16 Days of Activism Launched!

Today, Belize launched the sixteen days of activism against gender-based violence under the 2020 global theme: Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect! It’s an annual international campaign used to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls that kicks off on November twenty-fifth and runs until December tenth. In Belize, the National Women’s Commission led the charge for Belize’s launch today. Here’s a snippet from the virtual presentation.

Cynthia Williams

Cynthia Williams, Executive Director, National Women’s Commission

“This year, the theme Orange Belize: Respond, Prevent, Collect and Empower is  a challenge for the duty bearers entrusted with the responsibility to respond with at least the most essential services required for protection and support of persons who need it the most. It calls for bolder and stronger and more inclusive behaviour change campaigns targeting negative social norms, a shift to more positive masculinities and messages to discontinue perpetuating the violence against women and girls. Although we struggle with data collection, it is an opportunity to strengthen systems and entities to collect and analyze data but also to allow for more structured sharing mechanisms that will enhance evidenced based policies and programs. Data such as nineteen women murdered in 2018 and seventeen murdered in 2019 must go beyond just being numbers. It must be a reminder of what Belize has lost for losing their lives. Finally, empower seeks to support persons facing violence to slowly take control of their lives and claim their rights but they need our support.  So, as we begin observing these sixteen days of activism, I would like to challenge you to begin reflecting on the ways that you can act against gender-based violence; whether it is by listening to and believing survivors; calling for responses and services for those who cannot do it themselves or   learning the signs of abuse to know how to help.”