The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence
This global campaign led by UN Women Australia runs annually from November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to December 10 (Human Rights Day). This campaign unites individuals, organisations, and governments to raise awareness and drive action toward ending gender-based violence in all its forms. This year, the theme emphasises the importance of preventing violence and fostering accountability to build a safer world for everyone.
Eliminating gender-based violence for women with disabilities!
We are proud to join the 16 Days of Activism with a social media campaign dedicated to addressing the key issues experienced by many women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Gender-based violence disproportionately impacts our community.
Through our campaign, we’ll be advocating for systemic reforms that prioritise safety, dignity, and human rights for all. We are committed to a future free from violence and discrimination.
Follow us on our social media channels to join the conversation and share our messages during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
Resources
Throughout the campaign we will also be sharing our resources created in co-design with our community. Here are some quick links:
Neve Website
Learn more about safety and supports.
Our Site Website
Learn about your rights on this website.
Sunny App
Learn about violence, understand your rights and access support.
Our 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign
Click on the day’s below to read our key messages for the campaign!
Day 1 – International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women
Today marks the start of 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence.
We’re joining UN Women Australia (@unwomenaust) to call for a world where all women, girls and gender-diverse people are #SafeEverywhereAlways.
This means freedom from violence in all settings – at home, school, work, hospitals, public transport… everywhere. For women with disabilities, safety is often compromised by inaccessible services, lack of understanding about disability, experiences of segregation and isolation, and violence from people close to them or violence experienced in care settings.
We need disability-inclusive, human rights-based frameworks to understand, prevent and respond to violence. This means laws, policies and services that address the specific ways women with disabilities experience violence.
#16DaysOfActivism #SafeEverywhereAlways #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
Resources:
- UN Women – What is the 16 Days of Activism?
- Disability Royal Commission – Final Report
- Neve – Staying safe
- Neve – Helpline directory
Day 2 – Sexual and Reproductive Rights
My body, my choice!
Women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities face many barriers when it comes to sexual and reproductive healthcare and choice. Forced sterilisation, contraception and denial of essential healthcare happens far too often in our community. This is unacceptable.
We have the right to be informed and to make our own decisions about our bodies and our health. We have the right to accessible sexual and reproductive rights education and accessible, respectful healthcare!
“It is the lack of education, social services, and support for families and doctors alike that we should be addressing, not the state of women’s bodies.”
– Stella Young, comedian, journalist and activist
#16DaysOfActivism #MyBodyMyChoice #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #ReproductiveRights
Resources:
- Our Site – Women’s health
- Neve – Sexual and reproductive health rights
- SECCA – Sexual health resources and summary
Day 3 – Violence in All Settings
Segregation is discrimination, and a driver of violence.
The Disability Royal Commission found that isolating people with disabilities leads to more violence. We have the right to live with safety, and to be included in our communities.
Safe Everywhere Always means:
• Inclusive communities: It’s time to end segregation. No more institutions, no more isolation!
• More data: We need better data on violence against people with disabilities to understand who experiences it, where and why it happens, and to propose solutions to drive change
• More action: We deserve collective preventive action from across Australia to ensure everyone, including women with disabilities, are free from violence and fear.
Let’s create a world where everyone is valued and safe.
“We must recognise that segregation from the broader community is at the heart of so much of the harm that women and girls with disability experience.”
– Karin Swift, President of the WWDA Committee of Management
#16DaysOfActivism #EndSegregation #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #DataMatters
Resources:
- ABC News article featuring WWDA President Karin Swift – “Women with disabilities fear government response to domestic violence threat will leave them behind”
- Neve – Becoming stronger after hard experiences
- LEAD Toolkit – Nothing about us without us
- Disability Royal Commission – Final Report
Day 4 – Domestic Violence (with Full Stop Australia)
Listen, believe, support.
For Day 4 of our 16 Days of Activism campaign, we’re partnering with Full Stop Australia (@fullstopaustralia) to address the impact of gender-based, family and domestic violence in our community.
Women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities face unique barriers to escaping violence and abuse where they live. Isolation, a reliance on care and support, and inaccessible services can make it more difficult for people within our community to seek help or support.
We must:
- Listen: Hear the stories of victim-survivors when they disclose their experiences of violence.
- Believe: Trust disclosure and victim-survivors when they need it the most.
- Support: Help victim-survivors and allies to access trauma-informed services and understand that trauma and needs can be complex.
Everyone deserves to be safe and supported when leaving abuse, neglect and violence. A life free from violence is possible.
#16DaysOfActivism #WWDA #FullStop #BelieveSurvivors #TraumaInformedCare #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
Women with disability are more likely than non-disabled women and men to experience intimate partner and domestic violence.
Source: Melbourne School of Population and Global Health.
Resources:
- Full Stop Australia: 1800 385 578 and Webchat – 24/7, free and confidential trauma-specialist counselling.
- Neve – Helpline directory
- Sunny – a discreet app to help and inform people with disabilities about violence, safety and where to go for help. Available on Apple and Android devices.
Day 5 – Education
Education can stop the violence before it starts!
Safety in the lives and livelihoods of women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities starts with accessible and inclusive information and advocacy. By encouraging violence prevention education, we can build a foundation for systemic change.
We need information that is:
- Accessible: Everyone should be able to learn and participate.
- Inclusive: Information should reflect and meet the needs of the whole community.
- Safe: Everyone must be safe from abuse, discrimination, harassment and neglect.
Let’s create spaces where everyone can feel safe, learn and join the fight against violence.
“People with disabilities should feel safe with one another while we advocate for change. We want to stay focused on the important work we need to do to improve the lives of people with disabilities.”
– Australian Disability Representative Organisations, in their joint statement on Lateral Violence
16DaysOfActivism #EducationIsPrevention #InclusiveEducation #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
Resources:
- WWDA – Violence and safety
- Video – Strengthening Responses to Gender-Based Violence (Panel)
- Our Site – What is violence?
- Neve – Gender-based violence
Day 6 – Changing Attitudes and Beliefs
Change assumptions, change attitudes!
Harmful attitudes and assumptions about disability are contributing to violence against women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities. According to the Disability Royal Commission, social and cultural norms and attitudes are key factors that influences our lives and relationships, and have a profound impact on our wellbeing – especially when they lead to exclusion, prejudice or harassment.
We need to:
- Challenge social norms and attitudes about gender and disability
- Stop downplaying or trivialising experiences of violence
- Stop victim blaming
- Stop normalising ableist and paternalistic behaviour
Women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities deserve to be safe, respected, included and welcomed in the society in all areas of life.
“We know that current community attitudes towards people with disability are not good. We know from the studies that… people with disabilities are viewed as sometimes not having a meaningful role in society.”
– Dr. Ben Gauntlett, former Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner
16DaysOfActivism #ChangeAttitudes #DisabilityInclusive #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
Resources:
- Neve – Disability and discrimination
- Neve – How to talk about violence and abuse
- Our Site – Myths and facts on violence
- LEAD Toolkit – Value diversity and lived experience
Day 7 – First Nations Communities (with First People’s Disability Network)
Indigenous Lives Matter! 🖤💛❤️
For Day 7 of our 16 Days of Activism campaign, we’re partnering with the First People’s Disability Network (@fpdn_australia) to address gender-based violence in Indigenous communities.
Today and every day we stand in solidarity with First Nations women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Indigenous women face disproportionate rates of gender-based violence – they are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised due to violence, and are more likely to be killed by violence (Source: Our Watch, 2022).
The Disability Royal Commission told us that Indigenous people with disability are more likely to experience violence and abuse, with the most common perpetrator of physical harm being a current or previous partner or family member (53% for Indigenous women with disability, 39% for Indigenous men with disability).
As a community that is increasingly impacted by violence, the systemic barriers they face, including the intersecting harms of misogyny, racism and ableism, are important to address when we speak about violence against women in Australia.
We need:
- Culturally safe services and support systems that understand, respect and prioritise Indigenous cultures, knowledge and practices.
- Self-determination: First Nations people must lead and be valued in discussions around gender-based violence.
- Justice and healing: We all must address the ongoing impacts of colonisation and intergenerational trauma in these spaces and conversations.
Let’s uplift the voices of Indigenous communities and fight for their respect and safety!
Indigenous women are 33 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence than non-Indigenous women.
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
#16DaysOfActivism #FirstNations #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
If you need support, help is available.
- 13YARN (First Nations crisis helpline): 13 92 76
- Yarning Safe N Strong: 1800 959 563
- Brother to Brother: 1800 435 799
- Lifeline: 13 11 14
Resources:
- FPDN – National Disability Footprint
- Our Watch – Alarming spike in violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
- Disability Royal Commission – Page 43: First Nations people with disability
Day 8 – Family Violence
Family violence is not just a family matter!
Family violence impacts everyone, but women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities are disproportionately affected. This abuse is often hidden, and survivors face barriers to accessing justice.
We’re demanding:
- Better data on family violence against people with disabilities.
- Accessible services for survivors.
- Redress and reparations for the harm caused.
Earlier this year, Dr. Linda Steele collaborated with WWDA on a project exploring redress for reproductive violence against women and girls with disability. The project identified key dimensions of a future advocacy and research framework for redressing reproductive violence against women with disability, by exploring the design and practice of initiatives for individual and collective redress for reproductive violence worldwide. Read the full report through the link below.
“A national redress and reparations scheme, co-designed with people with disability … is needed to respond to individual, structural and collective injustice that facilitate violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation…”
– Dr. Linda Steele, on behalf of WWDA in the “Redressing Reproductive Violence Against Women with Disability” report
#16DaysOfActivism #FamilyViolence #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #DisabilityRights #Redress
Resources:
- WWDA Report – Redressing Reproductive Violence Against Women with Disability: Justice Beyond the Royal Commission
- Neve – Sexual and reproductive health rights
- Neve – Supporting children and young people
- WWDA – Sunny app (information on violence, safety and where to go for help for people with disability. Available on Apple and Android devices)
Day 9 – International Day of People with Disabilities
Nothing About Us, Without Us!
Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and the 2024 theme is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.” – so let’s talk about leadership and inclusion!
The leadership of women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities is a powerful force for change. Disability in leadership spaces paves the way for accessible policies, equitable opportunities and more inclusive communities, and it is vital for ending gender-based violence.
Women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities need to be at the decision-making table in ALL public decision-making, including about gender-based violence prevention and response. Supporting women with disabilities in leadership roles not only strengthens their impact but also enriches society as a whole.
Let’s create a world where women with disabilities help to create and lead the change!
“Disabled people have simply not been considered as leaders. We seem to have been left by the wayside when it comes to being considered as people who are able to do leadership.”
– Christina Ryan, CEO of the Disability Leadership Institute
#16DaysOfActivism #IDPWD #Leadership #Representation #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
Resources:
Day 10 – Employment
Safe workplaces demand equality for all!
Discrimination, harassment, and exploitation have no place at work. Women with disability are more likely than those without to experience harassment and violence in workplaces, creating significant barriers to equality and opportunity. We’re also less likely to receive fair pay, opportunity or even employment than non-disabled people. We need this inaccessible culture of work to end.
We need workplaces that are:
- Inclusive: Hire and promote women and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Value our skills and contributions.
- Accessible: Provide the physical and wellbeing accommodations we need to do our jobs effectively.
- Safe: Have zero tolerance for harassment, neglect or discrimination in the workplace.
Let’s create open, inclusive workplaces where everyone feels respected and supported.
People with disability are twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024.
#16DaysOfActivism #WorkplaceEquality #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #Inclusion #WorkplaceDiversity
Resources:
- Neve – For professionals
- Neve – Myth busting disability in the workplace – a lived experience story
- Our Site – Lead and Take Part: Work
- Australian Human Rights Commission – Resources for job-seekers and employees
Day 11 – Accessibility
Accessibility is not optional!
Women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities experiencing violence need support. But too often, services and support information are inaccessible. This is not okay. We need services that:
- Understand the complexity of disability and how to provide appropriate support.
- Are located in accessible buildings and spaces.
- Provide information in accessible formats, including Easy English, Auslan, braille, and more.
- Offer support for all of our needs, including communication, sensory, and cognitive aids.
Let’s make sure everyone can get the help they need!
“Accessibility matters – and actually, it benefits everybody. Listen to us, and consider us. Because even if you don’t see us, we are here.”
– Zoe Simmons, journalist, writer and disability advocate.
#16DaysOfActivism #Accessibility #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #Inclusion
Resources:
Day 12 – Autonomy
Autonomy is our right!
Women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities deserve to make our own choices.
Violence disproportionately affects women with disabilities, limiting our autonomy and infringing on our rights. The Disability Royal Commission recognised limited or denied autonomy as a form of abuse which extends across different areas of our lives, including our healthcare, relationships, safety, housing, money, and end-of-life care.
Respecting autonomy is essential for breaking the cycle of violence. It requires inclusive policies, accessible resources, and support networks that prioritise diverse needs. By championing autonomy, we foster resilience and ensure that all of our voices can be heard and respected.
This means:
• Ending restrictive practices and substituted decision-making: No more forced treatments or limitations on our freedom. We have the right to support to make our own decisions if we need it.
• Preventing financial abuse: We have the right to control our own money.
• Supporting our autonomy: Listen to us, respect our decisions, and provide the support we need to live independently.
Let’s break down the barriers to autonomy!
“Disabled people deserve a place in every room where power is built, decisions are made, and money exchanged… We are fiercely capable problem solvers and deserve to build rich lives, whatever that looks like – on our own terms.”
– Hannah Diviney, writer, actress and disability advocate.
#16DaysOfActivism #Autonomy #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #FinancialAbuse
Resources:
- Neve – Your rights: making choices and being safe
- Neve – Supported decision-making
- Our Site Story – “As a Disabled Woman, My Abortion Wasn’t Questioned, but My Pregnancy Was”
- WWDA – Submission on Guardianship and Financial Management
- Royal Commission – Restrictive practices: A pathway to elimination
Day 13 – Refugees and immigrants (with National Ethnic Disability Alliance)
Hope begins with safety.
For Day 13 of WWDA’s 16 Days of Activism campaign, we’re partnering with the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) to address gender-based violence in refugee and migrant communities.
Refugees and immigrants, particularly those from cultural and language-diverse backgrounds or conflict zones, face increased rates of gender-based violence and disability. Language barriers, inaccessible shelters during conflict or crisis, visa and financial abuse, displacement and limited healthcare can prevent them from accessing critical support.
Addressing the needs of refugees and immigrants requires inclusive services that recognise and respond to the unique barriers they face. This includes providing accessible safe spaces, trauma-informed care, and culturally-informed services. Empowering disabled refugees and immigrants is essential for their safety, dignity, and recovery.
We need:
- Accessible information: Translated resources and culturally sensitive support.
- Informed services: Understanding the complex needs of immigrant and refugee women who have experienced gender-based and/or conflict-related violence.
- Community support: Building inclusive communities where everyone feels welcome and safe.
Let’s stand with immigrant and refugee women with disabilities and create a world where everyone is safe – always.
1 in 3 people with disability from diverse cultural or language backgrounds experience violence and abuse.
Source: Disability Royal Commission, 2023.
#16DaysOfActivism #Immigrants #Refugees #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen #Inclusion
Resources:
- NEDA – Migration and disability factsheets
- NEDA – Key Advocacy Issues
- WWDA, NEDA and the Harmony Alliance – Accessing Formal Supports in Australia: The Experiences of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Women with Disabilities
- WWDA – Giving voice to Autistic Migrant Women (Blog)
Day 14 – Housing and transport (with YWCA Australia)
Everyone deserves accessible and safe infrastructure!
For Day 14 of WWDA’s 16 Days of Activism campaign, we’re partnering with YWCA Australia (@ywcaaustralia) to address how inaccessible and unsafe housing and transport can increase the risk of violence.
Safe housing and accessible transport are essential in preventing violence against women and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Accessible housing options, designed with our needs in mind, ensure that we have secure spaces to live independently – including when leaving violence. Reliable, accessible transport helps us safely access work, healthcare, and social support.
Ensuring these essential services are inclusive and accessible empowers women with disabilities, supports their autonomy, and reduces risk of violence and abuse.
This means:
- Accessible and safe public transport: Wheelchair accessible buses, trains, and taxis with safeguards against violence and harassment.
- Affordable and accessible housing: Homes that meet our needs and support our independence.
- Support to find and maintain housing, including crisis accommodation: Assistance with applications, modifications, and tenancy.
Let’s break down these barriers to complete freedom and independence!
“One of the biggest issues is that not having an accessible home means that you don’t necessarily have the ability to be included in standard social and societal action.”
– Megan Spindler-Smith, Deputy CEO of People with Disability Australia
YWCA recently released a new report with Swinburne University on the housing experiences and solutions of young women and gender-diverse people, including people living with disability. Read the full report and its key findings by clicking the button below.
Resources:
- Our Site – Housing
- ABC News – Disability and older Australian advocates demand NSW government make residential accessibility standards mandatory (article)
- Neve – Safety planning for women with disabilities
- YWCA – We’ve Been Robbed: Young Women and Gender Diverse People’s Housing Experiences and Solutions (report)
- WWDA – Response to the National Housing and Homelessness Plan Issues Paper
Day 15 – Accountability and the “halo effect”
No more excuses for abuse!
We need to challenge the “halo effect” that protects abusers of people with disabilities. This happens when a belief is expressed that a partner, carer or other support person of someone with disability can “do no wrong.”
Accountability is key to justice and preventing harm. However, the “halo effect”, where a person’s good reputation hides their abusive actions, can block or limit accountability. Respected abusers may be shielded by their status in society or institutions, causing victims to be doubted or denied justice as they escape consequence.
Breaking the cycle requires challenging bias, recognising the impact of non-belief, and holding perpetrators accountable regardless of their public image.
Let’s hold people accountable for their actions.
“You’re at the check-out [with a partner], and I’m the one who went to work and earned the money, planned the meals, put the food in the shopping trolley. Then you get to the check-out and people in the line ask how long you’ve been together and say to him, ‘You’re so good for looking after her.’”
– Marayke Jonkers, Paralympian, disability and human rights advocate, and former PWDA President.
#16DaysOfActivism #HaloEffect #Accountability #DisabilityRights #EndViolenceAgainstWomen
Resources:
- Neve – Ableism and gender-based violence [Resource]
- Our Site – Talie’s Story
- Our Site – Could identifying the flags help kerb domestic violence? [Blog]
- Our Watch – Preventing violence against women with disabilities [Resource]
- Our Watch and Women with Disabilities Victoria – Changing the Landscape [Report]
Day 16 – Human Rights Day / The Rights of Young People (with the WWDA Youth Network)
Human Rights for all!
Today is both the final day of 16 Days of Activism and Human Rights Day. Let’s reaffirm the rights of all women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities to live free from violence and discrimination. This year’s theme is “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now,” That’s why we advocate for national action.
Australia needs a Human Rights Act, to translate the human rights of people with disabilities into Australian law. This would ensure that everyone, including people with disabilities, have their rights protected and respected.
We demand a future where women with disabilities are:
• Safe: Free from violence and abuse in all settings.
• Empowered: Able to make our own choices and live independently.
• Respected: Treated with dignity and equality.
Earlier this year, the 12 national Disability Representative Organisations worked together to make a statement about why Australia should have a Human Rights Act. You can read more about it below.
Resources:
- Neve – What are human rights? [Webpage]
- WWDA – Human Rights Toolkit [Project]
- WWDA – Position Statement: Human Rights Act [Document]
- WWDA – Disability Representative Organisations Advocate for National Human Rights Act [Document]
- Australian Human Rights Commission – A National Human Rights Act for Australia [Report]
The safety of future generations starts with us!
Every young person has the right to live free from violence, discrimination, and inequality, and deserves to enjoy that right. Many children, in Australia and around the world, do not live in safe conditions, whether from family violence, social discrimination or conflict violence.
With this year’s theme and 16 Days of Activism, we stand together to amplify the voices of young people, especially those who are often marginalised, including young women, girls and gender-diverse people with disabilities.
Young people have the right to:
- Safety: a right to be safe and free from violence at school, home and in public spaces.
- Education: access to inclusive educational spaces and information that respects and accommodates their needs.
- Health: access to affordable healthcare and mental health support.
- Participation: a voice in decision-making and leadership, from their own lives to global forums.
Young people are not just the leaders of tomorrow; they are the changemakers of today. Together, we can break cycles of violence and build a future where every young person is empowered to live with dignity and purpose.
Girls with disability are 3 to 4 times more likely to experience violence than their friends without disability.
Source: WWDA Youth Network, Position statement on violence.
Resources:
- WWDA – Youth Network [Webpage]
- WWDA Youth – We Can All Be Leaders [Podcast series]
- Neve – Supporting children and young people [Webpage]
- Our Site – WWDA Youth: Human Rights Workbook [Document]
