16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM 2011

16 DAYS against GENDER VIOLENCE – Zimbabwean Women Artists Speak Out
Book Café, Mannenberg: 25 Nov -10 Dec

Zimbabwean women join the world this year in the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign (2011), under the theme “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!”

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) in 1991.  Participants chose the dates November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women, and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a human rights violation.

Current world events - including military interventions, femicides, attacks on civilians participating in political change, ongoing conflicts etc. - exemplify the distinctive way in which militarism influences how we see our neighbours, our families, our public life, and other people in the world.  On June 9-11, 2011, thirty feminist activists, academics, and experts from around the world met at Rutgers University to participate in a "Strategic Conversation on the Intersections of Militarism and Violence Against Women" organized by the CWGL.  The importance of this conversation was reinforced by a number of events that were happening around the world simultaneously:

• 7 June 2011 in Medellin, Colombia: Ana Fabricia Codoba, a committed women human rights defender and peace advocate, was assassinated while traveling on a bus because of her outspoken advocacy for the rights of displaced persons and victims of violence.
• 10 June 2011 in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, Iraq: Demonstrators were brutally targeted with sexual assaults and beatings by men who were reportedly bussed in by the thousands to disrupt the weekly protest by activists who work with the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq.
• 10-12 June in the Nyakiele area, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo: Reports of rape of more than 100 women as part of the ongoing conflict in the region.

Each of these attacks provides a snap shot of different aspects of militarism and violence against women and can be tied to the prevalence of militaristic mindsets, the availability, threat and use of weapons, and gendered power relations (http://16dayscwgl.rutgers.edu/campaign).

One activist from Mozambique expressed her concern that there could not be “Peace on Earth while there is War in the Home.” Her comments describe the complex relationship between peace, home, and the world, and inspired the 2011 theme.

Women Artists Speak Out
Since 2008 Pamberi Trust’s gender project FLAME (Female Literary, Arts, & Music Enterprise) has participated in the global campaign, with events featuring Zimbabwean women artists.  In 2011 the FLAME 16 DAYS Campaign goes digital, with inspiration and information widely disseminated through ‘Next Generation’ information technology – via the internet.  Relaying information from different sources, project officer Batsirai Chigama is sending out messages of encouragement, activism and thought-provoking discussion to a wide database of Zimbabwean women.

Featuring strongly in this information are details of music and poetry events at popular Harare live arts venues Book Café and Mannenberg between 25 November and 10 December, where women and other artists will use their platforms to bring awareness on the issue.  These will include:
Thu 24 Nov, HOPE MASIKE & ‘MONOSWEZI’, Mannenberg, 9pm
Sat 26 Nov, PRUDENCE KATOMENI-MBOFANA, Book Café, 8pm
Tue 29 Nov, EDITH weUTONGA, Book Café, 8pm
Wed 30 Nov, M’AFRIQUE, Book Café, 8pm
Thu 01 Dec, WORLD AIDS DAY Special!  Book Café, 5.30pm
Sat 03 Dec, HOUSE OF HUNGER POETRY SLAM, Book Café, 2pm
Sat 03 Dec, CHIWONISO Maraire & M’Afrique, Book Café, 8pm
Tue 06 Dec, Gender Forum Discussion ‘A Woman In Between’ with Southern Africa Dialogue, Book Cafe, 5.30-7pm
Tue 06 Dec, THANDA RICHARDSON & Da Imani Troddaz, Book Café, 8pm
Wed 07 Dec, FREE FILM SCREENING, The Mannenberg, 6pm
Fri 09 Dec, BERNIE BISMARK & Jazz Invitation, The Mannenberg, 9pm

Among many others, SOME ACTIVITIES advertised in the press and digital media include:
Fri 25 Nov - The Code Red Against Rape March - the chance to say NO to sexual violence in our communities! Silence is not golden! Join the Sistahood in walking this walk to denounce sexual violence and rape. Let’s empower survivors, families, friends and supporters, to break the silence and to declare that Zimbabwe will not tolerate sexual violence.  Venue: Town House to the Harare Gardens main stage, Time: 9am, Date: 25 November 2011, Organised by: Katswe Sistahood ‘I am My Sisters Keeper’ (Join the Sistahood: email katswesistahood@gmail.com)

Sat 26 Nov - Children's Theatre Festival - Breaking the Silence: When: 26 November 2011, March from Kamunhu Shops to Mabvuku Hall, contact katandanhamo@yahoo.com.
Tues 6 Dec - Gender Forum Discussion ‘A Woman In Between’ – Southern Africa Dialogue invites you to a live audio drama discussion on the reality and complexity of Gender Based Violence, based on the book by the same name, a dramatised true story.  Book Café, Fife Ave Mall/6th St (Upstairs), 5.30-7pm, Free all welcome.

PAMBERI TRUST