Cooper's Town Abaco Community banding together in advocacy
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Women of the Zonta Club in Eleuthera and Abaco brought the Orange
the World campaigns to life on their islands, spreading the word that
people everywhere should say "No!" to gender-based violence.
The
16 days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence wrapped up on Friday,
December 10. International Human Rights Day. In Abaco, Zonta
representative Eva Bain spent the campaign going from settlement to
settlement. Residents from six communities were educated about the
importance of having healthy relationships and an empowering society,
free of violence. The settlements turned orange are: Sandy Point,
Crossing Rocks, Spring City, Marsh Harbour, Treasure Cay and Cooper's
Town.
Zonta's representative in Eleuthera, Jewel Edwards
brought the theme to life for another year, with the help of not only
adults, but many of the children. With kids taking part in advocacy,
Jewel knows that communities in Eleuthera have a brighter future without
violence. Central and South Eleuthera Member of Parliament Clay
Sweeting and his wife joined the activism.
kids in Spring City, Abaco join the campaign
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Zonta
Club of New Providence (ZCNP) once again led the charge for the
advocacy campaign with a host of events held in New Providence. Each
year, ZCNP chooses a community to focus its advocacy on; this year, it
was Englerston. There, Zontians turned the community orange, tying
bright orange bows from street to street. Mrs Ann Marie Davis,
representative of the Office of the Spouse of the Prime Minister, and
former representative Mrs Patricia Minnis together tied the first bow.
But days later, a horrible domestic violence incident was filmed as a
woman was dragged by a car right through the streets of Englerston. That
led Zontians to increase the campaign, taking to the streets and radio
stations to make a plea for Bahamians to put an end to gender based
violence.
On December 10, International Human
Rights Day, Zonta culminated the 16 days of advocacy with an event,
attended by Minister of State for Social Services & Urban
Development, Lisa T Rahming, Dr Calae Philippe, Director of Family &
Gender Affairs, and other dignitaries.
Yesterday,
Zontians pinned orange bows on Senators in the Upper House. On Sunday, a
virtual church town hall meeting was held to bring educational
awareness, accountability, and make a call to action for churches to
spread the message. Zonta is an international organization focused on
educating and empowering women and girls. Zonta Club of New Providence
had been leading the advocacy campaign to end violence against women and
girls and gender based violence for the past nine years.
The Crossing Rocks community turned their settlement orange against violence
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Eleuthera's advocacy grows stronger each year
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MP Clay Sweeting and his wife join with Zontian Jewel Edwards and Eleutherans to say no to violence
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