16-day activism planned for end to violence against women

Islamabad: The White Ribbon Pakistan has planned the 16-day extensive nationwide campaign of activism for the eradication of violence against women.
The event will begin on November 25, the Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, and will last until December 10, the Human Rights Day. According to the organisers, the White Ribbon Pakistan is a movement to engage men to challenge outdated patriarchal mindset and inspire them for providing an enabling environment for the women's empowerment to bring a positive change in the society for gender equality.
Besides running lots of advocacy and awareness initiatives, it will also hold ‘16 Days of Activism’. They said every year, they came up with innovative concepts to spread awareness amongst men and boys for eradication of violence against women. The organisers said in the current year, they were going to take the activation to a next level by making it an indigenous national movement.
They said the White Ribbon Pakistan strongly believed that media could play a vital role in eradication of violence against women by spreading awareness about the issue and therefore, creating widespread awareness of the issue in the country was its principal goal.
The organisers said the event's focus was on raising awareness of the laws on and punishment against the violation of women’s rights; establishment and improvement of service delivery infrastructure for women, and creating understanding among women about their legal rights.
They said journalists could help empower Pakistani women by raising general awareness through regular articles, ranging from the human experience, holding talk shows about the issue to create spread the word, giving women the information they really need for protection of their fundamental rights, covering the White Ribbon activities, empowering the population of Pakistan through knowledge.