Sixteen-Day Campaign to Overcome Violence Begins Thanksgiving
Under the simple theme ''On the Wings of a Dove,'' churches and church-related grassroots organizations worldwide will observe 16 days of overcoming violence against women and children.
Under the simple theme “On the Wings of a Dove,” churches and church-related grassroots organizations worldwide will observe 16 days of overcoming violence against women and children. The campaign, which began in 1991, is intended to highlight the ongoing violence and violation of human rights against women and children, by promoting increased public awareness and efforts for justice.
The campaign kicks off on Thanksgiving, November 25. Thursday also marks the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – the anniversary of the brutal murders of three sisters in the Dominican Republic in 1960.
The 16 day period, which conclude on the International Human Rights Day, December 10, includes World AIDS Day, December 1, and the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, December 6, when a man brutally killed 14 women engineering students.
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According to the World Council of Churches, the main sponsor of the international campaign, the objective of “On the Wings of a Dove” is to “engage the churches in developing pastoral and practical responses and actions to overcome violence against women through a 16 day global campaign.”
In a larger context, the campaign is part of a larger movement within the ecumenical Christian community to overcome violence and gain peace.
Dubbed, “The Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace (DOV),” the WCC-led initiative calls on churches, ecumenical organizations and people of goodwill to “work together for peace, justice and reconciliation at all levels, local regional and global. The DOV campaign began in 2001 with a proposed closing date of 2010; this year, the DOV emphasis was placed in the United States.
The DOV US focus aimed at “strengthening and resourcing churches and movements working for peace in the USA, encouraging a commitment to mutual accountability, and deepening the churches' understanding of issues such as power, militarism, and community-building.”
The 16-days of activism mark the last event during the DOV US focus year.
In observing the 16 days, the WCC encouraged participating churches to do the following:
• Give publicity to the global campaign and ensure that churches, local congregations and others plan events leading up to the campaign period, during the campaign period and after.
• Get information about the campaign into denominational, national and regional ecumenical newsletters
• Get the campaign into women’s newsletters and get other church and secular women’s organizations in the region involved.
• Each church/community is invited to identify the forms of violence against women and children they wish to address.
• Contribute to the WCC process of gathering of stories of good practice of churches, their strategies, official church statements or statements of workshops, consultations, symposia done locally, nationally and regionally.
• Ensure media coverage, including Christian media
• Prepare worship resources - liturgies, rituals of healing, Bible studies, collections of prayers, poems
• Prepare daily meditation books to highlight the commitment to women and children.
Within the US, churches already set plans for vigils, discussions and exhibitions on the ongoing plight of women and children.
