16 Days of Activism Campaign 2020

WiLDAF and GBV MKUKI Coalition (Mtandao wa Kupinga Ukatili wa Kijinsia) members in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MOHCDGEC) are organizing for this year’s campaign with support from the following partners;

• UN Agencies including UN Women, UNFPA and ILO
• Embassies including the Embassy of Finland, Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden.
• Development partners such as the USAID, LSF, FCS, WFT, PACT and Freedom House
• CSOs including Save the Children, Action Aid and Mwananchi Communication.

On this day, the 25^th November, 2020, this campaign is officially launched at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, Dar es Saalam.

Objective and Focus of the Campaign 

The 16 Days of Activism Campaign 2020 that is being launched today, has the following objectives:

1. Promote behavioral change and the responsibility of individuals and communities responsibility to in ending violence against women and children.
2. Promote positive gender norms to create awareness on the harmful norms perpetuating GBV.
3. Expand accountability beyond the Government to include the Judiciary, the Political Parties, Higher Learning Institutions, employers, and the communities at large.
4. Inspire all Tanzanians, boys and girls, men and women to be active participants into ending gender- based violence.
5. Promote male engagement, as GBV cannot be eradicated without the involvement all the members of the community.
6. Engage traditional and religious leaders to step up as agents of change in their communities

2020 Campaign will focus on:

1. Sexual Violence
2. Sextortion & Sexual Harassment
3. Violence against women in Politics/ Election Domestic Violence
4. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

The theme for this year is Stand Up Against Gender Based Violence: Change Begins with Me. For many years, there has been a perception that fighting against GBV is a task of a certain organization or group of people, which lifts the responsibility from the majority in the society. Statistically, four out of 10 women have been through physical abuse, and one in every five women have gone through sexual abuse, partners violence is as high as 44%, with high prevalence in the villages.  Sadly, perpetrators of GBV are neither strangers nor unknown people, they are the people are who are close to the victims, be it by formal or social relationships. It is family member, teachers, bosses, neighbors, and the likes, therefore if the fight against GBV is to be fruitful, the entire community should be directly involved.

On the other side, Sextortion is thriving especially in the higher learning institutions and public offices. The report from PCCB on sextortion that was published in October shows that more 50% of the respondent proved the presence of Sextortion in higher learning institutions.