16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

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Today begins the 16 Days Campaign against gender violence.
Since 1991, the 16 Days Campaign has helped to raise awareness about gender violence and has highlighted its effects on women globally. Each year, thousands of activists from all over the world utilize the campaign to further their work to end violence against women. The campaign has celebrated victories gained by women’s rights movements, it has challenged policies and practices that allow women to be targeted for acts of violence, it has called for the protection of people who defend women’s human rights and it has demanded accountability from states, including a commitment to recognize and act upon all forms of violence against women as human rights abuses.
This year's goals include:

You can get an action kit here, find out what's happening locally here, and educate yourself here. That last link has an absolute *ton* of information about the connection between reproductive rights and violence against women, and some really interesting links about the relationship between torture and gender-based violence; do check it out.

I think it's fascinating that they've chosen to call it activism against *gender* violence rather than activism against violence towards women. Why? Because gender violence includes not only violence against bio-women, but also violence against transsexuals and gay men, prison rape, and the shaming of men who are victims as "pussies." Think about it: violence is coded as macho, and victimization is coded as feminine. (Remember the brouhaha when Bill Maher pointed out that flying planes into the Twin Towers was hardly the work of cowards? How dare he "credit" terrorists with courage?!?)

Violence is simply violence. And victimization has nothing to do with being weak. As long as violence continues to be seen as a demonstration of "power," and victimization as fragility, and as long as power is coded as strong and manly and fragility as delicate and feminine, violence will remain a gendered issue.

And I shouldn't need to tell you how wrong that is.

Bitch_PhD thanks Feministe and the Women of Color Blog for the heads up.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/culture/22715/