16 days of activism: Human Rights Day
Today is Human Rights Day and marks the final day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
UN Human Rights have today launched a year-long campaign to promote and recognise the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which will be celebrated on 10 December 2023. The year-long campaign will showcase the Declaration by focusing on its legacy, relevance and activism using the slogan, "Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All."
Human rights are the catalyst to progress and whilst we should celebrate where progress has been made, we should not stop striving for more.
Because despite all of our progress, violence against women and girls still remains the most pervasive human rights violation around the world.
16 Days in review
I undertook to use my voice and platform to ensure that I played my part in this year's campaign.
On Day 1, I paid a visit to Glasgow East Women's Aid and encouraged donations to the service.
On Day 2, I brought the campaign into focus with this blog post.
On Day 3, I posted a video for Advent Sunday, highlighting the work of Christian Aid and the charity's Christmas appeal.
On Day 4, I presented a parliamentary petition, signed by my constituents calling for action to end gender-based violence.
On Day 5, I tabled an Early Day Motion and encouraged people to contact their own MP to ask them to support it.
On Day 6, I wrote to the Equalities Minister seeking increased Government involvement with next year's campaign.
On Day 7, I tabled 16 different written parliamentary questions to push the UK Government on its work to end gender-based violence.
On Day 8, I wrote a column for the Glasgow Times newspaper which focused on the responsibility of men to act, and how we can all play our part.
On Day 9, I highlighted the activism of one woman in Ukraine who is working to end gender-based violence in conflict.
On Day 10, I released a video talking about the work of the Dogs Trust Freedom Project and called for volunteers to come forward to help.
On Day 11, I posted an article detailing 10 ways to act to end violence against women and girls.
On Day 12, I posted 16 tweets to push the campaign messages out on Twitter.
On Day 13, I wrote about the UN's femidice report to highlight its shocking findings.
On Day 14, I donned a Christmas jumper to raise funds for Save the Children, a charity which has long worked to protect girls from violence.
On Day 15, I dedicated an episode of my podcast to talk about the campaign.
And today, on Day 16, I am highlighting Human Rights Day, recapping my own activism, and asking all reading this to do all you can to be active in ending gender-based violence.
