Published on:
16
November 2017
A number of events will be taking place as part of the 16 Days of Action programme calling for the end of violence against women and children.
The 16 Days of Action is an international campaign that calls for the elimination of violence against women and children. It was started by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991 and has been supported in Clackmannanshire since 2007.The 16 Days run from November 25th (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) through to December 10th (International Human Rights Day) with the aim of reframing women’s rights as human rights.
Whilst this campaign focuses specifically on male violence against women, it is recognised that men can also be subjected to many of these issues, as can people in same sex relationships, however in the vast majority of cases these acts are carried out by men against women.
Figures show that:
• Around 1 in 4 women will experience some form of domestic abuse at some time in their lives, with similar figures approximated for rape, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse
• 776 incidents of domestic abuse were recorded by police in Clackmannanshire in 2016-17
• In Scotland, recorded sexual crime has more than doubled in the past decade and is now at its highest level since comparable records began in 1971
The programme opens with a ‘Prevention Through Education’ seminar at Forth Valley College campus in Alloa, which has been arranged by the Clackmannanshire Violence Against Women Partnership. Other events include the launch of Forth Valley Rape Crisis' exhibition ‘A Space for Action: Collective Resistance to Sexual Violence and the Reclamation of Public Space’ at the Speirs Centre, and awareness raising sessions in trafficking and domestic abuse for professionals.
Details of events are available on the Council website events diary.
Council Leader Les Sharp said: “The Clackmannanshire Alliance recently approved the Local Outcome Improvement Plan, which includes a strategic outcome that ‘Women and girls will be confident and aspirational, and achieve their full potential’. To make this happen we need all our Community and Public Sector partners to work towards improving life chances and outcomes for women and girls to ensure the cycle of violence ceases, and the 16 days events give us an opportunity to come together and speak out against violence against women.”