16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence with FemSoc
16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence with FemSoc
By Your SU and Meg Campbell
Between 25th November-10th December, the Feminist Society participated in the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence annual campaign. This year’s theme was ‘Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women’. FemSoc have marked the campaign with a series of informative social media posts and a zine-making workshop event, where students could learn more in person, while creating their own handbook of information. To find out more about the campaign, we’ve spoken to FemSoc President, Meg Campbell.
FemSoc President Meg Campbell
The Campaign
Meg began by explaining the scale of the problem of violence against women and girls (VAWG) globally, why the campaign is so important and why FemSoc wanted to take part.
Meg said: “With the theme of ‘Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women’, we tried to include information about the economic impact of VAWG. According to UN Women’s call to action article, last year nearly 89,000 women and girls worldwide were murdered, and the global cost of VAWG is estimated to be at least USD 1.5 trillion. Despite this, the issue is often ignored and sexism, abuse, and violence are often normalised in our society.
“We want to make a difference in our community, let people know what their rights are, that they’re not crazy when they see red flags in their relationship, and that help is available.”
“We want to make a difference in our community, let people know what their rights are, that they’re not crazy when they see red flags in their relationship, and that help is available.”
Student and Staff Contributions
As part of the campaign, FemSoc gathered contributions from students, University staff and local organisations to share on daily social media posts.
“These included a number of staff members, such as Dr Helen Williams and Lauren Doyle, local organisations such as Wearside Women in Need and S.A.R.C Northumbria, and a number of students too!”, Meg explained.
“Our FemSoc members put together the posts as a collective effort and this showed our members’ great research in action!
“I particularly loved the paper sent in by Kayleigh Atkins, a student at the University. She sent it in and highlighted some paragraphs we may find helpful. It was incredibly insightful. I wish we could have posted the entirety of it instead of just snippets. She’s amazing and highlights just how intelligent and caring our students are.”
To view FemSoc’s posts and read these contributions, check out FemSoc’s Instagram or Facebook.
Looking Ahead
FemSoc aim to continue marking the 16 Days of Activism going forwards. Reflecting on the campaign, Meg said: “I’d love for it to become an annual event that FemSoc could run even after the current committee has graduated. It’s been a labour of love and would be a wonderful legacy. I would also like for this to be a prompt for better education for students regarding abuse and consent.
“Our society would love for there to be a mandatory talk on the basics of consent, abuse, and the law surrounding it for new students, or a booklet with this information written in an easy-to-understand way so that our students will be better informed.
“I’d like to express my gratitude to the staff members who contacted me at the beginning of the campaign and offered their support, and to the SU who have given us their platform to do this.”
It’s also not too late to join FemSoc! Find out more about FemSoc here
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University of Sunderland Students' Union
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Edinburgh Building, Chester Road
Sunderland, SR1 3SD
Company limited by guarantee.
Company registered in England no: 07702161
Registered Charity no: 1148212
VAT no: 178592316
