The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest – The ’16 for 16’ 2015 Edition

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Catalina Rembuyan

Welcome to our annual Special Edition of The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest for the “16 For 16” campaign. In this edition, we bring you the top 16 news headlines in each category related to violence against women from the past year.

2015 saw landmark decisions by countries to eradicate female genital mutilation as Nigeria and Gambia both outlaw the practice and the United Kingdom makes it compulsory to report its occurrence. Initiatives against domestic violence have also seen progress with countries adopting new measures to help protect women. Silicon Valley giants like Twitter, Reddit and Google have also taken steps to decrease occurrence of violence against women online.

To start off, here are the 16 of the biggest trending VAW headlines of 2015:

Sabeen Mahmud, the woman behind Pakistan’s first hackathon, was shot and murdered. She is one of the many women activists who were murdered for their activism, including nine women’s rights defenders this year.
The Beijing Platform turns 20 this year, but China’s feminists marked the women’s conference with silence.
ISIS dominated the headlines of world news around the year, their name becoming synonymous with brutal forms of violence against women. The Syrian refugee crisis that it has caused is also mired with issues of violence against women, particularly of refugees.
Nepal was struck by a devastating earthquake, attracting human traffickers preying on women and girls made vulnerable by the tragedy.
The Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone momentarily halted female genital mutilation (FGM), although sex crimes increased.
Both Nigeria and Gambia made significant progress in eradicating FGM by outlawing the practice.
It has now become compulsory to report any cases of FGM in the United Kingdom.
Spain and Malawi have increased the age of consent of marriage, with Spain’s age of consent moved up to 16 and Malawi moved up to 18.
Government-run initiatives against domestic violence are taking place around the world: Clare’s Law in Scotland allows women to find out whether their partners have a history of domestic violence and Papua New Guinea has established a free hotline for victims of domestic violence.
Amnesty International calls for the legalisation of the sex trade, sparking debate about sex work and sex trafficking. Read about how decriminalisation has fared in New Zealand and how prosecuting customers of sex work has fared in Sweden.
The United Nations became embroiled in controversy, resulting in the resignation of a UN official, when French peacekeeping troops were alleged to have committed sexual assault in the Central African Republic.
Mass protests in Argentina helped to highlight cases of feminicide across Latin America, including in El Salvador, Mexico and Brazil, where laws are designed to tackle it.
The United States had convicted the first person for involvement in revenge porn. This conviction, shows progress in handling violence against women through the Internet. Other moves include Reddit’s steps to decrease online harassment and Twitter tackling revenge porn.
Celebrities fell under the spotlight of discussion about violence against women. Oscar Pistorius has recently been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend after a long and highly publicised trial, comedian Bill Cosby has been accused by numerous women of rape, and Angelina Jolie’s campaign to end sexual violence in war has been criticised for its costliness.
Be encouraged by the successful campaign to eradicate FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan and decrease of child sex trafficking in Cambodia.
Be inspired by the actions of ordinary people, such as Dr. Denis Mukegwe in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a tattoo artist in Brazil who helps domestic violence survivors tattoo over their scars, a father-and-daughter team working to help survivors of sex trafficking in India, and a grocer in Mali helping to eradicate FGM.

Every contribution matters. If you have any news you’d like to share about violence against women, please email The Pixel Project at info@thepixelproject.net. If you prefer to receive up-to-the-minute news concerning violence against women, follow us on Twitter . It’s time to stop violence against women together.

Best regards,
The Pixel Project Team

Violence Against Women – General

Domestic Violence

Rape and Sexual Assault

Human/Sex Trafficking

Female Genital Mutilation

Forced Marriage and Honour Killing

Activism

16 Ways That Kids and Teens Can Help Stop Violence Against Women and Girls

Posted on December 5, 2015 by regina

Violence Against Women (VAW) is one of the biggest and most brutal human rights issues in the world with 1 in 3 women experiencing some form of gender-based violence at some point in their lives. Like many human rights issues, VAW affects not just adults but also kids and teenagers. Many women and girls face domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, street harassment, cyber-VAW, human trafficking, and forced prostitution. Certain forms of gender-based violence such as female genital mutilation (FGM), breast ironing, and child marriage are performed exclusively on girls under the age of 18.

VAW is perpetuated, enforced, and normalised by centuries of social and cultural norms which work to preserve the patriarchal status quo in all but a handful of cultures worldwide. To effectively end VAW for good, advocates, activists, and communities need to take the long view because it would take several generations of progress before change can be permanent… and it has to begin with children and young people.

Educating children and teenagers about sexual consent and gender equality is an important part of changing the world into one where women and girls can reach their full potential in safety and peace. However, we also need to get young people involved in actively preventing and stopping the violence. Indeed, in recent years, a movement of young people from teenage Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai to 18-year-old Afghani Rap artiste Sonita Alizadeh have risen to fight for an end to VAW and ensure a better future for them and their sisters.

As a starting point for all kids and teens out there, here are 16 ideas that you can put into action to help stop VAW. This is just a starting point. If there are alternative ways in which you feel they can contribute, do it because helping end violence doesn’t come with an age restriction.

It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

Written by Samantha Carroll and Regina Yau. Introduction by Regina Yau.

Call To Action: Help us reach the $25,000 fundraising milestone for our Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign this holiday season by giving generously to our “16 For 16” fundraiser (which also includes #GivingTuesday)! Find out more and donate to get awesome book and music goodies at http://is.gd/16DaysGT2015

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At School

Ideas For Kids and Teens #1: Recognise the Signs. Recognising the signs is the first step towards helping prevent and intervene to stop VAW. Forms of VAW that kids and teens might come across in their communities and among their peers include relationship violence, street harassment, rape/sexual assault, child/forced marriage, and female genital mutilation – all of which can affect girls under the age of 18. Each type of VAW carries certain signs that you can spot if you know what to look for. For example: Some of the signs to be aware of when you are in a relationship or someone you care about is in a relationship, are control and manipulation, jealousy bordering on possessiveness, belittling, an unpredictable temper and isolation from social circles and family. So make an effort to learn what the signs are and you may well be able to save a girl or woman’s life or change it for the better.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #2: Demand For Education. Officially, school is where you get your formal education – where you learn maths, languages, history, and science. Unofficially, school is also where you learn to fit into society by knowing what is normal and what is unacceptable. This includes relationships and gender roles. So get pro-active with creating a school culture where misogyny, sexism, bullying, and VAW is not tolerated. Some actions you can take include: rallying your school to invite experts, anti-VAW activists and abuse survivors to talk about VAW with everyone. Lobbying for your school to offer a proper sex education module which includes the subject of sexual consent and healthy respectful relationships.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #3: Read! Read! Read! Reading is one of the ways that we get to step into other people’s shoes, and the Young Adult (YA) genre does a great job at helping us understand the feelings of girls who have experienced rape or who are stuck in abusive relationships. Books dealing with subjects of violence toward girls and women help us empathise with those who have been affected by abuse. Talk to your school librarian and your teachers – ask them if it’s possible to include YA books that deal with these issues. If your school has a reading club, suggest a few YA titles for the entire group to read. No luck with your school librarian or your school doesn’t have a reading club? Get a group of friends together to pool some money to buy the books and take turns to read them. Here are a few books to get you, your friends, and your school started: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Don’t Breathe a Word by Holy Cupala, and SLUT by Katie Cappiello & Meg McInerney.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #4: Boys – Call It Out. If you are part of a sports team or any other all-male club at school or if you go to an all-boys school, chances are you would have heard some of your male peers speak disrespectfully about your female peers, female teachers, or female coaches using derogatory words such as “bitch”, “slut”, “whore” and so on. You might even have heard them crack jokes rape jokes, or witnessed some of them behave aggressively towards women and girls. Don’t stay silent – speak up and call out such behaviour when you come across it. Do it one-on-one or in a small group if you are all friends. If your peers who need to be called out are extremely dominant or hold more social power in your group than you do, seek out an adult for help with dealing with the situation before it escalates, be it a male teacher who is strongly anti-bullying or a coach who will not stand for sexist behaviour. Need more ideas? Check out the resources offered by the White Ribbon Campaign which is the largest movement of men and boys in the world fighting to end VAW.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #5: Girls – Support Your Sisters. In many cultures and communities, women and girls often have only one ally when facing down misogyny and VAW – other women and girls. However, many women and girls are also socialised to uphold these norms. For example: Grandmothers and mothers in various African and Asian cultures still play an instrumental role in perpetuating the custom of female genital mutilation. Part of helping stop VAW is by supporting other women and girls in defiance of (and to dismantle) cultural and social norms. Girls need to champion one another by mentoring and helping each other achieve their goals, and celebrating each other’s successes. And if you see your female peer face any form of VAW, get all your female friends together to stand up with her and for her.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #6: Take Action Together. Don’t think that you can’t help change things for women and girls because you’re “just a kid”. There’s nothing more powerful than kids standing up for the rights of their peers. Even more powerful would be kids standing together to stop VAW in schools and communities. This can be done in many ways ranging from two friends banding together to face down the Slut-shaming of a classmate, to starting a feminist club at school where members can take collective action such as starting petitions to stop a classmate from being forced to marry and staging sit-ins to demand for stronger anti-bullying measures.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #7: Honour and Observe Awareness Days. Many schools honour and observe major festivals and public holidays as well as annual events such as Sports Day, Children’s Day, and Homecoming. So why not similarly honour and observe the various international awareness days related to women’s human rights, gender equality, and VAW, as part of efforts to stamp out VAW at school and your wide community? Some of the most high profile awareness days include International Women’s Day (March 8th), International Day of the Girl (October 11th), and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (November 25th – December 10th). Some of the ways in which you can get your school and/or peers involved. For example: older teens and college students can working with a supportive teacher or professor to put on a play such as The Vagina Monologues on the day itself or use the day to hold talks about VAW.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #8: Stop Slut-shaming NOW. We’ve all heard the tired old clichés trotted out when people discuss rape and sexual assault cases: “She was wasted”, “she was wearing a short skirt”, “she was asking for it”. Even in cases when a woman or girl has said no during before or during a sexual altercation, she will more likely than not be blamed for the incident of rape by her peers and community, and even her family. Slut-shaming leads to victim blaming – don’t do it. Do this instead: speak up when other kids do it to a female classmate; don’t put down female friends and classmates who wear sexy clothes; push back against ridiculous double standards for school attire where boys are allowed carte blanche and girls are given a ridiculously long list of what not to wear.

At Home and in the Wider Community

Ideas For Kids and Teens #9: Ring The Bell. If you are the neighbour of a family experiencing domestic violence, please take the time to ring their bell when you hear a violent situation happening. Do it safely – Ask a grown-up you know to go with you to intervene by using the old neighbourly approach of asking to borrow a cup of sugar or some milk as an excuse. If no grown-ups are around and you’re out with your friends when you hear or witness domestic violence, gather your courage and ring the bell as a group – you could save someone’s life by interrupting the violence. Check out what this group of kids did in a PSA by our partner, Breakthrough:

Ideas For Kids and Teens #10: Use Your Birthday For Good. For your next birthday, start a collection drive by asking your friends and family members to contribute items needed by your local women’s shelter instead of bringing you a birthday gift. There are plenty of women’s shelters that accept donations in the form of clothes, bed linens, grocery gift cards, feminine hygiene products, toys and books for kids, and diapers for young children. Encourage your female friends and family members to donate clothing that they no longer need. It is important that the clothing donated is still usable, as some of the women receiving the clothes will likely wear donated items to job interviews or legal settings such as divorce/custody court.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #11: Volunteer In Your Spare Time. Young people are a talented bunch, so transform your talents into a superpower for good by helping anti-VAW organisations to raise funds or get things done. Here are just some of the things that you could do: If you are a whiz at building websites and programming, check in with local crisis centres that could use help keeping their websites up, or could just need computer assistance and maintenance. If you’re good at Photoshop, sign up to help design posters and flyers for your local women’s shelter’s next fundraiser. If you are well-versed at using Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram or any other social media networks, offer to help keep your local anti-VAW organisation’s social media account up-to-date.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #12: Social Media Rule #1 – Share to Care! If you’re a teenager on social media be it Tumblr, Instagram, or any other social media network, use your social media account to help raise awareness about VAW. Follow the social media accounts of anti-VAW activists and organisations and start sharing some of the news links, information, and pictures they share with their followers. You don’t need to reblog/retweet/share everything they do but if you see something you think is interesting, share it. Information is power and the one helping to spread the right information is powerful.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #13: Join The Online Intervention Brigade. According to UN Women, online VAW is rising as increased access to the internet collides with existing cultural and social norms that condone or perpetuate gender-based violence and misogyny. Young women in the age range of 18 to 24 are uniquely likely to experience online stalking and sexual harassment in addition to physical threats. If someone in your social media community exhibits this type of behaviour, take action to intervene safely in a number of ways. Talk privately to other members of the forum, page or community about what is happening and get their support to back each other up when facing down aggressive and misogynistic groups. Similarly, when you see someone courageously taking a cyber VAW perpetrator to task, chime in. This action has 3 effects: it lets the upstander know that someone else agrees with them; it signals to the victim that the community will not stand for the treatment she is receiving; and it lets the perpetrator(s) know that more than one person is calling out their behaviour.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #14: Break The Silence. Kids and teens from abusive families or communities that practice culturally-sanctioned VAW such as FGM are often taught or forced by grown-ups and elders to keep silent about what’s happening. Threats of punishment, guilt manipulation, and enforced isolation from the wider community are often used to keep kids and teens from getting help for themselves or their mothers and sisters. If you are a kid or teen in that situation, please know that you are not alone and that help is out there but you need to reach out to get it (or know how to accept it). Here are a couple of potential ‘first steps’ you can take: if you are part of an online community, reach out to your friends there to ask for help; if your teacher asks you to stay back because he or she notices that something is wrong, tell them what’s happening at home.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #15: Be A Friend. If you suspect that your friend and/or their female family member is suffering from any form of VAW, take action. Don’t stay silent if you notice bruises on them or that your friend has become uncharacteristically silent or angry all the time. Encourage your friend to talk about it with you and listen to them. If they are open to it, encourage them to report what’s happening to the authorities (and when they do, be there to support them). If you’re an older teen at a party, you see that your female friend is drunk, and a boy is propositioning her even though she cannot give consent, step in and offer to take her home if you can drive or order a cab and put her in it to send her home. If you feel like you are out of your depth about helping your friend, tell teachers, coaches, school counsellors and other grown-ups who can help.

Ideas For Kids and Teens #16: Adults Needs Reminders Too. Last but not least – grown-ups may be in charge but that doesn’t mean they are perfect or will do the right thing. Too many adults are good people who turn a blind eye when they see VAW happening. Some of them might feel that it’s pointless to intervene; some of them may be afraid to do so for fear of breaking social taboos; some of them may think that VAW is normal. If the grown-ups around you are reluctant to intervene to stop VAW happening to friends, neighbours, and family members because they believe it’s “none of our business”, give them a nudge to do the right thing by reminding them that VAW is wrong and woman and kids next door and/or in your family and community could get hurt or worse – killed.

As a young person, you have the power to shape a future where VAW becomes socially unacceptable. Someday, you might be that police detective who puts away a rapist, a teacher who stops a girl from being forced into marriage, or a politician who pushes through legislation to outlaw FGM for good. Today? Start by by doing what you can, where you are, with whatever you have – you never know whether one small action will start a whole movement for change.

16 Filmmakers Making Films About Violence Against Women (And Telling the Right Stories)

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Suloshini Jahanath

Films are a powerful storytelling medium. They have the ability to influence and change the world. How someone chooses to use this medium makes all the difference. In the last few years, a myriad of fiction and non-fiction films have been made about Violence Against Women (VAW) and other women’s rights issues. Many of these films have had a positive impact in the fight against VAW as they are often a powerful vehicle for educating the viewer about issues related to VAW.

For our ‘16 for 16’ campaign this year, we have compiled a list of 16 filmmakers making films about VAW and doing it the right way. These creative artists hail from different countries like Ghana, Iran, Pakistan, Canada and Sweden. They are united in their belief in and commitment to making films that tell stories of women from all walks of life. Many of these films have addressed issues that weren’t being talked about before and brought them into mainstream conversation.

This list encompasses filmmakers from across the globe and amongst their ranks are Academy Award winners and Indie directors. Their films have made an impact in one way or another and tackle different types of VAW in different cultures and communities. Together, they provide a thought-provoking no-holds-barred perspective on the entire issue. We hope that you’ll check out their films and share them with others to provide food for thought and a spur to action that might help your communities get motivated to stop VAW.

Written and compiled by Rubina Singh.

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Filmmaker Against VAW #1: Abeer Zeibak Haddad – Palestine

Abeer Zeibak Haddad is a Palestinian filmmaker, theatre director and actor most well-known for her documentary, Duma (Dolls). Duma is a groundbreaking documentary which encourages survivors of sexual abuse to break their silence and speak out. This is one of the only films made about sexual violence in the Arab region. Abeer believes that the film will encourage more women to speak up and help end the cycle of violence against women in the region. Abeer is currently working on another documentary on honour killings.

Filmmaker Against VAW #2: Deepa Dhanraj – India

Deepa Dhanraj is a noted Indian feminist and documentary filmmaker. She has been a part of the Indian women’s movement since the 1980s and continues to work for women’s rights causes. Throughout her filmmaking career, she has attempted to share the everyday fights of Indian women. Her most influential films Something like a War, Nari Adalat and Enough of this Silence have tackled subjects like family planning and women’s courts. Her latest film, Invoking Justice talks about the life of a young Muslim woman who challenges stereotypes in her community. A strong believer in participatory film making, Deepa uses her work as a tool to bring about change in communities.

Filmmaker Against VAW #3: Deepa Mehta – India and Canada

An internationally acclaimed filmmaker, Deepa Mehta has been the force behind some of the most powerful films addressing VAW. Born in India and now settled in Canada, Deepa’s poignant films have been screened and received recognition at almost every notable film festival in the world. Her elemental Trilogy consisting of three films – Earth, Fire, and Water – addressed issues like same-sex relationships and widow remarriage. A documentary, Let’s Talk About it followed by a fictional feature film, Heaven on Earth, broaches the subject of domestic violence. Her focus on creating films with strong female characters and sharing stories through their point of view has garnered her fame and appreciation across the globe.

Filmmaker Against VAW #4: Deeyah Khan – Norway

Norwegian-born Deeyah Khan is a critically acclaimed music producer, composer, Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary film director and human rights activist. Her most acclaimed film work is an Emmy Award winning documentary, Banaz: A Love Story tells the story of the honour killing of a young British Kurdish woman who was killed by her own family for choosing to carve her own path in life. Her passion for the cause led her to co-develop the Honour Based Violence Awareness Network (HBVA) in 2012. Deeyah has also received several awards for her work supporting freedom of expression and in 2012 she was awarded the prestigious Ossietzky prize by Norwegian PEN. She is currently continuing her work as an artist and activist through FUUSE, her social purpose music and film company.

Filmmaker Against VAW #5: Elizabeth Tadic – Australia

Elizabeth Tadic is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker, has spent a large part of her life in an attempt to share stories of marginalised people. Her work with the international television show, ‘Dateline’ as well as her filmmaking projects, have taken her to remote parts of the world. Her latest documentary, UMOJA: No Men Allowed has won 12 international awards since its premier in 2010. The film shares the incredible story of a village in Kenya, founded by women, for women. Elizabeth has also been awarded the United Nations Media Peace Award in 2006 for her impactful work in Television and Films.

Filmmaker Against VAW #6: Evan Grae Davis – USA

Evan Grae Davis is an activist and documentary filmmaker based in the USA. He’s the director of the acclaimed documentary It’s a Girl which highlights the prevalence of female infanticide and gendercide in India and China. The documentary has been appreciated all over the world for beautifully capturing the plight of over 200 million missing women. Evan also participated in and edited The Pixel Project’s “Who Is Your Male Role Model?: YouTube campaign featuring non-violent men from different walks of life sharing their views on how men can be positive role models in the fight against VAW. His video for the campaign can be seen here.

Filmmaker Against VAW #7: Hossein Martin Fazeli – Iran

For over 15 years Hossein Martin Fazeli has been making fiction and non-fiction films on various human rights issues including VAW. His most celebrated work, Women on the Frontline, talks about the women’s freedom movement in Iran. Over the years, he has received over 37 international awards for his work, much of which highlights socio-cultural issues in the Iranian region. He is currently working on two more feature documentaries on women’s issues including one on Phoolan Devi – the legendary ‘Bandit Queen’ from India.

Filmmakers Against VAW #8: Ilse and Femke van Velzen – Holland

Twin sisters Ilse and Femke van Velzen have been making hard-hitting documentaries on various social issues since 2002. Born in the Netherlands, they currently work independently under their own label, IF Productions. Their documentaries have had a strong focus on the developing world, particularly VAW. Fighting the Silence, a film highlighting the sexual violence against women and girls during the Democratic Republic of Congo’s war, gives voice to over 80,000 victims. The sisters also creatively use their films as sustainable educational projects. Through the Mobile Cinema Foundation they take films about sexual violence from one community to another to encourage a conversation around the subject.

Filmmaker Against VAW #9: Kim Longinotto – UK

One of most internationally acclaimed filmmakers on this list, British born Kim Longinotto has been behind some of the most impactful documentaries on women in the last two decades. Since her first film in 1976, she has highlighted issues from Female Genital Mutilation to child marriage and prostitution. One of her most famous films is Pink Saris, where she shared the story of Sampat Pal, a child bride who grew up to lead the ‘Gulabi Gang’, a group of women who spoke up against corruption and violence in their community. She was awarded the prestigious BAFTA award for this film.

Filmmaker Against VAW #10: Lourdes Portillo – Mexico and the USA

Lourdes Portillo is a noted Mexican-American screenwriter and filmmaker. Passionate about filmmaking from a young age, Lourdes’ films have a special focus on Latin American, Mexican and Chicano issues. Her first film, Las Madres: The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo was nominated for an Academy award for best documentary. It told the story of a group of Argentine mothers who protested for their missing children. Another notable human rights documentary, Señorita Extraviada told the tragic story of hundreds of kidnapped, raped and murdered young women of Juárez, Mexico. This film allowed Lourdes to truly understand her role as a filmmaker and how films can be used to confront oppression.

Filmmaker Against VAW #11: Marcela Zamora Chamorro – Costa Rica

Marcela Zamora Chamorro is an up-and-coming filmmaker who completed her journalism degree in Costa Rica and then joined the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. Her first feature documentary, Maria in Nobody’s Land told the story of the illegal and extremely dangerous journey of three women to the USA. The courageous film has participated in film festivals in over 14 countries and received many awards.

Filmmaker Against VAW #12: Nima Sarvestani – Iran and Sweden

Nima Sarvestani started out his career as a journalist in Iran before moving to Sweden in 1984. He has since been working as a documentary filmmaker through his company, Nimafilm Production. Many of his films focus on socio-political issues in the Middle East. One of his standout films on women, No Burqas Behind Bars, looks at the stories of women prisoners in Afghanistan. Another gem, I was Worth 50 Sheep, shows the story of a child bride under the Taliban rule. Nima makes his documentaries with an acute sensitivity and has won a number of prestigious awards for his work.

Filmmaker Against VAW #13: Rebecca Barry – Australia

A storyteller at heart, Rebecca Barry has been making thought-provoking films for the past decade. After graduating from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 2003, Rebecca has been using the power of filmmaking to talk about social issues in Australia and across the world. Her 2013 feature documentary, I am a Girl, won her many accolades for showing the stories of six young girls from six different countries and the different issues that they face simply because they’re women. Through the film, Rebecca aimed to put a ‘human face’ to the horrifying statistics that she had read around VAW. She continues to make an impact through her media production company, Media Stockade, which specializes in documentaries and other factual programs.

Filmmaker Against VAW #14: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy – Pakistan

Oscar and Emmy award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is one of the most well-known female filmmakers from Pakistan. Born in Pakistan and educated in USA, Sharmeen has made over a dozen documentaries highlighting various human rights and women’s rights issues. Her work has been so impactful that she was listed as one of Time Magazines 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012. Her Academy Award winning documentary, Saving Face shares the story of a plastic surgeon who performs reconstructive surgeries on acid attack victims. Her other films such as Transgender: Pakistan’s Open Secret and Pakistan’s Taliban Generation have addressed difficult issues as well. Sharmeen hopes that through her films she will be able to give a voce to those who cannot be heard.

Filmmaker Against VAW #15: Shelley Saywell – Canada

Born to a professor father and social worker mother, Shelley Saywell has been socially conscious from childhood. She started her filmmaking career in 1986 and has made more than ten hard-hitting documentaries on VAW and other human rights issues. Her passion and talent have won her a number of awards including an Emmy for her film, Crimes of Honour, which talked about the issue of honour killing and femicide. She is also the force behind films such as No Man’s Land: Women Frontline Journalists, In the Name of Family and Kim’s Story: The Road from Vietnam, all of which look at various perspectives of women’s rights.

Filmmaker Against VAW #16: Yaba Badoe – Ghana and the United Kingdom

Born in Ghana, Yaba Badoe moved to the UK as a child to complete her education. She grew up to be a noted journalist, author and filmmaker. With a passion to share her ideas and shape the world, Yaba has created some beautiful, award-winning films around women. In 2010, she released The Witches of Gambaga, a film that told the story of a community in Ghana which condemned women as witches based on the death of a chicken. Horrified at the existence of such a situation in modern-day Ghana, Yaba captured the story on film and brought it into mainstream conversation. Her latest film, The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo, showcases the story of Africa’s foremost feminist writer Ama Ata Aidoo.

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Photo credits:

The filming of “It’s A Girl” (top photo) – Photo courtesy of Evan Grae Davis
Abeer Zeibak Haddad – From www.thisweekinpalestine.com
Deepa Dhanraj – Photo from www.LiveMint.com/Aniruddha Chowdhury
Deepa Mehta – Photo from www.hamiltonmehta.com/Devyani Saltzman
Deeyah Khan – Photo courtesy of Deeyah Khan
Elizabeth Tadic – Photo from Vimeo.
Evan Grae Davis – Photo courtesy of Evan Grae Davis
Hossein Martin Fazeli – Photo from www.fazalifilms.com/Hossein Martin Fazeli
Ilse and Femke van Velzen – Photo from www.ifproductions.nl/Ilse and Femke van Velzen
Kim Longinotto – Photo from The Guardian/Sean Smith
Lourdes Portillo – Photo from www.twitchfilm.com
Marcela Zamora Chamorro – Photo from www.mediolleno.com/Moonlight, Weddings & Events Photography
Nima Sarvestani – Photo from www.nimafilmsweden.com
Rebecca Barry – Photo from www.imdb.com/Diane McDonald
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy – Photo from www.sharmeenobaidfilms.com
Shelley Saywell – Photo from www.wift.com
Yaba Badoe – Photo from Wikipedia/Rashde Fidigo / ZIFF

16 Memorable Stories of Standing Up to Street Harassment 2015

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Bridget Hudacs

The Pixel Project is pleased to share the fifth annual blog list of 16 memorable stories of women dealing with street harassment which has been kindly compiled by Holly Kearl, Founder of our partner, Stop Street Harassment, and one of our 16 Female Role Models of 2010.

Through Facebook and her Stop Street Harassment website, Holly receives and shares stories of women fighting back against street harassment. She shares these stories to help raise awareness of this particular type of violence against women as well as provide inspiration and ideas for everyone on making public places and spaces safe for women. Almost 100% of women and girls experience street harassment in their lifetimes, ranging from the uncomfortable to the downright dangerous.

This list provides a starting point for all to learn about and discuss the impact of street harassment. We hope it’ll inspire you to take action.

It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

– Regina Yau, Founder and President, The Pixel Project

All visuals courtesy of Stop Street Harassment.

Empowering Response #1: #WhatMySHSaid – Instagram

Chloe Parker has been harassed since she was 12 years old. Now 17, she started an Instagram hashtag #WhatMySHSaid where people write their age and location and what their street harasser said to them. Many posts are liked thousands of times. Chloe wrote, “The average age is twelve [for the story submissions] and the average reaction is disbelief, but with the topic comes horrible responses as well. I have heard people defending these pedophiles who creep on these girls, or say that street harassment is because of what the girl was wearing. We live in a culture of blaming the victims, and by saying a twelve-year-old is asking to be followed as she walks home from school is a testament to this. We as a society can and should change this culture that we promote and live in. It should not be up to the victims to change their lives and patterns to make harassers comfortable. This is not a problem that should be ignored.”

https://instagram.com/p/zaqnv3DOft/?tagged=whatmyshsaid

Empowering Response #2: Parking Attendant Woes – Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Every day for two weeks as a woman left a parking garage in Charlotte, North Carolina, the parking attendant would stare at her and say he wanted to see her smile and other similar remarks. She felt uneasy, and, as he continued day after day, she felt anxious and stressed. One day she pa0nicked and drove away while he was still talking. She resolved to talk to him and the next day. She asked him to stop telling her to smile as it made her feel uncomfortable. He said okay. She wrote, “I hope he’ll think before he makes these unwanted comments to anyone else. I didn’t complain to the company since he made an indication of respecting my wishes. I don’t plan to park there any more since I don’t want to see him again, but being able to say something took such a weight off my shoulders. I didn’t even realise how much this was affecting me until after I said something.”

Empowering Response #3: Standing Up Against Harassers – Kabul, Afghanistan

After witnessing a friend drop out of school because of harassment, Shafi in Kabul, Afghanistan, began standing up to harassers. She wrote, “Whenever I see people harassing girls or women in streets and university, I go to them and talk reasonably with them to stop them and explain to them that their act is wrong. I ask what if it happens to their sister or mother, what then? Now it is the time for everyone to start vanishing this bad and shameful culture. Yes, if we want to change then we can. We can start it right now!”

Empowering Response #4: Ladders Are Useful Items

Empowering Response #5: Caught on CCTV

After a drunk man grabbed a woman on a subway and kissed her, she reported him to the transit police. They found him on the train’s CCTV and circulated his image to local police stations. She wrote, “If you experience street harassment, report it to the police. It will make you feel proactive and powerful – and they might even catch the perpetrator.”

Empowering Response #6: No Free Pass for the Police – San Jose, CA, USA

A woman in San Jose, California, noticed a police sergeant (not in uniform) exposing himself and masturbating in a car. She turned away but he drove his car and parked so she had to see him again. She took photos of him and his license plate and he fled. She filed a police report and the investigators discovered he was a 13-year veteran of the police department. He was arrested and placed on administrative leave.

Empowering Response #7: Taking Harassment Seriously – Liverpool, United Kingdom

Two men in a car in Liverpool, UK, harassed a Russian woman. She felt too scared to say anything, but she ran back, called the police, reported what happened and gave their license plate number. She wrote, “The inspector rang me back to make sure I know they take it seriously. Then after an hour a female officer came to see me. It turned out it was a crime as section 5 public order offence, besides it was gender-based. The officer visited his house, etc. He now has a criminal record. Ladies, you don’t have to take this shit!”

Empowering Response #8: Facing Down Harassers… and Winning! – Tennesee, USA

When Bryanna was in college in Tennessee, a group of men would hang out by the door and harass her daily with sexual slurs. She felt humiliated and would try to run past them before they could say anything. But one day she decided to confront them. She wrote, “They whistled and said, ‘Damn!’ really loudly. So I turned around, marched right up to them (at least eight of them) and shouted, ‘What do you expect to happen from this? Do you really think a girl will turn around and say ‘Oh wow that’s such a compliment, being told my ass is fine by these complete strangers. Do you want to hook up?’ Has it worked for you yet?’ By the look on their stunned faces, I answered for them, ‘No, I didn’t think so. Get a life!’ and stormed off. The rush I felt was incomparable to anything else. I felt strong – like I could take care of myself.”

Empowering Response #9: Singing Against Harassment

Singer Empress Of wrote a song about street harassment called “Kitty Kat.” She said in an interview, “I remember a stranger saying something nasty to me on the street while walking home. I was so mad, but I couldn’t say anything back at that moment. What would be the point? When I got back I started to work on this aggressive sound on a track. As soon as I turned the mic on to record, I started to sing what I wanted to say to that guy on the street, but now I get to sing it every night in front of a crowd.”

Empowering Response #10: “That’s NOT a compliment!” – San Diego, CA, USA

A woman was walking her dog through downtown San Diego, California, when a man told her, “You have no idea how badly I want to play with your boobs.” She told him that his comment was inappropriate and he apologised. But then he told her she should “take it as a compliment.” She had already passed him, but turned around to yell back, “That’s NOT a compliment!” She wrote, “Let the harasser know what he is doing is wrong and unwelcome and that it’s not a compliment in order to help convert him to viewing it as a bad thing.”

Empowering Response #11: Sparking a National Debate – United Kingdom

After weeks of trying various tactics for dealing with street harassers along her route to work in the UK (the harassment included men purposely blocking her path), Poppy Smart took the matter to the police. She said in an interview, “It made me feel really uncomfortable and the fact it went on for so long was the main reason I reported it. If it had just been an isolated incident – one, two, three, four times – maybe I could probably brush it off because these things happen and you have to kind of accept these people’s ignorance.” Poppy says she spoke to the owner of the building site. “He just sort of apologised. He obviously can’t control all of his staff all of the time and I appreciated that. I just wanted them to realise it is offensive and I wanted it to stop.” Her story sparked a national debate about the issue.

Empowering Response #12: Sanctuary from Harassment – New York City, USA

A man on the train in New York City rubbed his penis against a woman’s butt. She elbowed him but he kept doing it. Because of the crowd, she couldn’t easily get away. A woman nearby noticed what was happening and gave up her seat for her saying, “Come sit down, that man is trying to rub himself on you!”

Empowering Response #13: Not Remaining Silent – London, United Kingdom

Y.E. in London, UK, was the target of public masturbation on the Tube. No one else was on and when she moved away, he followed her, only zipping up his pants after a man entered the carriage. When YE got off the train, he followed and she ran to report him to a transit worker. The police took her report. She also decided to write about what happened. “I hesitated several times whilst starting to write this and contemplated just keeping it to myself, considering the crude nature of this incident. However, it has come to my attention that this is no longer becoming a ‘once in a blue moon issue’ and it could have easily been burdened on a child, family member, or another member of the public. Looking back at the past struggles in history, since when has any change occurred from remaining silent?”

Empowering Response #14: Anti-Street Harassment Workshops – Romania

Aila in Romania used to face harassment from high school students as she walked from her hostel to the university. Now she and a group of other women at the NGO FILIA are in the process of working with that high school to bring street harassment awareness workshops to the students. She wrote, “Change can be done. I am not a victim anymore, I am a person who can bring change and can help the other girls who are still living in that hostel.”

Empowering Response #15: Open Letter Tactic – Washington D.C., USA

Sara in Washington, DC wrote an open letter to the man who harassed her. In it, she thanked a woman who spoke up. “To the woman on the sidewalk who said, ‘That’s so rude’ and shook her head when he drove off, thank you. Your three simple words in solidarity were my saving grace and snap back to reality, that no one, not even myself, has the right to disrespect my body. So, dear man in the blue minivan, I will use my body in the best way I know how — to share this story and inspire others to feel a little braver when they step into a crosswalk. To be what the woman on the sidewalk was to me: solidarity.”

Empowering Response #16: Reporting an Unwanted Grope – San Francisco, CA, USA

After a man groped AB at a shopping mall in San Francisco, California, she dropped her bag and ran after him. She lost him, but filed a police report. She wrote, “I’ve been harassed many times, but I’d never run after someone. Something snapped in me. And something broke when no one would help. I was proud that enough was finally enough, and I did something, even though he got away with it. At the very least, it’s caused me to talk about it and snap back when I get hollered at on the street.”

16 Ways College Students Can Transform a Culture of Violence Against Women on Campus

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Bridget Hudacs

Every year, we are pleased to welcome a guest “16 For 16” article from our partner, Breakthrough – a global human rights organisation working to make violence and discrimination against women and girls unacceptable. Their cutting-edge multimedia campaigns, community mobilisation, agenda setting, and leadership training equip men and women worldwide to challenge the status quo and take bold action for the dignity, equality, and justice of all.

This year, Breakthrough shares a list of 16 actions that college students can take to prevent violence against women on college campuses.

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Transforming the culture of violence against women on campus starts with challenging the cultural norms that lead to sexual violence. By challenging these beliefs, we can get to the root of the problem and make sure that responses to violence are supportive.

Below are 16 ways to prevent and challenge violence against women on campus geared towards creating a campus culture in which all students feel safe and respected.

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Action Recommendation #1: Understand that violence on campus exists on a spectrum. It’s not just physical violence such as unwanted sexual contact, attempted sexual assault, and rape. Catcalling, stalking, spreading rumors, cyber-bullying–these things are violence too. Violence happens in intimate relationships and between people who are just friends. Recognising these various forms of violence will help you see when they happen, set clear boundaries for yourself, and help people who are in trouble.

Action Recommendation #2: Recognise that there’s no one “type” of person who commits violence. It’s not just men committing violence against women. The majority — but not all — of reported cases on campus involve male-perpetrated violence against women. All cases need to be taken seriously. The goal is creating a culture of safety for every student, no matter who they are.

Action Recommendation #3: College is all about learning. Statistics show that 1 in 5 women experience sexual assault while they’re at college. The first few weeks of the semester are when a majority of rapes are committed, often against first-year students. This period of time is a big issue facing students, parents, and faculty alike. It’s important to understand that this is everyone’s problem, and we need everyone to be part of the solution.

Action Recommendation #4: Say “I believe you.” Don’t participate in victim-blaming or casting doubt on survivors’ experiences. Instead, challenge victim-blaming. Be aware of the resources available to survivors, like campus wellness centers and rape crisis centers on your campus and in the surrounding community so that you can point friends and peers in the right direction. By supporting someone in this way, you can support survivors and make it clear that people who commit sexual violence need to be held accountable for their choices.

Action Recommendation #5: Consider your language. Think about the words and expressions used on your campus–for women? For men? For sex? Find ways to use language that encourages a culture in which people aren’t harassed or intimidated–and discourage language that demeans or excludes people.

Action Recommendation #6: Demand accountability at every level. Call it out when someone makes comments that are sexist, homophobic, racist, or transphobic. Or when you witness catcalling or bullying. We all can be the person who makes it clear when someone has crossed the line. Urge faculty and administrators to be proactive about prevention at your school. Don’t underestimate the power of student activism.

Action Recommendation #7: Take action across all of your communities. If you’re involved in extracurricular activities, a faith practice, internships, on a team, in a Greek chapter and anything else—support gender equity as a core value of your group. Make those spaces as inclusive and comfortable for everyone as possible.

Action Recommendation #8: Consent. Consent. Consent can be hard to navigate, especially with all the pressures that come with being on campus. So ask for it. Respect the answer you’re given. Consent can be sexy–but even when it isn’t, it’s absolutely necessary.

Action Recommendation #9: Fill in the gaps of your sex education. Unfortunately, many people don’t get adequate, accurate, informative, and non-judgmental sexual education–or any education at all around healthy relationships and sex whether in school or at home. There are resources on your campus that will help fill in the gaps we all have. Use what the resources you find to set examples of healthy relationships, ask questions, find answers, and have those difficult or challenging conversations about what consensual and healthy sex and relationships should look like!

Action Recommendation #10: Support and create representative media! Be aware of and critical of the media you consume. There is a lot of media that glorifies and exaggerates what college is all about. Much of our media does a poor job depicting women with any complexity beyond being an object of sexual desire to be won, and rarely (if ever) addresses issues of race, sexual orientation in a positive way. But there is a lot of media that does it right and deserves your support. The media you consume now does not have to be the media you create tomorrow. And whether you’re making posters about consent, or you’re creating a student film, do better than Hollywood. Harness your own creativity to create media that doesn’t support or make light of violence against women!

Action Recommendation #11: Foster healthy relationships. Campus life post-high school can feel liberating–but it’s also a little daunting. Without their familiar support system, some people can feel isolated or lonely, especially after facing violence. Creating a safe and respectful campus culture will help you to find and build the communities that will make your college experience even better. You’ll have the chance to surround yourself with people who share your values of respect and dignity, and experience new things while also feeling safe.

Action Recommendation #12: Have fun safely. If you’re in an environment and you don’t feel comfortable, you don’t have to stay. Your wellbeing comes first–fun isn’t fun when you’re not having fun. Keep an eye out for anyone tampering with drinks. Intervene if you think someone is taking advantage of a person who might be impaired by alcohol or drugs. And be aware of other ways that your or anyone’s boundaries might be disrespected or ignored.

Action Recommendation #13: Remember: “fun” is not an excuse. And creating a hostile environment is definitely not fun. You probably don’t know what your new peers have seen, heard or been through. Be sensitive to other people’s experiences with sexual violence by being open and willing to learning, and respect others’ privacy. Every student’s safety and well-being takes priority over “just a joke.”

Action Recommendation #14: Extend your campus culture online. What you do online doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Social media can create hostile campus culture and facilitate bullying. If you encounter any cyberbullying, slut-shaming, rumor-spreading–or worse, threats or evidence of violence online–treat it as you would if you saw it happening in real life. Bystander intervention applies online too. So does consent! Ask before you share any information or media of other people.

Action Recommendation #15: Make your physical space a safer space. The campus space should be a safer space for everyone. Consider the physical landscape of your campus and its buildings—student housing, athletic facilities, and survivor/victim resources. These spaces should be accessible. Private spaces should be secure. These spaces shouldn’t contribute to an intimidating or unsupportive campus environment. Advocate for well-lit bathrooms, safe physical spaces, and anonymous reporting.

Action Recommendation #16: Make this your issue (it already is). Educate yourself and your friends about violence against women. Go to trainings and seminars. Attend or organise fundraising, awareness, or outreach events. Just be that person who embodies positive campus culture!

The Pixel Project Selection 2015: 16 Striking Anti-Violence Campaigns for the Cause to End Violence Against Women

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Bridget Hudacs

Every year, we at The Pixel Project come across a wide variety of innovative and powerful anti-Violence Against Women campaigns by our fellow activists and non-profits from around the globe, and 2015 is no exception. Notably, many campaigns took place this year in the United Kingdom, which signifies that great efforts are being made to eradicate Violence Against Women in that region. Still, much is to be done in the UK and worldwide.

We acknowledge that anti-VAW campaigners put themselves in perilous situations to advocate for the safety of others and we are immeasurably grateful for their bravery. From women marching the streets to women combating harassment online, each and every action, large or small, counts.

So today, in honour of all VAW activists, nonprofits and grassroots group who toil in such thankless situations to bring about positive change to the lives of women and girls facing violence, we present 16 of the most striking campaigns/programmes we have come across in the last year of our work.

What these campaigns have in common are:

The built-in “water-cooler” factor that gets the community buzzing about the campaign and by extension, the issue of VAW.
A good sense of what works in and for the culture and community where the activist/nonprofit/grassroots group is trying to effect change.

We hope that these campaigns and initiatives inspire you to take action and get on board the cause to end VAW.

It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

– Written and compiled by Samantha Carroll

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #1: 90days – South Africa

South African performer, ambassador and Board Member of Epic Foundation, Natalie Chapman, started 90days last year as a way to raise funds for survivors of violent and sexual crimes. The 90days campaign’s mission is an ambitious one: 90 performances in 90 consecutive days in 90 different towns. This year, Chapman was able to secure big name South African performers to join her on her 90days initiative, which had them playing at women’s shelters as well as prisons. Chapman believes that it’s important to engage in discourse with perpetrators who are often victims of abuse too.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #2: Campaign4Consent – UK

Campaign4Consent is a campaign that aims to see sexual consent taught in schools as part of the UK’s SRE (sex and relationships education) national curriculum. Campaign4Consent believes that consent is a crucial aspect lacking in SRE as well as information regarding abusive relationships and healthy sexual relationship advice for LGBT teens. The campaign has a letter the public can sign asking UK MP’s to incorporate consent into the national curriculum.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #3: Denim Day – Italy/USA/Canada

The Denim Day campaign is an annual event that takes place on 29^th April and urges participants to wear a pair of jeans to bring awareness to rape prevention. The campaign started in Italy in 1998 when the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction in which a teenage victim’s jeans were “too tight”. Following the decision, female members of the Italian parliament wore jeans in protest. The movement has since grown and spread to the USA and Canada. This year performers and the campaign’s spokes-couple, Aloe Blacc & Maya Jupiter, attended the Los Angeles rally for Denim Day. The Denim Day campaign also urges men to wear jeans in support of the cause.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #4: Disney Princesses as Acid Attack Victims – Central/South Asia

This year, rock star artist Alexsandro Palombo, created a new visual campaign highlighting the acid attacks that affect women all over Central and South Asia. Palombo took well-known Disney Princesses and illustrated how they looked before and after they had been attacked with acid. These acid attacks not only scar victims, but can leave them blind, deaf and mute. Palombo’s aim was to draw attention to this issue in the most surprising way he could.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #5: Frame Her Right – India

The Frame Her Right campaign is an initiative of Half The Sky Movement, which aims to root out violence against women in cinema and entertainment. The campaign seeks “more gender-sensitized cinema that places women in positive — rather than exploited and exploitable roles.” Frame Her Right acknowledges that violence towards women didn’t start in cinema and also empowers women by providing tools to help them gain access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunity.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #6: Never Alone – Australia

One in three women has/will experience violence from a spouse or partner, and at least one woman is killed every week in Australia. Rosie Batty, whose former husband murdered their son in early 2014, has been working diligently to end domestic violence along with the Never Alone foundation. Members of the public can join the Never Alone campaign by pledging to stand beside those who experience family violence. Batty was awarded Australia’s person of the year for 2015.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #7: Ni Una Menos (Not One Less) campaign – Argentina

The Ni Una Menos campaign aimed to bring awareness to femicide and gender violence in Argentina. In June, 300,000-500,000 protestors marched in the streets of Buenos Aires with signs that read “Ni una menos.” In 2014, one femicide took place every 30 hours in Argentina. During 2008-2013, 124 of the femicide victims were between the ages 13 and 18.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #8: REDress Project – Canada

The REDress Project was started in 2014 by Jamie Bell who collected 600 red dresses and put them on display. The idea was to symbolise the vacancy left by aboriginal women who have been murdered in Canada. This year, the REDress Project experienced significant development and its online community grew. Recently, Sisters in Spirit Vigils and the REDress Project created a call to action asking Canadians to hang a red dress or other red items of women’s clothing on their doors or windows, to raise awareness and stand in solidarity against the murdering of aboriginal women.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #9: Stop Telling Women To Smile – Mexico

In 2012, artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh plastered the streets of New York and Philadelphia with posters to address street harassment. This year, Fazlalizadeh continued her work by traveling to Latin America. Fazlalizade chose to take her Stop Telling Women To Smile campaign to Mexico after receiving countless emails from women in Mexico City who wanted her to bring her message to the region. In Mexico, it is estimated that 44% of women have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #10: Talk about abuse campaign – UK

Women’s Aid launched the Talk about abuse campaign in September to “encourage people to look for signs of domestic abuse among their friends and family, to talk about it, listen and support, and suggest further help.” The campaign is working to make the public more observant of their loved ones, to recognise when someone they care about is in danger, and to help intervene where possible.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #11: #ThatsNotLove Campaign – USA

#ThatsNotLove is an initiative by OneLove, “a student-led movement to activate, educate, and empower others to change the statistics around relationship violence”. OneLove recently recorded a powerful video emphasising how abuse escalates over the course of a relationship. In the chilling campaign video, we witness how reasons such as “Because I love you, I text “I can’t live without you”” are warning signs of unhealthy behaviour.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #12: The Salvation Army Dress Campaign – South Africa

While everyone on social media was trying to decide if ‘The Dress’ was white and gold or black and blue, the South African branch of The Salvation Army swiftly came up with a clever campaign to draw attention to VAW. The SA Salvation Army tweeted an image of a model wearing The Dress with the caption “The only illusion is if you think it was her choice. One in 6 women are victims of abuse. Stop abuse against women.” The image, which contained the logo for Carehaven, a shelter for abused women and their children run by the SA Salvation Army, instantly went viral.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #13: The Purple Rose Campaign – The Philippines

The Purple Rose Campaign Against the Trafficking of Women and Children, under the guidance of AF3IRM, has been running for the past 15 years and continues to advocate against sex trafficking in the Philippines. AF3IRM has partnered with “local communities and organizations to develop trainings and gather resources to provide sexual violence relief for women and children, to identify and stop trafficking, as well as to address reproductive justice and livelihood needs.”

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #14: Turkish Men Wear Miniskirts In Support Of Women’s Rights – Turkey

After the violent murder of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan, men in Turkey took to the streets in miniskirts to campaign against VAW. The protestation spilled over to social media with Turkish men posting images of themselves online alongside the hash tag #ozgecanicinminietekgiy, which translates to “wear a miniskirt for Ozgecan”. The Campaign garnered 900,000 petition signatures asking that institutions to take responsibility for attacks on women.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #15: Violence against Women (VAW) campaign – Nepal

WOREC’s Violence against Women campaign is currently using programs to “address numerous multi-faceted issues responsible for VAW in Nepal.” The campaign aims to tackle the causes of women trafficking and other forms of VAW. WOREC has been working for years to end trafficking and run a Women’s Rehabilitation Centre as well as a Safe House.

Striking Anti-VAW Campaign #16: We Can Stop It – Scotland

Police Scotland created We Can Stop It, a rape prevention campaign that targets young men between the ages to 16 – 27. The campaign’s shocking advertisement asks “Do you really know what rape is?” Police Scotland used this perpetrator-focused approach, rather than telling women to be safe and advising them on how not to get raped. Police Scotland is also working with bar owners to train their staff to intervene when they spot women who may be vulnerable.

16 Ways for Survivors of Violence Against Women to Share Their Stories

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Bridget Hudacs

Storytelling can a powerful tool for violence against women survivors. It can help educate bystanders and demonstrate the impact VAW has on a community. It empowers survivors, giving them a voice to share and make sense of their personal experiences.

Storytelling also has healing power. It is a catalyst for survivors experiencing a variety of emotions – pain, fear, guilt, confusion – and reminds survivors that they are not alone. By telling and listening to stories, survivors can connect with others who had similar experiences. Through this experience, survivors can build life-long relationships, and develop a louder, collective voice.

In this “16 For 16” article, we present 16 ways violence against women survivors can share their stories. These simple ideas touch on various platforms, including peer-to-peer, public, private, mainstream and more to help survivors use and benefit from the power of storytelling.

Written and compiled by Rebecca DeLuca.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #1: Activism Campaigns

There are many innovative campaigns that use unorthodox ways to tell and present survivor stories, for example: The Clothesline Project. The Clothesline Project is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions and share their stories, either anonymously or publicly. Survivors decorate a shirt, which is then displayed publicly with the shirts of other survivors on a clothesline. The hung shirts are viewed by others to demonstrate the impact violence has on our communities.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #2: Anonymous Apps

Telling your story can be a cathartic exercise, even if you’re not ready to publicly identify yourself as a survivor. There are many anonymous apps and websites that are a great platform for anonymous storytelling, including Whisper and PostSecret. Using anonymous apps, your story may be heard by thousands of users, and will have a positive impact on many.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #3: Blogs

A blog is a personal, online diary. Similar to using a journal, it gives you the opportunity to share your thoughts, questions, wishes and stories. Blogs can be made anonymous, or you can tell your story publicly. If setting up a blog seems like a daunting task, you have the opportunity to submit a post to someone else and allow them to circulate it for you.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #4: Connect with an existing organisation

Connecting with an existing organisation ensures your story will be heard. This increases the chances you will positively impact somebody else. Many organisations working to end violence against women produce survivor story series, including The Pixel Project’s Survivor Stories Project, Women Against Abuse, Hollaback!, and the Voices and Faces Project.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #5: Connect with journalists

When discussing violence against women, journalists seek out various angles, including survivor stories. There are various websites that you can sign up for which will allow you to receive story-calls from journalists, including Help a Reporter Out (HARO), to give you an opportunity to share your story.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #6: E-Books

Getting published is no longer as difficult with the option to self-publish. Now, you do not have to acquire an agent, distribute manuscripts, and wait for an acceptance. With the rise of the digital era, everyone has the option to write and publish their own e-book. Now, you can use e-books as a storytelling platform through either fiction or nonfiction.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #7: Educational Groups

Many high schools, colleges and universities have their own assault response centres or groups, focusing on violence against women or girls. Included in these services are counsellors or therapists on call to listen to your story privately. These groups also become an avenue to tell your story on a more public level by becoming a leader or ambassador.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #8: Facebook Groups

Joining a Facebook group is an instant way to connect to other survivors around the world. You are able to post questions, share resources, and give or receive support. It is important to note that while some groups may be private or secret and highly moderated, they are still public to a certain extent, as your Facebook profile is attached and the other group members will be able to identify you.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #9: Magazine Articles

Being selected to be featured in a magazine about survivors is a way to tell your story to the masses. You may be asked to write an article yourself, or be interviewed by someone else. Magazines may be traditional, print publications or digital, including Together for Girls Safe Magazine or xoJane’s “It Happened to Me” series.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #10: Message Boards

Various organisations host message boards and support forums, including Fort Refuge. Here, survivors can connect with each other, share their stories or offer or receive resources. These boards are beneficial because they can be anonymous or public, and are also moderated by an admin or community member, ensuring negativity remains off the message boards.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #11: Opinion Editorial

As a survivor, you may have helpful, informed opinions on news headlines, law changes, and other issues and factors related to violence against women. One way to share your story is through opinion editorials in a newspaper, either digital or in print. Unlike traditional editorials, opinion editorials, also known as Op-Eds, are written from a subjective view and use personal experience to tell a story or argue a point.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #12: Podcast

A podcast is a digital audio recording that users can download and listen to on their own. Podcasts have been used for over 10 years and continue to gain popularity. Many people flock to podcasts because they can listen while doing other things, as opposed to video, television, or reading blogs. When telling your story via podcasting, you have a variety of options. For example: you can tell your story as a guest on a current podcast, including Mart Metcalf’s or The Ruth Institute’s podcast, or you can create your own.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #13: Poetry

A new form of therapy – Poetry Therapy – is developing because writing poetry is an extremely intimate and healing experience. It can also be a very personal or public experience, depending on your desires. You can write poetry for yourself, either in a journal or on a private blog. If you’re comfortable, you can also share your poetry online or a poetry reading.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #14: Twitter

Twitter is an easy, accessible way for survivors to tell their stories. Stories can be told independently through your own personal account, through an anonymous account, or through a hashtag, such as #RapeHasNoUniform. As Scott Berkowitz, Founder and President of RAINN, said, “having this whole community of other people who have been through something similar can be really empowering for people.”

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #15: Volunteer at Events

Volunteering at events is an important way to tell your story because you will be connecting directly with supporters and activists. These events provide various opportunities for storytelling, including keynote speaker, presenter, or mingling with donors, volunteers, or guests.

Survivor Storytelling Suggestion #16: YouTube

YouTube is easily accessible, and one of the fastest growing social media platforms around. Accounts are free, and technology to record, edit, and upload a video are easy to use and inexpensive. Many people go to YouTube to tell, listen and share stories, especially about overcoming adversity. Julie Vu, aka Princess Joules, for example, recently shared her story about domestic violence. The video was viewed 100,964 in one week.

Transforming Personal Pain Into Positive Action: The Pixel Project’s 16 Female Role Models 2015

Posted on November 25, 2015 by regina

Today is the first day of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence 2015 and The Pixel Project is kicking off our 16 For 16 campaign with our 6th annual list of 16 female role models fighting to end violence against women in their communities. The intent of this list is simple: to highlight the good work of the heroines of the movement to end violence against women wherever they are in the world. The women and girls in this year’s list hail from 18 countries and 4 continents.

Many of these outstanding women and girls have shown that it is possible to transform personal pain that came out of facing gender-based violence, into positive action to stop violence against women, empower themselves and to show other survivors that it is possible to move forward with dignity and happiness. They have refused to let bitterness and pain get the better of them, opting to stand up for themselves and for other women and girls instead. This year, we’re very proud to include a number of teenage activists who are campaigning against child marriage and acid attacks.

Others on this list may not have experienced gender-based violence inflicted on themselves but they have stepped up to do what is right: to speak up for women and girls who cannot do it for themselves, sometimes at great personal risk. All this requires immense courage, generosity of spirit and a strong enduring heart.

Without further ado, here in alphabetical order by first name is our 2015 list of 16 female role models. We hope that these women would be an inspiration to others to get involved with the global movement to end violence against women. To that end, we hope you will generously share this list via Facebook and Twitter to give these extraordinary 16 women and their work a moment in the sun.

It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

Written and compiled by Regina Yau

Information for all role model profiles is sourced via online research and is based on one or more news sources, articles and/or The Pixel Project’s own interviews with them. The main articles/reports from which these profiles have been sourced can be directly accessed via the hyperlinked titles. Please do click through to learn more about these remarkable women.

Picture credits are listed at the bottom of the article.

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Female Role Model 1: Andrea Medina Rosas – Mexico

Andréa Medina Rosas is a feminist human rights lawyer and independent consultant who works towards defending murdered and disappeared women, many who come from Ciudad Juárez, the city on the border of Mexico and the United States notoriously nicknamed the ‘capital of murdered women’. When Andréa was a teenager her feminist mother created an organisation for advancing women’s rights. Their first case involved helping a rape victim. Fifteen years later, Andréa is devoted to working with survivors of sexual violence and legally advocating for an end to violence against women. Andréa believes that women from different cultures need to come together to talk about gender violence and to work together on solutions.

Female Role Model 2: Charlotte Campbell-Stephen – Australia and Kenya

In 2006, Australian aid Charlotte Campbell-Stephen was brutally attacked and gang raped for 8 hours by a violent Nairobi gang. Campbell-Stephen courageously reported her rape in a roomful of male police. She took her rapists to court even though she was told by the police that no one won rape cases in Kenya (the Australian embassy in Kenya even advised her to go home). She was supported throughout her gruelling years-long court ordeal by the women from Nairobi’s slums, and Geoff Kinuya, the detective to whom she first reported her case in 2006. In May 2015, the documentary about her fight for justice, I Will Not Be Silenced, was launched at the 2015 Human Rights Arts and Film festival in Melbourne.

Female Role Model 3: Chieftainess Mwenda (Sophia Thomas Chibaye) – Zambia

Chieftainess Mwenda (Sophia Thomas Chibaye) rules over 111 villagers is on a mission to stop child marriage – a mission which began when, four years ago, she learned about the dangers of teen pregnancies. She told the Thompson Reuters Foundation: “”No one should allow a child in school (to marry)”. Mwenda believes that educating her communities is the key to ending the practice of child marriage: “Children can only be safe in a school environment. As long as they remain in school they are safe from marriage.”

Female Role Model 4: Flavia Carvalho – Brazil

Flavia Carvalho is a tattoo artist who decided to use her skills to help survivors via her project A Pele da Flor (The Skin of the Flower) through which she tattoos over scars women had suffered from acts of violence free of charge. Carvalho was inspired to do so after she met a client who wanted to cover up a scar on her abdomen that was the result of a violent attack by a man whom she had turned down. She told The Huffington Post: “Each tattoo would act as an instrument for empowerment and a self-esteem booster… The project’s name refers to the Portuguese expression “A flor da pele” (deeper than skin), which speaks of how strongly we feel when facing an extremely difficult or challenging situation.”

Female Role Model 5: Fraidy Reiss – United States of America

Fraidy Reiss’s marriage to an abusive husband was arranged by the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community she came from when she was just 19 years old. Reuss told NPR that she knew her husband for only three months before they were married, and that as she tried to raise her two daughters, she began to fear for their lives because her husband would lunge at her and describe in graphic detail how he was going to kill her. After courageously escaping her abuser and leaving the community, she founded Unchained At Last – a nonprofit dedicated to helping other American women escape arranged and forced marriages. Unchained At Last also offers women free legal assistance and representation, as well as assistance with the social services they need to rebuild their lives.

Female Role Model 6: Hadiqa Bashir – Pakistan

When Hadiqa Bashir was 10 years old, her grandmother tried to pressure her into a marriage but she saw how one of her classmates who got married in the sixth grade suffered from severe domestic violence and, with the support of her uncle, fought her grandmother’s decision and won. Today, Hadiqa is a 13-year-old activist working to end child marriage in her culture while calling for families to send girls to school. She goes from door to door in her community to talk to parents of girls about the benefits of educating daughters. She said: “I realised that many other girls would suffer like my classmate, and that’s when I decided to start this campaign. Educate your children, don’t make them marry early, give them freedom. That is my message.”

Female Role Model 7: Inkosi Kachindamoto – Malawi

According to the UN Population Fund, Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. The country is ranked 8th out of 20 countries considered to have the highest rates, and in 2012 one in every two girls was married before the age of 18. In June 2015, Senior Chief Inkosi Kachindamoto created a major stir when she annulled 330 customary marriages in Dedza district in the Central Region of Malawi, sent the children back to school, and fired the village heads who sanctioned the marriages. She told the Nyasa Times: “I don’t want youthful marriages, they must go to school … no child should be found loitering at home or doing household chores during school time.”

Female Role Model 8: Madeleine Rees – United Kingdom

British human rights lawyer Madeleine Rees has worked on ending violence against women in the various roles and capacities she has taken on over her career. She was a United Nations official in Bosnia during which she blew the whistle on the role of UN peacekeepers in sex-trafficking. She has also helped shape the protocol for the investigation and documentation of sexual violence in war zones. Currently the secretary general of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Rees said: “Stopping rape in war is never going to be entirely possible but there are ways to create more accountability.”

Female Role Model 9: Malika Saada Saar – United States of America

Malika Saada Saar is a formidable activist and human rights lawyer who has devoted her life to advocating for the rights of women and girls. While at Georgetown University, Saada Saar founded Crossing the River, a written and spoken word workshop for mothers in recovery from substance abuse. The group eventually became the Rebecca Project, a policy and advocacy group which advocates for women and families. The Rebecca Project’s notable successes include effectively lobbying for a ban on the practice of restraining incarcerated women during childbirth. Saar is currently the Executive Director of Rights4Girls, a human rights organisation that focuses on curbing violence against women through public policy and awareness.

Female Role Model 10: Massarat Misbah – Pakistan

Renowned Pakistani beautician and entrepreneur Massarat Misbah was closing up one of her many beauty salons when she was approached by a young acid attack victim who begged her to help restore her face. Misbah was shocked at the disfigurement suffered by the young woman and decided to start a nonprofit arm of her beauty business called the Depilex Smile Again Foundation. To date, Misbah and her team have helped over 500 victims of acid attacks to restore their appearance through reconstructive surgery, apply for jobs, and rebuild their lives. Misbah told Women’s Agenda: “To me, Depilex Smile Again Foundation is a platform for survivors of acid and kerosene oil. It exists for them to come out of terrible situations and try to change their lives for the better.”

Female Role Model 11: Monica Singh – India and United States of America

A decade ago in Lucknow, India, Monica Singh suffered a brutal acid attack orchestrated by a man whose marriage proposal she turned down. Sixty-five percent of her body was burned severely and she had to undergo over 40 rounds of reconstructive surgery. Aside from rebuilding her own life as she works on her fashion career, she founded the Mahendra Foundation which provides support for other acid attack survivors. In her interview with The New York Times, she had this message for acid attack survivors: “Keep on living. Keep fighting. And be something that you always wanted to be. Forget that you lost your face, your soul is still intact, your mind is still intact. Keep on doing.”

Female Role Model 12: Muzoon Almellehan – Syria

16-year-old Muzoon Almellehan has been dubbed “the Malala of Syria” by her community of war survivors thanks to her tireless work to end child marriage over the past two years. Muzoon’s inspiration for her campaign began when she arrived in Jordan among an influx of Syrian refugees in 2013 and noticed that the rates of child marriage were rampant in the Za’atari refugee camp where she lives. UNICEF and Save the Children enlisted young activists to talk with parents about the importance of girls’ education. Muzoon joined up and quickly became an adept campaigner. She told the Daily Beast: “Lots people were listening [to me], even fathers… because I wouldn’t tell them in a forceful way, or say, ‘You have to send her to school.’ I’d initiate the debate and say girls’ education helps them the most.

Female Role Model 13: Sonita Alizadeh – Afghanistan

18-year-old Afghan music artiste Sonita Alizadeth uses rap music to push back against child marriage, including her own. When she was told that she would be married off as a teenage bride to a man she had never met, she wrote the song “Brides for Sale.” The song’s lyrics include: “Let me whisper, so no one hears that I speak of selling girls. My voice shouldn’t be heard since it’s against Sharia.” Sonita’s music video for the song features her wearing a wedding dress… and a barcode on her forehead as she pleads with her family not sell her off. Her parents loved the video and called off the wedding. Today, she uses her music to help other girls in danger of being sold off for marriage and to continue pushing against the tradition of child brides.

Female Role Model 14: Tania Rashid – Bangladesh and United States of America

Journalist Tania Rashid has tackled the issue of violence against women through a story on gang rape in Bangladesh (which she had to pitch repeatedly for almost a year before it was accepted by Vice News), followed by her latest documentary production with Vice News, “Sex, Slavery, and Drugs in Bangladesh,“ gives appalling insight the daily happenings of Daulita which is the largest Bangladeshi brothel and the largest bordello in the world with more than 1,300 sex workers who serve over 3,000 men daily. Born in Saudi Arabia to a Bangladeshi father and Pathan mother before moving to the USA, Rashid was inspired by CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour to become a journalist dedicated to telling human rights stories.

Female Role Model 15: Peninnah Tombo – Kenya

Penninah Tombo is a female genital mutilation survivor who has been harassed, threatened, and attacked by her tribe because of her dedication to helping Maasai girls escape female genital mutilation, forced early marriage, as well as helping them complete their schooling. In 1992, she founded Nasuru Ntoiye (Let’s Save the Girls) to advance her work. According to Tombo, her activism and advocacy on behalf of women and girls has met with stiff opposition because Masai men do not want their daughters to be educated and to learn they have rights. However, she continues to persevere and told the Los Angeles Times: “We are trying to change our way of living. We are trying to change the boys and girls, so that they can change our community.”

Female Role Model 16: Sima Basnet – Nepal

Sima Basnet and her friend Sangita Magar were studying at a tution center in Jhochhen, Nepal, when four masked men broke into the center, barged into the room, and splashed acid on them. Today, Sima speaks out against acid attacks. She told The Baltic Review: “I’ve always wanted to become a singer and I will not live in fear.” She adds: “I want some kind of justice, but I will go on with my life no matter what. This is my message to all girls and women out there; don’t give up.”

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Photo credits:

Andréa Medina Rosas – From www.nobelwomensinitiative.org
Charlotte Campbell-Stephen – From “I Will Not Be Silenced” trailer (YouTube)
Chieftainess Mwenda (Sophia Thomas Chibaye) – From www.trust.org
Flavia Carvalho – From ‘This Tattoo Artist is Covering the Scars of Domestic Violence Victims Free of Charge’ (Buzzfeed)
Fraidy Reiss – Courtesy of Fraidy Reiss (www.unchainedatlast.org)
Hadiqa Bashia – From Hadiqa Bashir’s Facebook page
Inkosi Kachindamoto – Courtesy of UN Women
Madeleine Rees – From “Madeleine Rees (cropped)” by Foreign and Commonwealth Office – http://www.flickr.com/photos/foreignoffice/8650982041/in/photostream/. Licensed under OGL via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madeleine_Rees_(cropped).jpg#/media/File:Madeleine_Rees_(cropped).jpg
Malika Saada Saar – Courtesy of Malika Saada Saar (www.Rights4Girls.org)
Massarat Misbah – From ‘Meet The Woman Changing The Face Of Domestic Violence In Pakistan’ (Women’s Agenda)
Monica Singh – Courtesy of Monica Singh (The Mahendra Singh Foundation)
Muzoon Almellehan – From ‘Meet The Malala of Syria’ (Nina Strochlic/The Daily Beast)
Sonita Alizadeh – From Instagram – @sonitaalizadeh
Tania Rashid – Courtesy of Tania Rashid
Sima Basnet – From ‘Nepalese Attack Survivors: “I Won’t Live In Fear”‘ (Sanjog Manandhar/Baltic-Review.com)
Penninah Tombo – From The Los Angeles Times.

16 Authors Saying NO To Violence Against Women

Posted on December 10, 2014 by regina

Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labelled: “This could change your life.” – Helen Exley

With VAW being a taboo topic in many cultures and communities, pop culture has become an invaluable awareness-raising, advocacy and educational channel through which the anti-Violence Against Women (VAW) movement can reach out to educate communities and raise their awareness about VAW, to break the silence surrounding the violence and to inspire people to take action to stop this human rights atrocity.

In 2014, The Pixel Project was proud to introduce our Read For Pixels campaign. Read For Pixels was created in recognition of the longstanding power of books to shape cultural ideas, trigger social change, and influence the course of history. From Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird to to J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, popular authors and their stories have been instrumental in planting ideas, triggering thoughtful water-cooler discussions, and providing food for thought for communities. And in the age of Geek culture and social media, authors wield influence beyond just their books as they are able to directly communicate their readers and fans via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media channels.

Through our 2014 Read For Pixels initiatives, we worked with 16 award-winning bestselling authors who hail from genres as diverse as Comics, Horror, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction. Many of them are global celebrities with strong fan followings, others are well-respected in their countries or genres. Still others are up-and-coming stars who have decided to use their talents to support women’s human rights. It is the movement to end VAW that unites and inspires them and we hope that all of them will continue to work with the movement in years to come.

To learn more about each author and their books, click on the author’s name.

To learn more about what each author has to say about violence against women, click on their quote in their write-up below to be taken to the YouTube video of their Read For Pixels Google Hangout or their blog articles.

Written and compiled by Regina Yau, with Google Hangout transcriptions by Samantha Carroll.

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Author Against VAW #1: Alyson Noel

Alyson Noel is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Soul Seeker series, the Immortals series, the Riley Bloom series, and eight previous novels for St. Martin’s Press. Her books feature female protagonists who are intrepid, curious, and independent. When speaking out about stopping violence against women, she says: “I think it should be an end question right that every girl is able to grow up in a safe environment and never feel threatened by the people around her and I’m speaking emotionally and physically because there is emotional violence as well. I just think it should be a right and I think that we should strive for that to be a right. Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Everybody.”

Author Against VAW #2: Chuck Wendig

Chuck Wendig is an acclaimed novelist, screenwriter and game designer. He is also well known for his profane-yet-practical advice to writers, which he dispenses at his blog, terribleminds.com, and through several popular e-books. Chuck has periodically spoken out very strongly against misogyny and sexism in popular culture and the Geek world. In a recent blog post, he wrote: “I think that rape culture is real. I think that rape culture is a passive frequency — background noise — that opens the door to (and softens or eradicates the punishment against) misogyny and assault and the destruction of safety for women. I suspect that some deny the existence of rape culture because they misunderstand it as being active. As in, “If I’m not actively promoting rape, then clearly a culture of it doesn’t exist.” But they miss how so many subtle, unseen, unrealized things contribute to that culture: in our language, in our expectations, in the media we consume.” Chuck also talks extensively about violence against women in Geek culture in his Read For Pixels Google Hangout with The Pixel Project.

Author Against VAW #3: Cornelia Funke

Cornelia Funke is an internationally bestselling, multiple-award-winning author, best known for writing the Inkheart trilogy, Dragon Rider, and The Thief Lord. The Thief Lord, her first book to be translated into English, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, the USA Today bestseller list and won the prestigious Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the best translated children’s book of the year. When talking about violence against women and girls, she points out the importance of women standing up to support each other and their daughters, saying: “[…] we want the families to be the shelter for children but very often it’s not. And the abuse […] often is against girls. So it starts with the women and it starts with the girls, and our experience in the world is also that when the women change, the world changes. […] the moment the women support their daughters as much as they support their sons, the world changed. “

Authors Against VAW #4: Cinda Williams Chima

Cinda Williams Chima is first-generation college graduate and college professor who became the acclaimed New York Times best-selling author of The Heir Chronicles and the Seven Realms quartet. She has spoken out against violence against women and when asked about what she thinks would help stop the violence, she says: “I think it’s important to use your best weapons to fight back against violence against women whether that is political activity or writing or how you’re raising your children (if you have children). I think it’s important of all people of goodwill to endeavour not to be part of the problem.”

Authors Against VAW #5: Delilah S. Dawson

Delilah S. Dawson is the award-winning author of the Blud series, including Wicked as They Come, Wicked After Midnight, and Wicked as She Wants, winner of the RT Book Reviews Steampunk Book of the Year and May Seal of Excellence for 2013. She is also a rape survivor who has very courageously spoken out about her experience in order to help other survivors. At her Read For Pixels Google Hangout, Delilah talked about why she’s not afraid to speak out against violence against women, saying: “Violence against women is something that’s touched the women in my family as far back as I know and it stops with me. And it’s not going to happen to my daughter.”

Authors Against VAW #6: Ellen Hopkins

ELLEN HOPKINS is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, Identical, Tricks, Fallout, Perfect, Tilt, and Smoke, as well as the adult novels Triangles and Collateral. She is also a staunch feminist and a domestic violence survivor who speaks out about violence against women and women’s rights whenever she can. In a blog post in September 2014, she wrote: “Across this planet, women are subjugated, dominated, mutilated, enslaved, trafficked, gang raped and then hung in public squares for having suffered such humiliation. In this country, one in three will be sexually assaulted, and the majority will be too afraid to say something—fearful of being called liars or that they dressed to provoke or drank too much or otherwise asked for behavior that men “just can’t help” doing because, you know, that’s how penises work […] You know what? Enough. I’m calling BS. Men do not have the right to abuse, damage, own, control, shame, blame or otherwise claim superiority simply because a fluke of genetics gave them a Y chromosome.”

Authors Against VAW #7: G. Willow Wilson

Willow Wilson’s novel Alif the Unseen won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. Her comic book series AIR (DC/Vertigo Comics) and MYSTIC: THE TENTH APPRENTICE (Marvel) were nominated for Eisner Awards. She currently writes the popular series MS. MARVEL featuring the first Muslim teenage girl taking on the mantle of a popular superhero. Willow is particularly concerned about online violence against women, saying: “In an age where cyber bullying and humiliation, particularly of women and of women in public positions […] this conversation has really changed shape. And if a lot of the violence of speech is being perpetrated on the internet then the internet is obviously a place where we need to start changing the conversation. To me that’s an obvious jump to make, that if so much misogyny these days and so much verbal violence against women begins on the internet, then let’s start on the internet to try to change it.”

Authors Against VAW #8: Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay is the award-winning author of twelve novels (most recently River of Stars), and a book of poetry. He has written book reviews and social and political commentary for the National Post and the Globe and Mail in Canada, and The Guardian in England. Translations of his fiction exceed twenty-five languages and his books have appeared on bestseller lists in many countries. In May 2014, Guy collaborated with The Pixel Project on a Read For Pixels fundraiser and stated: “I firmly believe […] that one of the measures of any culture is the status of women in that society. Inherent, endemic violence against women is more than some ‘black mark’, it is a blight, and working against that is surely a cause for all of us.”

Authors Against VAW #9: Isaac Marion

Isaac Marion was born near Seattle in 1981 and has lived in and around that city ever since. He began writing in high school and self-published three novels before finally breaking through with Warm Bodies, an unusual zombie romance with a philosophical bent that become a blockbuster film in 2013. When discussing why he supports the cause to end violence against women, he said: “It’s hard for me to imagine anyone not supporting that [cause]… It’s becoming more clear to me that that’s something that I really care about, is working to combat some of these attitudes in society, the oppression of really any group that is being bullied by some other group.”

Authors Against VAW #10: Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey is the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Kushiel’s Legacy series of historical fantasy novels and The Sundering epic fantasy duology. The Kushiel’s Legacy series in particular showcases a resourceful independent female protagonist and a cast of characters who have also faced the issue of violence against women. Jacqueline has a very active Facebook author page and often has conversations with her fans. When asked why she is happy to publicly support the cause to end violence against women, she said: “Based on the number of readers I’ve heard from over the years who are survivors of abuse of some sort, who have found strength in the journeys of one or more of the characters that I’ve written, I thought it might be something that would speak to my own readers, so I was happy to volunteer my time for this.”

Authors Against VAW #11: Jasper Fforde

Jasper Fforde has been writing in the Comedy/Fantasy Genre since 2001 when his novel ‘The Eyre Affair’ debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list. Since then he has published ten more books, several of them bestsellers, and counts his sales in millions. He lives and works in Wales. In a discussion about why he supports the cause to end violence against women, he touches on the importance of increasing female leadership as one of the keys to stopping the violence and building a more peaceful world: “It’s a cause one has to support because it’s of vital importance. If you were to look around the planet and even see some of the worst, you know, war torn trouble spots, in the world, and think, “that be improved by a few female leaders?”, and the answer is always yes. Always.”

Authors Against VAW #12: Joe Hill

Joe Hill, the author of the New York Times bestsellers NOS4A2, HORNS, and HEART-SHAPED BOX, and the Eisner-award winning comic book series, LOCKE & KEY, is a feminist and a huge supporter of women’s rights ranging from getting more women into the U.S. Senate and Congress to women’s right to choose what is best for their bodies. In a discussion about why he supports the cause to end violence against women and girls, he says: “The reason this is a subject that’s important to me is because I have boys and I think it’s important that they’re getting the right messages. Also I’m an artist, I’m writer and I read a lot and I see a lot of films, I see a lot of TV and I think it’s important that this is coming up in the cultural conversation, that some of the truth of violence against women in America is reflected in some way in our fiction, in our films.

Authors Against VAW #13: Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong is the Canadian author of the New York Times bestselling Women Of The Otherworld series featuring tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves and showcasing some of today’s most striking female protagonists. She believes that it takes both men and women working together to effectively end violence against women. During her Google Hangout with The Pixel Project, she said: “One thing that I like about this campaign was the inclusion of male role models because I think so often it really becomes an issue of men versus women, and that not it at all. Many men obviously want to do more, want to be a role model and it is not an ‘us versus them’ scenario.”

Authors Against VAW #14: Kevin Hearne

Kevin Hearne is the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Druid Chronicles and the forthcoming STAR WARS: HEIR TO THE JEDI. Kevin wrote about why he took part in Read For Pixels and the importance of being a good man, respecting women, and Feminism, saying: “If you get a Y chromosome at birth that’s your ticket to manhood, but what kind of manhood it turns out to be depends largely on the values one learns while growing up. And there are an awful lot of men out there who could stand to grow more respectful of women—and, by extension, of humanity. Because women’s rights are human rights. And being a feminist is not in any way emasculating—it means you support equal rights for women. Period.” Kevin also talks about violence against women in his Read For Pixels Google Hangout with The Pixel Project.

Authors Against VAW #15: Robert J. Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer is the author of Hugo Award-winner Hominids, Nebula Award-winner The Terminal Experiment, and John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winner Mindscan, and numerous books which were Hugo finalists. Robert was one of the first authors to join The Pixel Project’s Read For Pixels campaign and when asked why everyone should support the cause to end violence against women, he puts it very plainly: “I think it’s really important when we pick causes to look not at “well how does this affect me?” but to look at what the greatest good for the greatest number can be… if there’s any group, by its sheer size, women are the group that’s suffered the most.”

Authors Against VAW #16: Sarah J. Mass

Sarah J. Maas is the New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series, as well The Assassin’s Blade, a collection of five Throne of Glass novellas. The series revolves around Celaena Sardothien, a teenaged female assassin with a conscience who stands up against tough odds to defend women, children and good people. During her Google Hangout with The Pixel Project, she said: “I honestly find it absolutely absurd and disgusting that in today’s day and age there is still violence against women […] I understand the cycles of abuse and things like that are so hard to break out of […] is why I support it [Read For Pixels], because it shouldn’t be going on any longer.”

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Photo credits:

Alyson Noel – Photo courtesy of St Martin’s Press
Chuck Wendig – Photo courtesy of Chuck Wendig
Cornelia Funke – Photo courtesy of Hachette
Cinda Williams Chima – Photo courtesy of Cinda Williams Chima
Delilah S. Dawson – Photo courtesy of Delilah S. Dawson
Ellen Hopkins – Photo courtesy of Goldberg McDuffie Communications; Photographer: Sonya Sones
G. Willow Wilson – Photo courtesy of G. Willow Wilson
Guy Gavriel Kay – Photo courtesy of Guy Gavriel Kay; Photographer: Samantha Kidd Photography
Isaac Marion – Photo courtesy of Isaac Marion
Jacqueline Carery – Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Carey
Jasper Fforde – Photo courtesy of Jasper Fforde
Joe Hill – Photo courtesy of Joe Hill
Kelley Armstrong – Photo courtesy of Kelley Armstrong
Kevin Hearne – Photo courtesy of Kevin Hearne
Robert J. Sawyer – Photo courtesy of Robert J. Sawyer; Photographer: Bernard Clark
Sarah J. Maas – Photo courtesy of Bloomsberg Publishing (USA); Photographer: Josh Wasserman

16 Art Initiatives Saying No to Violence Against Women

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Carol Olson

Art can be an effective healing tool and resource for survivors of Violence Against Women (VAW) who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and other disorders due to the impact to one’s mental and emotional health from the violence. The creation of art acts as a catalyst to transform pain and negative experiences to healing and growth.

Art as a voice for activism is a natural progression because art as a healing tool is integrally linked to advocacy. Art is at once personal and universal. The emotional impact of art as a language crosses cultural lines, economic lines, and social lines. Art brings intensity to activism as it brings the survivors’ individual lived experience to the global eye. Artistic expression via the visual arts such as paintings, murals, photography, street graffiti and comics; as well as more tactile forms of the arts including fashion, sculptures, quilting, and pottery is a universal language understood by all and one of the earliest forms of communication to inform, educate, and communicate.

These 16 artists and art groups from all over the world work singularly or join forces to create and use art as an activism tool to end the silence about VAW and raise awareness. It is their lived experiences of violence and the global movement to end VAW that unites and inspires them. We hope that these 16 artists and their initiatives will engage you and inspire you to share and expand your own artistic ventures to join the global conversation to end VAW.

– Written and compiled by Carol Olson; Additional research and material by Samantha Carroll and Jennifer Gallienne.
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Art Against VAW #1: Alejandra Adorno Menduiña, Stand Up for Women’s Rights Now – Global

Stand Up for Women’s Rights Now: Stop Violence Against Women is an international touring exhibition which challenges conventional attitudes towards violence against women. The brainchild of Argentinian artist Alejandra Adorno Menduiña, it began its worldwide journey with an extensive tour of Latin America. The exhibition includes works from France, Germany, Iran, Syria and Taiwan and has also toured Turkey, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Italy and Argentina.

Art Against VAW #2: A Long Walk Home: Arts, Activism, Advocacy – United States of America

Founded in 2003, A Long Walk Home, Inc. (ALWH) is a 501(c)3 non-profit that uses art therapy and the visual and performing arts to end violence against girls and women. ALWH features the testimonies and art by survivors and their allies in order to provide safe and entertaining forums through which the public can learn about healing from and preventing gender-based violence.

Art Against VAW #3: Candi Castleberry Singleton, Dignity and Respect Quilt Campaign – United States of America

Candi Castleberry Singleton has recruited more than 90 volunteers to design and create a ceramic quilt to increase awareness of violence against women, called the Dignity and Respect Campaign. “You will see a variety of tiles but combined they make a statement that we wanted to make the women in the shelter know that we care and this would serve as a permanent reminder that we care,” says campaign founder Candi Castleberry Singleton. Singleton says a goal of the awareness initiative is personal safety. “Whether it’s feeling safe with someone they’re living with, whether it’s feeling safe with someone they’re working with, I think the most important thing is for people to know where to go to get resources before they actually need them.”

art by Charlotte Farhan

Art Against VAW #4: Charlotte Farhan, Art to End the Silence on Rape – France and England

Charlotte Farhan has always been artistic and spent her childhood being encouraged to pursue her artistic nature, with dual nationality between France and Britain and growing up between Paris and within an hour of London. Charlotte wants to inspire and wants to continue building her career as an artist. Hoping to break boundaries within society and the art world whilst helping raise awareness for certain causes. Her most recent art is to raise awareness to end the silence about rape.

Art Against VAW #5: Comics with a Cause – Canada

The Comics with a Cause campaign was started to escalate awareness of sexual assault and violence through a new comic called BRANDED. Writer Rodrigo Caballero wanted to abolish the stereotype that comic books are made “by men for boys”. Caballero’s comic focuses on a character named the Brander who locates and punishes men who harm women. Caballero stated that he wanted confront abuse of women by exposing cases of violence that happen domestically, in the home.

Art Against VAW #6: Ewa Grochowska, Freedom4Ewa Pottery – United States of America

Ewa Grochowska is an artist and activist working to end violence against women. She is the founder of Freedom4Ewa in which she helps survivors live in love by providing support and donating art supplies. She donates her time and supplies to provide art programmes to children living in domestic violence shelters, and reaches out to the public to share her story of survival to spread awareness. In 2013, she started Freedom4Ewa with a goal to bring domestic violence to extinction.

Art Against VAW #7: Graffiti to Combat Violence Against Women – Brazil

Brazilian street artists used the spotlight of the World Cup to highlight a problem close to home. Special correspondent Sophia Kruz of Detroit Public Television reports on a movement in Brazil to spread awareness of domestic violence through the art of graffiti.

Art Against VAW #8: Hey Baby! Art Opposing Sexual Violence – United States of America

Hey Baby! Art Opposing Sexual Violence is an art workshop and exhibition series to raise awareness of and bring about an end to sexual violence. The Hey Baby! project combines education with art to create interactive exhibitions. The art work can be a lot of different formats, including buttons, patches, zines, and posters. All of the art is replicable, meaning that people can take copies of it with them from the exhibitions.

Art Against #VAW #9: Hilom – The Philippines

Kasibulan, an organisation that uses art to rouse change for women in the Philippines, created Hilom to advocate against violence towards women. Hilom is taking place during the 16 days of activism and features artwork by women for women. Kasibulan, known for its commitment to the arts and using various mediums art as a means of transformation in the lives of Filipino women, hopes to develop a cultural consciousness with their campaign.

Art Against #VAW #10: Wall of Memories: Las Desaparecidas de Cuidad Juarez – Mexico and United States of America

Artist Diane Kahlo (a distant descendent of Frida Kahlo), put together an exhibition of painting, sculpture and video entitled Femicide to remind us of the more than 1,000 missing and murdered women of Cuidad Juarez, Mexio. The violence towards women, highlighted in 1993, has reached epidemic levels today. Kahlo’s display included two embellished coffins as well as a wall installation of skulls that represented the bodies of unidentified girls. “Because the feminicide addresses the intersection of gender, race, class and economic status, as well as political and economic dialogue about globalization, human and sex trafficking and drug violence, the exhibition serves as a vehicle to create interdisciplinary dialogue,” said Kahlo.

Art Against VAW #11: Merna Thomas, Shout Art Loud – Egypt

Graffiti artists, cartoonists, dancers and actors are fighting back against rising levels of violence and sexism in the streets of Cairo. “We believe that spreading images, things that people are familiar with, women figures that people know and sayings that people know brings back some positivity about women in general,” says Merna Thomas, co-founder of a graffiti campaign to promote women’s rights in Cairo’s public spaces.

Art Against VAW #12: Nizhegorodsky Women’s Crisis Centre, Art Therapy for Victims and Witnesses of Violence – Russia

Nizhegorodsky Women’s Crisis Centre is a Russian nonprofit devoted to serving domestic violence victims by incorporating art as a healing and advocacy tool for survivors of domestic violence and children who survive violent homes. Russia is currently in the process of examining the prevalence of domestic violence and the changes needed to improve it’s laws.

Art Against VAW #13: Priya’s Shakti – India

Priya’s Shakti is a comic book with a female rape survivor as its “super hero” that has been launched to focus attention on the problem of sexual violence in India. The comic book is inspired by Hindu mythological tales, tells the story of Priya, a young woman and gang-rape survivor, and Goddess Parvati as they fight against gender crimes in India. Indian-American filmmaker Ram Devineni, one of its creators, said that the 2012 Delhi Gang Rape triggered the idea. People anywhere in the world can download a free digital copy of the comic

Art Against VAW #14: Saint Hoax, Happy Never After – Global

Artist Saint Hoax created a series of Disney Princess posters that encouraged young sexual assault survivors to report their attacks. Following that he used the Disney Princess posters to raise awareness about domestic violence. “As a Middle Eastern artist, I always have the urge to voice out the injustice and inequality that takes place in my region,” Saint Hoax said. “Sadly, the news here is filled with stories of abused housewives, daughters, sisters, mothers.”

Art Against VAW #15: Stop al Femminicidio (Stop Femicide!) – Italy

The Stop al Femminicidio campaign, which took place on International women day, used “Three universes female: art, culture and fashion” as its theme to highlight violence against women. The campaign’s goal was to alter the cultural heritage of abuse and have women reclaim their dignity. Stop al Femminicidio, in collaboration with designer Antonella Fini, was staged in Porto Torres and featured fashion in shades of red. An exhibition of red shoes was placed outside the National Archaeological Museum to draw attention to femicide.

Art Against VAW #16: Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Stop Telling Women to Smile – United States of America

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is the woman behind “Stop Telling Women to Smile,” the public art project that is tackling gender-based street harassment in a big way. Through stunning wheat paste portraits and powerful statements like “My outfit is not an invitation” or “Women are not outside for your entertainment,” Fazlalizadeh fearlessly responds to the unsolicited act of cat calling with street art you can’t ignore. “Street harassment is a serious issue that affects women world wide,” Fazlalizadeh writes on her website. “This project takes women’s voices, and faces, and puts them in the street — creating a bold presence for women in an environment where they are so often made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe.”

The Pixel Project's "16 For 16" Campaign

The Pixel Project's annual campaign featuring 16 articles about Violence Against Women in honour of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence

Category Archives: Education and Advocacy

The Pixel Project’s VAW e-News Digest – The ’16 for 16’ 2015 Edition

16 Ways That Kids and Teens Can Help Stop Violence Against Women and Girls

At School

At Home and in the Wider Community

16 Filmmakers Making Films About Violence Against Women (And Telling the Right Stories)

16 Memorable Stories of Standing Up to Street Harassment 2015

16 Ways College Students Can Transform a Culture of Violence Against Women on Campus

The Pixel Project Selection 2015: 16 Striking Anti-Violence Campaigns for the Cause to End Violence Against Women

16 Ways for Survivors of Violence Against Women to Share Their Stories

Transforming Personal Pain Into Positive Action: The Pixel Project’s 16 Female Role Models 2015

16 Authors Saying NO To Violence Against Women

16 Art Initiatives Saying No to Violence Against Women