701 Lexington Ave (between 106 and 107th Streets) NY, NY, http://www.carlitosny.com
Suggested donation: $5 (all proceeds will be donated to Art for Change, http://www.artforchange.org)

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Vermont

Middlebury College
Contact: Karin Hanta, khanta@middlebury.edu, 802-443-5937
The Women's and Gender Studies Program and Chellis House, the Women's Resource Center at Middlebury College had the special privilege to launch the "16 Days Campaign" as early as November 6. On this day, Minou Tavárez Mirabal and Dedé Mirabal Reyes spoke about "Domestic Violence, Political Participation, and the Example of the Mirabal Sisters" to a large audience at Middlebury College's Mead Chapel.
Dedé and Minou are descendants of the Mirabal family, whose history of resistance to Rafael Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic during the 1960s has been immortalized in Alvarez's novel "In the Time of the Butterflies." On Nov. 25, 1960, Trujillo's henchmen killed sisters Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal for their involvement in efforts to overthrow his government. The United Nations now marks November 25, the anniversary of their assassination, as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Dedé is the last surviving sister of the "Butterflies," and Minou is her niece and the daughter of the late Minerva Mirabal.
For over four decades, Dedé Mirabal has kept alive the memory of her three sisters. She established the "Museo Hermanas Mirabal" in Conuco, Dominican Republic, to educate people about the horrors of dictatorship and the preciousness of freedom.
Minou Tavárez Mirabal received a degree in Hispanic-American Literature and Linguistics from the University of Havana and has taught literature at a private university in the Dominican Republic. Since 2002, she has been active in politics. She is currently serving her second term as a member of the Dominican Chamber of Deputies, where she is heading the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Previously, she was Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the Dominican Republic's Secretariat for Foreign Relations.
If you would like to mark November 25 in your community, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/ws?videos to watch a digital video of Minou Tavárez Mirabal's lecture (in Spanish, with translation into English) or read English and Spanish versions of her speech. For further information, please don't hesitate to contact Karin Hanta, Director of Chellis House, Women's and Gender Studies Resource Center, Middlebury College by sending an email to khanta@middlebury.edu. Further programming for the "16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence" includes:

Global AIDS Awareness Panel
Friday, December 1, 4:30 p.m.
Robert A. Jones ('59) Conference Room
Middlebury College
A panel discussion with Glen Elder (Professor & Chair of the Geography Department, UVM), Terje Anderson (founder of Vermont CARES), Bob Cluss (Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Middlebury College), and Alicia Battle (Director of Health Education, Middlebury College) examining the local and international impact of AIDS. Co-sponsored by the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs and the Student Global AIDS Campaign.

"Disposable Women: Factory Workers on the U.S.-Mexican Border" Lecture by Gabriela Baeza Ventura, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Literature, University of Houston
Monday, December 4, 4:30 p.m.
Robert A. Jones ('59) Conference Room
Middlebury College
Since 1993, over 370 women have been killed in Ciudad Juarez on the U.S.-Mexican border, many after suffering sexual abuse and torture; and murders showing similar characteristics have spread to the city of Chihuahua. Approximately 100 cases are suspected to be the work of one or more serial murderers - the rest are most likely murders that flourish in a city where women can be killed with complete impunity. The Mexican and American authorities have done little to investigate or prosecute those responsible. Co-sponsored by the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs and Feminist Action at Middlebury.

Global Coalition on Women and Aids (GCWA)
Contact: Pauline Muchina, muchinap@unaids.org
The GCWA and a diverse group of partners are joining forces on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2006, for an afternoon of dialogue and discussion among prominent religious and civil society leaders, women living with HIV, and government representatives focused around how the faith-based community can continue and expand its leadership role, helping to promote and support effective strategies to stop violence and fight AIDS worldwide. For more information, click here. For event flyer, click here.

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