16 Days of Activism Against Violence

A Movement That Refuses Silence

Every year, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence create a global space where silence is disrupted, stories are amplified, and the world is asked to confront the persistence of violence against women and girls. The campaign runs from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. It is a symbolic and powerful bridge: a reminder that violence is never separate from human rights and that justice cannot exist while harm remains normalised.

The 16 Days are not a ceremony or a tradition. They are a demand. A refusal. A collective insistence that violence in all its forms — physical, emotional, digital, economic, cultural — is not inevitable and must not be ignored.

Why These 16 Days Matter

Gender-based violence continues to affect women everywhere, regardless of culture, age, income, or background. Yet women who are Black and minoritised often face a double burden: violence intertwined with racism, immigration pressures, language barriers, community stigma, or mistrust of institutions. The campaign challenges all of us to acknowledge these intersecting realities.

Statistics depict the scale, but not the weight. One in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. Many will never report it. Countless others endure harm too subtle for statistics — coercive control, emotional manipulation, financial pressure, degradation dressed as “family honour”, or digital harassment hidden behind screens.

The 16 Days of Activism bring that unseen landscape into the light.

Violence Changes Shape — and So Must Our Understanding

Violence today is not confined to physical spaces. It has migrated into homes, workplaces, legal systems and digital platforms. Online abuse, stalking, and image-based harm reflect older patterns of control adapted to new environments.

This campaign reminds us that responses to violence must evolve accordingly. Safety is no longer only about locks and shelters. It is about privacy online, digital literacy, community protection, trusted networks, and systems that see the full picture of a woman’s life rather than fragments.

A Lens Through Anah Project’s Work

For Anah Project, these days are not symbolic but deeply connected to the realities we see daily. Women arrive carrying stories shaped not only by individual experiences but by social pressures, cultural expectations, isolation and fear. Many have survived years of control before recognising it as abuse. Others have been told repeatedly that their safety is not theirs to decide.

The 16 Days highlight something essential: violence is never only an individual problem. It is rooted in power, silence, and structural inequality. Supporting survivors requires more than immediate help. It requires dismantling myths, challenging norms, and creating environments where women’s voices are believed without hesitation and valued without condition.

It also means acknowledging the courage it takes to leave, to speak, or even to imagine a different life. These days give space to that courage.

A Global Movement with Personal Meaning

Although the campaign spans countries, cultures and languages, its power lies in individual stories. A woman leaving an unsafe home after years of fear. A girl learning that her voice matters. A friend finally recognising that what she lived through was abuse. These transformations often begin quietly, in the moments when someone feels seen instead of dismissed.

The 16 Days of Activism invite communities to recognise that change happens through collective recognition — the willingness to say “this is happening here” rather than “somewhere else”.

Moving Beyond Awareness

Awareness by itself is not enough. This campaign calls for responsibility. It asks difficult questions:

• What beliefs enable violence to continue unchallenged?
• Who is excluded from conversations about safety?
• What happens when a woman tries to speak and no-one listens?
• How can communities become places where harm is neither hidden nor excused?

Activism is not only protest or policy work. It is also the everyday decision to challenge harmful attitudes, refuse to minimise abuse, support women without judgement, and recognise intersectional realities that shape experiences of violence.

A Call for Collective Courage

The 16 Days of Activism are a reminder that the fight against gender-based violence is not a temporary campaign but an ongoing commitment. It demands courage — from survivors who speak, from communities that listen, and from institutions willing to confront their own shortcomings.

Violence thrives in silence. These 16 Days break that silence deliberately, consistently, unapologetically. They ask us to imagine a world where safety is the norm rather than the exception. A world where women and girls live without fear. A world where dignity is protected not by luck but by design.

As we move through these days, let them be a catalyst for long-term change, not a brief moment of reflection. The path to ending gender-based violence is long yet powerful. It begins with voices raised, stories believed, and communities united in the belief that harm cannot be tolerated in any form.