16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence

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 A woman is killed on average every 3 days in the UK: Data shows that 1 in 5 homicides are domestic homicides and that over the last decade there were:

• 898 female victims of domestic homicides
• of these, 698 victims (78%) were killed by a partner or ex-partner
• and over 9 in 10 female homicide victims were killed by a man (92%). (Statistics taken from Gov.UK) 

These are numbers that the government has committed to change.

The 16 Days run from 25 November (the UN International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women) to 10 December (Human Rights Day).

The 16 Days of Activism also include other significant dates like World Aids Day (1 December), as well as the White Ribbon UK Campaign, which calls on men to make a pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence and abuse. 

The 16 Days UN campaign focuses on one of the fastest-growing forms of abuse: digital violence against women and girls. Digital violence targets women more than men, across all walks of life, but especially those with public or online visibility - such as activists, journalists, women in politics, human rights defenders, and young women. 

Digital tools are increasingly being used to stalk, harass, and abuse women and girls. This includes: Image-based abuse/ non-consensual sharing of intimate images | Cyberbullying, trolling, and online threats | Online harassment and sexual harassment | AI-generated deepfakes such as sexually explicit images, digitally manipulated images, videos or audio | Hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms | Doxxing - publishing private information |Online stalking or surveillance/tracking to monitor someone's activities |Online grooming and sexual exploitation | Catfishing and impersonation | Misogynistic networks - e.g. manosphere, incel forums. 

These acts don't just happen online. They often lead to offline violence in real life, such as coercion, physical abuse, and even femicide - killing of women and girls. The harm can be long-lasting and affect survivors over a prolonged period of time. 

Further information about 'No excuse for online abuse' can be found on the UN's website. 

Organise your own event

We want to encourage as many local organisations and groups to organise their own events or simply spread the word. 

The UN has produced a UNITE/Orange the World Toolkit. It's full of social media assets, images and information. 

Local 16 Days events

Once details of local events to mark the 16 Days of Activism are made available, we will include them on this webpage and promote on our social media channels.