#ThursdaysinBlack and the UN 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence
In every country, gender-based violence is a tragic reality:
- One in three women today experience physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner.
- Globally, more than eight out of ten girls experience street harassment before they are 17.
- Women and girls represent 70 percent of human trafficking victims.
- One in four children under the age of five lives in a household experiencing domestic violence*.
People of faith must speak out against sexual and gender based violence.
This violence is frequently hidden, and victims are often silent, fearing stigma and further violence.
We all have a responsibility to speak out against violence, to ensure that women and men, boys and girls, are safe from rape and violence in homes, schools, work, streets - in all places in our societies.
The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) is a proud promoter of the global ecumenical campaign 'Thursdays in Black'. A campaign that grew out of the World Council of Churches' Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988 - 1998), in which stories of rape as a weapon of war, gender injustice, abuse, violence, and many tragedies that grow outward from such violence became all the more visible.
Thursdays in Black: Resistance and Resilience - https://www.oikoumene.org/en/get-involved/thursdays-in-black
The campaign is simple but profound.
- Wear black on Thursdays.
- Wear a pin to declare you are part of the global movement resisting attitudes and practices that permit rape and violence.
- Show your respect for women who are resilience in the face of injustice and violence.
- Encourage others to join you.
This year, the NCCA is observing the UN 16 Days of Action against Gender Based Violence. The campaign has been run every year since 1991 from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. Each day of the campaign, you are encouraged to pray with prayers supplied by the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Daily prayers will be posted on the NCCA Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/NCCA.Au/
Please pray with us ‘towards a world without rape and violence’.
For further information about Thursdays in Black, contact Emily Evans on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
*Statistics from UN Women and UNICEF
