16 Days of Action is an annual international campaign to raise awareness about gender-based violence. Gender based violence is any act of violence that is directed at a person because of their gender, or that affects people of a particular gender disproportionately.
Every year, partners of the Gender Based Violence Committee looks to engage Lothian in the annual 16 days of action campaign to raise awareness about gender-based violence and work with local groups and communities with aspiration of making West Lothian a safer place for everyone to live.
A march and rally will take place on the first day of the campaign, Tuesday 25th November. The march will start at West Lothian College around 10:15am before finishing outside West Lothian Civic Centre where attendees will get to hear important messages from individuals involved in the campaign.
Depute Leader of West Lothian Council, Councillor Susan Manion said: "The 16 Days campaign provokes questions around what we can all do as individuals to ensure violence against women and girls is eliminated from our society. Locally, partners in West Lothian remain committed to shining a light on the topic, and working together to try and find solutions.
"Over the course of the 16 Days, I would ask that we all individually take a moment and carefully consider the information shared throughout the campaign and what it means for all of us."
For more information on activity throughout the campaign, and to sign up to training opportunities, please visit the West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership Website - https://westlothianhscp.org.uk/16-days-of-action
The start of the campaign also coincides with White Ribbon Day with West Lothian Council signing the White Ribbon pledge. The White Ribbon Campaign is the largest effort to end men's violence against women and encourages men and boys to wear a white ribbon to show their support.
You can sign up to the pledge and find out more about the campaign on the White Ribbon Scotland website- https://www.whiteribbonscotland.org.uk/make-your-pledge/
Help is available for anyone experiencing gender-based violence or domestic abuse through the specialists in the council's Domestic and Sexual Assault Team (DASAT) and West Lothian Women's Aid (WLWA).
Contact DASAT on 01506 281055 or dasat@westlothian.gov.uk or WLWA on 01506 413721 or info@wlwa.org.uk for confidential and friendly support.
In an emergency, always call the police on 999.
As part of the 16 Days activities, the Gender Based Violence Committee are keen to hear from people who live or work in West Lothian about their local experiences of Gender Based Violence via an anonymous survey. The information gathered in this survey will help identify the strengths, gaps and inequities in services in West Lothian, and inform future improvements.
