White Ribbon Day Today – End Violence Against Women

Yesterday I made commitments to 7  actions that I think will help raise awareness about Violence Against Women.

My first commitment  was to reach 100 people through my networks. Well at least 70 people read my blog yesterday alone and several people commented on my tweets and Facebook and took my Gender Violence poll so I’m happy with progress on that target.

I also committed to getting 5 friends to write about Gender Violence.

Yesterday alone two people responded and I’d like to share the highlights of these blogs

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Linda Raftree of Plan International, writes a blog called Wait …Wait which is all about “people I meet through that work and things I wonder about related to both”. She aimst o incorporate social media and new technology into youth development programs in Africa  so that youth have more of a voice and so that new media/new technology.  Her goal  is to improve the conditions in the communities.

“In the community over the past 3 weeks, I saw and heard about the challenges girls face to achieve an education, avoid unwanted advances, including from teachers, and avoid early pregnancies.  Most of the time there is no space for these issues to be discussed openly among both boys and girls, and with adults.  Plan’s two campaigns, Learn without Fear and Because I am a Girl, seem extremely relevant to the context”.

I love this image of girl power in Mozambique. Makes me smile. Follow Linda’s amazing stories on twitter @meowtree

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17 year old boy takes action on Violence Against Women

The second blog on gender violence was written than none other than my 17 year old son who really surprises me from time to time.

Writing as rovingrastaman Joshuas posts can be totally unpredictable. He has recently been debating what gifts to buy his little sister for her birthday and seems to spends an unusually long amount of time thinking about it (for a boy) and seems to be willing to spend an extortionate amount of money on her.

Solve the problem Violence against Women by raising boys to be good men

I am proud that at 17 Josh is thinking about the issues, and writing about them – in his blog he says

“It is unacceptable that people are being treated like this and we need to protest and work towards change. Violence against anyone is a crime”. Follow Josh on Twitter @keggaz

I conclude that key to stopping violence against women is to raise good men – it’s a task us women should take upon ourselves.

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Recognizing Good Men

Finally I also made a commitment to recognize good men so today I’ll be sending shout outs on Twitter  to the following amazing men to recognize for their views and influence. You are all men who others should look up to.

@keggaz

@coldtusker

@kahenya (I know you pretend to be a macho heartless womanizer – but deep down ur a total softie)

@eastlandah

@inteligensia

@toneendungu

@bonifacemwangi

@bankelele

@mkaigwa

@alykhansatchu

@damiancook

@kenyaimagine

@ialen

@tininai

@ngeny

@swmaina

@estoni

@jimmassusa

@andai

@iamkenei

My list is incomplete without my own best friend @petergreste who at times seems too perfect that he may in fact be an alien.  He detests the thought that I might think him sickly sweet but I can assure you that he’s not, I don’t have a sweet tooth. His work in war torn Eastern Congo filming victims of sexual violence for BBC revealed  a rare courage – to witness, to feel and empathize, and to still be professional about bringing this important story to the world. If  men understood the impact of lasting damage of violence against women – on themselves, on brain wastage, on the economy and on their own happiness, we would be closer to ending violence against women.

To get a white ribbon on your Twitter avatar just go here

Do you have a White Ribbon story about Gender Violence to tell? Send it to me and I’ll post it right here.

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Take the poll on gender violence?

I don’t normally write about Gender violence but since it’s White Ribbon Day tomorrow I wanted to take some form of action on Violence Against Women. With over 70% of Kenyan women affected seems we may not know how these statistics are compiled…Do you what gender violence is?

Here’s a really easy way to take action today, just take the poll

Thanks

Oh, and tell your friends to do so too

My committments to ending violence agains women

When I was in an abusive relationship I felt oddly alone and unable to tell anyone about it. I was saved by a friend who snapped me to my senses and ugly, humiliating, shameful, and embarasing as it was, I  have never looked back. And so, it was the most natural thing in the world to share that strength with Anne when I found out she was also a victim of domestic violence, I could see she needed it. She is grateful now, but she wont  be able to appreciate it for years to come if at all. She keeps thanking me – as if I did something generous. I did not, I did what had to be done, it is right for women to help each other. There is no generosity in it, we need each other and should be ready to accept help from each other. But it can be hard sometimes.

After I discovered that tomorrow is White Ribbon Day for action on Violence Against Women, and after discovering just how prevalent violence against women is I decided to make some public personal commitments.

1. Tell 100 friends (or more) about White Ribbon day –  on 25th November. Share through email, facebook, twitter
2. Research facts and write at least 5 blog posts about it the issue – give gender violence a face
3. Share resources on my blog and get at least 5 friends to write blogs about their personal stories
4. Promote my friends stories on gender violence on my blog, facebook and twitter
5. Help at least one friend/victim of gender violence – see blog post about Anne and Charlie
6. Recognize amazing men and ask them to be role models to other men
7. Support a local women’s rescue center

Just think if I can just save one person it will have been worth it

Help me magnify this impact, join me, tell your story on your blog, share mine on twitter or your blog,  advise me which womens rescue center to support. …………….

Before I sign off I want to recognize and thank Linda @meowtree who narrates her amazing work through blog and photos on educating youth in Mozambique. In her latest post on gender issues Linda chillingly narrates  ” I even heard one teenage girl in one of the nearby communities say “if it’s just one man, it’s not really a rape…. it has to be 3 or 4.”

Guys, we can stop this cycle of violence.