Category Archives: Education and Advocacy

16 Tech Innovations that Help the Movement to Prevent and Stop Violence Against Women

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The 21st century has been defined by the ever-evolving repertoire of technology, devices, and inventions that ultimately connect us across temporal and spatial boundaries. This has been the era of smart phones, tablets, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, amongst many others.  The challenge of ending violence against women has not remained static but has similarly morphed to join the digital era. Violence against women now not only occupies its traditional spaces: cyberbullying, cyberstalking, digital voyeurism, and a whole gamut of new forms of violence have become prevalent.

This article highlights 16 tech innovations or platforms that address violence against women and can be used to prevent or to stop incidences of gender-based violence. Together, they show how we can reclaim technology and use it to make positive contributions to the lives of women around the globe and hopefully invite some creative spark for the next technological invention to be used in this cause. Continue reading →

The Pixel Project Selection 2012: 16 Songs About Violence Against Women (and Staying Strong and Positive)

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One of the most powerful and creative methods of raising awareness about taboo subjects like Violence Against Women (VAW) is through music and song. From medieval bards to protest folk singers of the 1960s to today’s Pop, Rock and Country songwriters, musicians, singers and songwriters continue to play a vital role in spreading the message about social issues via heartfelt lyrics and musical hooks that ensure that the song stays with the listener until the message sinks in.

As part of championing the power of music to educate, enlighten and help with social change, The Pixel Project presents our 2012 selection of 16 songs about or related to VAW and women’s empowerment. While there have always been songs that are very explicit about domestic violence, sexual violence and other forms of VAW, we have, like last year, select a mix of songs about VAW and songs that empower women because it is crucial to get a balance between the reality of violence and the message of hope for survival and healing. Continue reading →

16 Striking Campaigns for the Cause to End Violence Against Women

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While we at The Pixel Project always seek to emphasise the positive, the fact remains that, in many places in the world, activists working to end Violence Against Women (VAW) face considerable obstacles:  denial of the problem; cultural taboos that prevent open and honest discussion; viewing VAW as a “women’s issue instead of a human issue; and hostility from men’s rights activists and extremists who seek to keep women “in their place.”  The latter was tragically and recently seen in the early October shooting of Pakistani girls’ rights activist Malala Yousafzai.

Given the hostility they often face,  many VAW activists recognise that they have to be more creative than activists working in more popular causes (e.g. cancer, children’s issues, animal rights and the green movement). A sense of humour and a penchant for effecting change from within also does not go amiss. Continue reading →

16 Memorable Stories of Standing Up Against Street Harassment 2012

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We are proud today to share the second annual blog list of 16 memorable stories of women dealing with street harassment which has been kindly compiled by Holly Kearl, Founder of Stop Street Harassment and one of our 16 Female Role Models of 2010.

Almost 100% of women and girls experience street harassment in their lifetimes ranging from the uncomfortable to the downright dangerous. Holly receives many stories of women fighting back against street harassment by themselves or with the help of friends, family and bystanders which is shared on the Stop Street Harassment website and Facebook page 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 ones for women.

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. Continue reading →

16 Organisations, Charities and Grassroots Groups Working to Stop Female Genital Mutilation

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“Female genital mutilation has nothing to do with culture, tradition, or religion. It is torture and a crime. Help us to put an end to this crime.” — Waris Dirie, Survivor of FGM, UN FGM Ambassador, Founder of the Desert Flower Foundation and former Supermodel

FGM stands for Female Genital Mutilation. FGM is a harmful and dangerous practice that involves the outer parts of the vagina- including the labia and the clitoris- being partially or totally removed. There are four main types of FGM and in the case of type 3, which can be the most detrimental to a victim’s reproductive health, the vagina is sewn up, leaving only a small hole for urinating, menstruation and sexual intercourse. FGM is predominantly carried out in parts of Africa. Increasingly it has been found in societies in Asia and also migrant communities across Europe and America. Continue reading →

16 Ways to Take Action Against Human Trafficking

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The Universal Declaration on Human Rights declared over 60 years ago that all humans were born free and equal with rights common to all and exclusive to none. Sixty-odd years later, in spite of the clear and express prohibition of slavery, trafficking in humans stands at an astoundingly and eerily high level, eclipsing all other eras. In other words, with 30 million people, mostly women and girls, currently being exploited and violated in the sex/human-trafficking trade at this precise moment, there have never been more people enslaved in global history.

The conversation surrounding human/sex-trafficking is not a particularly popular one, but remains a necessary one. Human/sex-trafficking thrives on the secrecy and shadow of unawareness, which currently pervades. This increasingly disturbing human rights violation is linked to forced prostitution, street crimes, domestic servitude, child labour and many other forms of exploitation.  Human trafficking is not only about individuals: it has a mass effect on our social fabric, economic stability and more abstractly reflects on our common humanity. Continue reading →

The Pixel Project Selection 2012: 16 Films About Violence Against Women

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The Pixel Project’s annual selection of films, documentaries and television shows that raise awareness about violence against women has been a fixture in our annual “16 For 16” campaign from the very beginning. We firmly believe that the “Show, Not Tell” principle is one of the most powerful ways to create a connection between the movement to end violence against women and the person on the street who might not have even given this human rights issue a thought before. Film and television are some of the best tools that activists and educators have at their disposal to shape and galvanise public opinion and action to prevent and stop violence against women (VAW) in their communities remains strong.

2012 has been a bumper year for films and documentaries about violence against women, some of which have won major awards. This indicates that this major human rights issue is starting to come out of the shadows and that the wall of silence surrounding it may not be completely eradicated but is, at the very least, cracked enough to start conversations. Continue reading →

16 Creative and Safe Ways to Intervene to Stop Street Harassment

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Visit www.mencanstoprape.org for more information.

Street harassment is becoming increasingly prevalent all across the globe. The anti-Street Harassment nonprofit, Stop Street Harassment, defines street harassment as:

“Unwelcome words and actions by unknown persons in public which are motivated by gender and invade a person’s physical and emotional space in a disrespectful, creepy, startling, scary, or insulting way.”

Two things are necessary for street harassment to happen:

1) A person or group who chooses to harass someone and

2) A community of bystanders willing to let it happen.

As a society, if we continue to accept street harassment as a part of our daily lives, it will never stop.

Many people would like to prevent and stop street harassment in their communities, but are worried about how to go about it. Intervening does not mean that a person has to get involved in a verbal or physical fight with the harasser. Keeping yourself safe is important and there are many safe and creative ways to intervene – here are just 16 of them:

Written by Rubina Singh; Edited by Crystal Smith and Regina Yau Continue reading →

The Pixel Project Selection 2012: 16 Music Artistes Who Support The Cause To End Violence Against Women

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With VAW being a taboo topic in many cultures and communities, music has become an invaluable awareness-raising, advocacy and educational tool which anti-Violence Against Women (VAW) activists, grassroots groups and nonprofits such as The Pixel Project use in their work to get communities aware about VAW, to break the silence surrounding the violence and to inspire people to take action to stop this human rights atrocity. Indeed, from We Are The World to Man In The Mirror, musicians, singers and songwriters have proven again and again that music is one of the most powerful ways of conveying messages about causes and issues. Continue reading →

The Pixel Project’s 16 Best Blog Articles 2012

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At The Pixel Project, we pride ourselves on our ability to draw attention to the many ways violence against women (VAW) affects the lives of women, men, girls, and boys around the world. We do so by sharing news stories from varied media sources through our e-news digest and by writing thoughtful and inspiring blog posts on our main website and our campaign micro-sites.

There is never a shortage of things to talk about here. From profiles of VAW activists to our regular Silver Lining posts, our wonderful 30 for 30 Father’s Day campaign interviews, and our exciting Music for Pixels campaign, we have spoken up about how people are making positive change on the issue of VAW. We have also provided articles listing ideas about how to get active on this issue. The dominant themes of this year’s selection reflect the diversity of the ways in which our campaigns have developed with music activism taking the lead. Continue reading →