365 Days of No Violence Against Children and Women

South Africa has an international obligation to uphold the ratified Gender Based Violence against women and children campaign emanate from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991. Participants chose the dates November 25th as an International Day for the elimination of violence against women and children as well as December 10th as an International Human Rights Day in order to symbolically emphasize that violence against women and children is a human right violation. During this time, government runs a 16 Days of Activism Campaigns to make people aware of the negative impact of violence on women and children and to act against abuse. In so doing, government and civil society organizations together with the business sector work together to broaden the impact of the campaign. It is a National mandate for all spheres of government to plan and support activities or campaigns for awareness raising to ensure accelerated social transformation. The Foundation has long recognized the 16 Days, but however it felt the strategic target groups remain marginalized throughout the year, hence 365 Days of Activism Against Children and Women Abuse. The objectives of the 365 Days Campaigns: - To raise awareness about domestic violence and human rights against women and children with the goal of preventing future violence; - To encourage men to take personal stance against violence; - To challenge communities to speak out and think about their own actions, language and beliefs; - To encourage active civil society participation; - To lobby government and other relevant stakeholders to take positive tangible action on this issue and implement the ruling party’s commitment and mandate to eliminate violence against women and children; -To build a network of individuals and organizations committed to creating a society free of violence against women and children.