Today is the first day of a UN campaign to end violence against women. MediaWise works, and has worked, for many organisations focused on ending violence against women and other social justice issues. Each day we will post a story on our work.
It is an annual campaign that is marked around the world in many different ways. It begins on 25 November, known in Australia as White Ribbon Day, and ends on 10 December, Human Rights Day.
Back in 2000 we were commissioned by the Federal Government’s Office of Women’s Policy to produce a Woman 2000 package providing teachers and students with accurate and current information about the results of the 1995 United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing.
The conference delegates drew up a Platform of Action, which spelled out plans to ensure equal rights and status for the world’s girls and women by 2000.
The education package we produced included 15 different resource sheets on Violence Against Women, Human Rights, Media, the girl child, economic structures and policies, education, health, poverty as well as an overview of the UN.
Each sheet included overview of the issue, activities, facts and figures, as well as graphics and images.
Looking back on the campaign – some 15 years’ ago – it is interesting to see how far and yet how little we have come. So many of the activities we included in the package then are still applicable today.
One example: Invite the local community policing squad in to talk to students about how they can assist women who are sufferers of family violence. What can children do if they live in a violent family?
Another example: You are organising a march to protest about violence against women. You need to promote the march. Design a brochure that will be distributed to the community to let people know about the march.
The package was distributed to every state school across Australia. Feedback included:
Useful information packaged in easy bite size pieces, just the thing for teenagers.
We ordered three and then came back for 20. The girls keep taking them home!
Thank you for making difficult topics easy to digest.