With orange symbolising a bright future free from violence, this year’s event runs from Friday 25th November until 10th December (which is Human Rights Day).
Last Friday, the whole Paycare team came in wearing an item of orange, and we had various goodies to help promote our support including food, face painting, orange sweeties and selfie props, and Wolverhampton Council even provided us with leaflets, posters and orange ribbons to wear.
Violence is considered physical, sexual or psychological harm, with some types including:
- Domestic Violence
- Rape
- Human Trafficking
- Forced Prostitution
- Female Genital Mutilation / FGM (a procedure which intentionally alters or causes injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons)
- Dowry Murder (a brutal practice where a woman is killed by her husband or in-laws because her family cannot meet their demands for dowry – a payment made to a women’s in-laws as a gift to her new family)
- Honour Killing (when a woman is murdered because she is considered harmful to the family’s honour, for example if they have been accused of adultery, suspected of premarital sex, even if they have been a victim of rape)
As part of the 16-day campaign, we’re also running a handprint challenge which involves members of the Paycare team writing down a fact on a hand-shaped card related to gender-based violence. We’re encouraging them to decorate their cards and the competition will close on 10th December, with the winner announced shortly after.
We’ll be using every hand-shaped card for a mural in the office to recognise all-year-round the importance of supporting others. To find out more, you can visit www.un.org/en/women/endviolence/.