2011 18-Day Campaign to End VAW
The 2011 Campaign shall also be a venue for a constructive dialogue among key government agencies and service providers on VAW like crisis centers, social workers, healthcare providers, police and alternative law groups, to discuss various aspects VAW; including gender-based violence issues raised to the UN CEDAW through the communications procedure of the CEDAW Optional Protocol.
With the theme UNiTE: Stop VAW, Now! the 2011 Campaign to End VAW shall highlight the Philippines as a country where stakeholders are united to stop violence against women.
The whistle will be used as a symbolic device to show that we are united:
- In preventing VAW
- In speaking out against VAW
- In supporting VAW survivors
Overall, the 2011 Campaign shall highlight the Philippines as a country that is united to Stop VAW, Now. As such, the Philippines is part of the worldwide campaign of the UN Secretary General dubbed as “UNiTE to End Violence Against Women Campaign.” Through UNiTE, the entire UN system, the government, civil society, women’s organizations, male advocates against VAW, young people, media and the private sector will join forces to raise public awareness, increase political will and resources, and strengthen partnerships in stopping VAW.
Everyone is enjoined to initiate anti-VAW activities from November 25 to December 12.
About the World-wide Campaign to End VAW
Every year, women’s groups from different regions of the world observe the period from November 25 to December 10 as the 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. This global campaign originated from the First Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. November 25 (International Day Against Violence Against Women) and December 10 (International Human Rights Day) were chosen to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that violence against women is a violation of human rights.
About the Philippine Campaign to End VAW
In the Philippines, Proclamation 1172, s. 2006 extended the Campaign to 18 days to include December 12, a historic date that marked the adoption in Palermo, Italy of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Crime, supplemented by the Protocol to Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children; it is more commonly referred to as the Anti-Human Trafficking Day.
The Philippines has participated in this worldwide campaign to eliminate VAW since 2002. From 2002 to 2003, our Campaign focused on awareness raising on VAW which led to the passage of two landmark legislations: RA 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003) and RA 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004). The succeeding years focused on the popularization of the newly passed laws, including the other anti-VAW laws on rape and sexual harassment, strengthening their implementation at the national and local level, and building a network of male advocates against VAW (Men Opposed to VAW Everywhere or MOVE). In 2008-2009, the Campaign highlighted the involvement of the local government units and the judiciary in anti-VAW efforts, through the Gender Justice Awards and the Search for Outstanding VAW-Responsive Local Government Units. In 2010, following the enactment and finalization of the implementing rules and regulations of the Magna Carta of Women (RA 9710), the Campaign underscored the law’s provision on women’s protection from violence.
