Five weeks ago, Dal’s Gender and Women’s Studies program and Office of Human Rights, Equity and Harassment Prevention (HREHP) had their first meetings to launch a new initiative for campus — one spanning 16 days and bringing an important international campaign to campus.
Now, they have now been joined by many partners across the Dal and Halifax communities to put on 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
With the support of groups such as the Dalhousie Feminist Legal Association, DalOUT, South House, Bryony House and others, the Dal campaign will feature 30-plus events across 16 days.
The international campaign, first launched at Rutgers University in 1991, spans several important milestones including the International Day Against Violence Against Women (November 25), World AIDS Day (December 1), the National of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (December 6) and International Human Rights Day (December 10).
Learn more: Schedule of events, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
The Dal campaign launched last Wednesday (November 25) in the Student Union Building with music by the Dal Jam Society and remarks by several members of the Dalhousie community.
Angela Samonte, a new peer education with HREHP, was handing out small paper hands at the event so people could write on them “what inspires them, why they are here or what they want to commit to,” she said.
Among those contributing “hands” was Dalhousie President Richard Florizone, who addressed attendees.
President Florizone fills out one of the helping hands for the SUB wall.
“It is wonderful to see our students, faculty and staff from across our campus and from King’s engaged in this important topic,” he said. “If we are to make progress, we need to come together through initiatives such as this. If we are going to make this change, we have to do it together.”
Margaret Denike, Gender and Women’s Studies coordinator, also spoke at the opening and introduced first year student Alex Hughes, who has taken the lead on re-launching the Dalhousie Women’s and Gender Studies society this year after some time of it being dormant.
“I have been so incredibly inspired by the energy here and by the students,” said Hughes (above), new to Dal this year. “I never imagined that in my first year I would be taking on a project like starting a new society. Students here really want to make a difference and they are making a difference.”
President Florizone noted how some of the events Dal has seen in the past year, including the Dentistry Facebook group and the community’s response to it, demonstrate how everyone has a stake in addressing the sort of issues raised by the 16 Days campaign.
“We all have a hand in working together to address issues like gender-based violence, but also diversity and inclusion on our campus. Thank you for engaging in these 16 days of Activism to bring more attention to these important issues.”
Jude Ashburn, outreach coordinator for South House, said that it’s dialogue and partnerships such as those in this campaign that are key to addressing systemic sexism, transphobia, misogyny, homophobia, racism and other issues.
“This has really been a hugely collaborative organizing project and it’s really, really exciting.”
Left-to-right: Angela Samonte (peer educator, HRHEP), Margaret Deneke (coordinator, Gender and Women’s Studies), Shakira Weatherdon (education advisor, HRHEP), Harley Johnson (peer educator, HRHEP), Philip Bobbie-Ansah (peer educator, HRHEP).