Compassion, collaboration and dialogue for change
“... violence towards women will never stop if we keep silence.” F., GTG Kazakhstan, 2022 Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence . Since 1991, this global campaign has reminded us that when communities stand together, violence can no longer hide in silence or isolation. Around the world — including in the places many of us call home — women, girls, LGBTQIA+ people, and people living through conflict and displacement face escalating violence and dehumanizing rhetoric. Too often this is framed as something that happens “over there,” yet it is present “here” as well, shaping fear, anxiety, and normalizing the idea that some lives are treated as less worthy of protection. At Footage, these 16 Days matter because community matters. Survivors who take part in Footage’s interventions often tell us they long not only for safety, but for belonging: to be believed, to be witnessed, a...