On
Friday, November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence Against Women, the Guyana Equality Forum (GEF) and the Society
Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) hosted the second
annual Zenita Temall Nicholson Memorial Event. The event took the form
of a Public Discussion on Gender-Based Violence in Guyana and served as
the commencement of SASOD’s 16 Days of Activism Campaign. The 16 Days of
Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to galvanize
action to end violence against women and girls around the world. In
2016, the campaign strongly emphasizes the need for sustainable
financing for efforts to end violence against women and girls towards
the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The
official theme for this year’s Campaign is: “Orange the World: Raise
Money to End Violence against Women and Girls.”
Raising funds
The
Public Discussion was facilitated by Guyanese feminist advocate and
stalwart educator, Bonita Harris. She began her presentation by
underscoring that “ending violence against women begins with awareness
and consciousness of why the names, nouns, and pronouns we use to call
and refer to persons can violate their integrity and sense of their
gender identity.”
In
her presentation, Harris urged participants to “talk the talk and walk
the walk”. “I want to encourage everyone here to ‘walk the talk’ …
Raising money to end violence against women and girls is an important
action for walking the talk or as Guyanese say, putting your money where
your mouth is.” She used the opportunity to launch a fundraising
initiative by producing an orange bowl to be used to raise money during
the 16 Days of Activism. “See this large orange bowl; I will be passing
it around for a collection to galvanize action to eradicate violence
against women and girls. And I will be donating the bowl for future
collections. Please give generously from whatever you have in your
pockets and purses today.” She also encouraged civil society
organisations to forego refreshments and use that money to eliminate
gender-based violence in Guyana.
