NUspace and Civic Park light up orange to start 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women

The University of Newcastle's NUspace building and Civic Park will light up in orange this Thursday to mark the start of the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women.

Reaching its 30-year milestone, the global campaign is an annual call to eliminate gendered violence across the globe. Some alarming Australian statistics surrounding this issue, as cited by Our Watch, include:

• Women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience violence from an intimate partner.
• Young women (18–24 years) experience significantly higher rates of physical and sexual violence than women in older age groups.
• On average, one woman a week is killed by her current or former partner.

Community events across the 16 days include:

• Launch and Vigil at Civic Park on Thursday November 25, 2021 - New resources created by the Newcastle Domestic Violence Committee in collaboration with the City of Newcastle will be launched at the event, which supporters may attend in person or watch via livestream.
• Exhibition: "What were you wearing?" - Launching on November 26 and open to the public from November 27 until December 9 at Galerie Shangri-Lah. The show features the varied clothing worn by women when assaulted, as a stark reminder that no one asks to be targeted.
• Free public webinar: Men as makers of change - December 6 from 10-11.30am, via Zoom. Expert speakers are Matt Brown, author and leader of the She Is Not Your Rehab campaign; Michael Salter, criminologist at UNSW; and Joplin Higgins OAM, award-winning advocate for ending violence against women.

These events have been coordinated by the Gender Research Network, part of the College of Human and Social Futures at the University of Newcastle, and are supported through a Social Inclusion grant from the City of Newcastle.

16 Days Newcastle website

16 Days Newcastle Facebook