Sunday, 27 November 2011

16 Days of Action on Violence Against Women

This is something that I meant to post on Friday, but technical difficulties mean that it has been delayed.

Friday the 25th November was the International Day Against Violence Against Women, and the 10th December is International Human Rights Day. The sixteen days connecting these dates have been taken up across the world as the 16 Days of Action on Violence Against Women. By connecting these two days, it is hoped that the message that women's rights are human rights, and are an international issue, will get across.

Some of the issues that are being taken up are as follows: domestic violence, sexual violence, childhood sexual abuse, prostitution and exploitation and human trafficking.

I've been facilitating this campaign at work, which means I've had the opportunity to liaise with numerous fantastic organizations, including Women's Aid, Rape Crisis Scotland, Edinburgh Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre and Shakti Women's Aid. These guys have been kind enough to provide me with copious amounts of materials, from posters to leaflets to in-depth info.

What it has also made me realise is that this blog doesn't actually link to any support agencies, despite it's sometimes distressing content. To rectify that I have summarised the basic info for the 4 main agencies I worked with:

Edinburgh Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre: http://www.ewrasac.org.uk/
EWRASAC provides support for women aged 12 and over and members of the transgender community who have experienced rape and sexual abuse, from support and advocacy to specific problems like dealing with panic attacks and self-harm. They also have information for families of those who have been raped or sexually assaulted.

They can also be contacted by telephone on 0131 5569437

Edinburgh Women's Aid: http://edinwomensaid.co.uk/
They support women and children at risk of violence (of any kind, not just physical) by partners or ex-partners. Services include refuge accommodation, young people's services and resettlement.
Telephone: 0131 315 8110

For women of black and ethnic minority communities, including Eastern Europe, South East Asia and the Middle East.
Telephone: 0131 475 2399

The national centre for rape crisis work in Scotland, they operate the out of hours telephone service and run fantastic campaigns.
This is not an invitation to rape me: http://www.thisisnotaninvitationtorapeme.co.uk/
Telephone: 08088 01 03 02

Information and help after rape and sexual assault, a Scottish Government Document - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/350957/0117632.pdf

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