Wear a white ribbon in support of 16 Days of Activism

RELATED LINKS: Take Back the Night march kicks off 16 Days campaign IT'S a year since the last 16 Days of Activism campaign against abuse of women and children. And again people are urged to stop violence against the vulnerable. Read more Fight continues to stop gender violence THE 16 Days of Activism cyber dialogues combine facilitated, interactive dialogues on the ground with a link to a central hub at national level, where experts and decision-makers are available at a fixed time each day to answer questions in a live "chat room". Read more City Parks treats disabled children LOADS of fun was had by disabled children from across Joburg as City Parks organised a fabulous day to mark International Day of the Disabled Person. Read more Art auction to help to fight abuse AN auction of a number of works of art, initiated by the Junior City Council, was held at the Everard Read Gallery. The cash raised went towards the fight against child abuse. Read more

Have your say on gender violence The 16 Days Cyber Dialogues enable ordinary people to express their views on woman and child abuse. They also offer a space for those affected by gender violence to speak out. December 1, 2006 By Tabisa Mntengwana ORDINARY citizens can participate in the fight against the abuse of women and children through the 16 Days Cyber Dialogues. The Cyber Dialogues is an online chat forum allowing people to express their views and take part in discussions with experts. It is part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender violence and child abuse, and was introduced to open debate among South Africans and foreigners. 16 Days of Activism began on Saturday, 25 November, International Day of No Violence Against Women and Children, and runs until 10 December. To be part of the discussions, log on to the Gender Links website between 1pm and 2pm. Participants need to register and will be issued with a log in or password. Topics discussed include local government and gender violence, gender violence in schools, the role of men and boys, HIV and Aids, and the media. The topics change daily, but people can contribute to previous or up coming discussions. According to Gender Links, an organisation that promotes gender equality in and through the media, the cyber dialogues have opened a unique space for those who are affected directly and indirectly to speak out. They are conducted by Gender Links and Gender and Media Southern Africa, or Gemsa. The two organisations take turns to facilitate the dialogues. A number of significant dates that help to highlight the plights of particularly vulnerable groups fall within the 16 Days - 25 November is International Day of No Violence Against Women and Children; 1 December is World Aids Day; 3 December is International Day for Disabled Persons; 6 December is the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre; and 10 December is International Human Rights Day. According to the CBC.CA archives website, Canada's radio and television archives, for 45 minutes on 6 December 1989 a gunman roamed the corridors of Montreal's École Polytechnique and killed 14 women. Marc Lepine, 25, separated the men from the women and before opening fire on the classroom of female engineering students he screamed, "I hate feminists." The Montreal Massacre has become a galvanising moment in which mourning turned into outrage about all violence against women. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za