16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Wrap-Up

Event Summary

For the past 16 days the RTI Global Gender Center (GGC) shared intersectional gender-based violence (GBV) research from RTI staff and GGC affiliates in honor of the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV.

The 16 Days of Activism Against GBV was started in 1991 by activists at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University to highlight the critical need to address violence against women and girls and to encourage a larger conversation about human rights. It falls between November 25th and December 10th each year, and is an opportunity for collaboration, organization, and education about the global impact of GBV.

On the morning December 10th, we heard from keynote speaker Dr. Bronwyn Myers about her work in South Africa with post-trauma intervention participants, elaborating on the need for trauma-informed care for survivors of GBV. This presentation included feedback and quotes from participants in the intervention, statistics illustrating the impact of the intervention, and important findings showing the intervention’s impact on reducing sexual risk behaviors, drinking and other drug use, and improvements in sexual partner communication.

Later in the afternoon, we heard from Dr. Courtney Peasant Bonner, of RTI who discussed the link between GBV and mental health, particularly as it relates to risk behaviors among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa. One salient finding was the need to incorporate the assessment and treatment of mental health into other health services and future behavioral research.

Ana Perez, the Associate Director of the RTI GGC, presented her work addressing GBV and harassment in the energy sector, specifically in Rwanda. She highlighted the need to address, monitor, prevent and respond to GBV and harassment in the workplace to effectively combat this issue.

Further, Julianne Norman of RTI discussed the Literacy Achievement and Retention (LARA) project in Uganda and how it addresses school related gender-based violence (SRGBV) to improve retention. Using the Journeys Handbooks, students, teachers, and communities in Uganda were guided on ways to prevent and recognize SRGBV with the goal of addressing norms and behaviors to improve school climate and culture.

We are very thankful to the presenters for sharing their innovative and necessary research!

You can access resources that we tweeted over the last 16 days as well as articles related to the presentations from the events below. If anything was highlighted through these presentations and resources, it is that every day should be a day of activism against gender-based violence!

All Twitter Articles

Articles Related to the Presentations

Related Experts

Presenter

Ana Perez

Expertise

Women Leadership

Participation and Decision-making

Gender Equity & Social Inclusion

Gender in the Energy Sector

Gender Mainstreaming in Projects

Presenter

Courtney Peasant Bonner

Expertise

HIV prevention among vulnerable women

Mental health and substance use

Gender-based violence among women who use substances