Activism Campaign Appraisal - Term Paper Example

Activism Campaign Appraisal By (Name): Tutor: Course: Date: Executive Summary Statistic from the gender-based violence organizations have revealed that the women are abused more than men. Sexual and domestic violence have become rampant in most communities in the world. The activism campaign that was adopted and launched in 1999 in Canada has shown significant and positive changes in the lives of the women in most of the countries. The 70% of the women who faced violence in late 2000 have been reported to drop significantly to 20% in the recent years (Fawcett, 2016). The primary goal of the campaign involves raising awareness about sexual and domestic violence against violence and ways in ending the issues. Those who participate during the campaign pass the message of the statement such as “to never commit, condone, or remain silent concerning about cases of abuse”. The outcomes of the campaign revealed success, where the goals and objectives were met. Therefore, the environmental policies for the control of the women from violence were developed to help them change positively in life. Background to the Issues More than 70% of the women aged between 18 to 40 years in the world face domestic and sexual violence. The issues of violence against women and girls have been ignored by most states for over the decades (Alexander, 2015). The 21st century is full of initiatives that aim at protecting the rights of women by voicing against violence affecting them. An initiative to end the violence against women known as the White Ribbon Campaign was formed to encourage the member of various communities especially in New York to join hands in ending domestic and sexual violence against women in the society. It involves wearing of a white ribbon or a wristband with a message that is against women violence. It is a campaign that is led by men and is attributed to changing the conditions of the women through efforts to end both sexual and domestic violence (Keating, 2015). The Campaign commenced in 1991 in Canada in response to the 14 female students massacre at the Eccle Polytechnic by a man, which took place on 6th of December, 1989. It was a shocking tragedy that prompted a group of men to create awareness through a launch against the issues of violence against women (Fawcett, 2016). All men were urged to play a role in ensuring the women were protected from any form of violence by wearing the white ribbon. The y carried messages such as “No excuse for Abuse” (Alexander, 2015). Currently, the white ribbon campaign is practiced in over 60 countries in the world with a similar message of ending the issues of violence against the women. The campaigns run on an annual basis with the current one held in 2015 producing the best outcomes. It involved 22, 000 people in the community of Greater Syracuse. The campaign addressed the environmental and social issues that are critical in every society. It aimed majorly at eradicating the social issues of violence against the women (Ciclitira, 2016). The primary goal of the campaign involves raising awareness about sexual and domestic violence against violence and ways in ending the issues (Diemer, 2014). Those who participate during the campaign pass the message of the statement such as “to never commit, condone, or remain silent concerning about cases of abuse”. It has a mission of helping individuals in the industry of domestic violence to abandon the misleading and ineffectual by speaking about it confidently to those concerned (Alexander, 2015). It reaches out to the social service agencies to make them comprehend the effects of ignoring those affected by the violence especially the children. It also aims at promoting positive change in every society to improve on the social status of women and children (Laako, 2016). An organization of the White Ribbon has recently involved men in the campaign, where they are also protected from the violence. It aims at shading light on the disadvantages of domestic and sexual violence against both sexes. Some of the causes of the violence have been aimed for easy eradication (Ciclitira, 2016). Such include; lack of education, poverty, and drug and substance abuse. Sources have indicated positive changes from the awareness creation with many numbers turning up to support the initiative in more countries worldwide. In Australia for instance, the campaign has been made in an innovative and effective ways to handle the cases in a comprehensive manner. Reports on outcomes of the campaign from Australia therefore are very positive, where rare cases of sexual and domestic violence have been experienced recently. The rates have reduced significantly from 77% in 2000 to 20% in 2015 (Fawcett, 2016). The campaign have therefore received significant support; hence, its success in most countries. It is however significant to note that more effort need to be put on the campaign in developing countries (Alexander, 2015). The Policy of the Environment The White Ribbon Campaign is committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for all the affected victims and its promoter. It is based on the promotion of safe living conditions especially to its volunteers as they perform the tasks of saving the victims of the violence. Drug and substance abuse is highly discouraged with the most affected persons getting compensated through very reliable programs to help them grow in safe conditions in the environment. Cases of discrimination of some groups of individuals in certain countries have been addressed through safe environments that improve on their conditions throughout their living situations (Diemer, 2014). Critical principles have in the past been set by the organization to ensure the human surrounding is kept safe and healthy by equitable resource distribution (Diemer, 2014). However, many cases of non-compliance have been reported where the poor and the leas educated still occupy poor environment conditions, which need to be addressed with immediate effects. People have been forced to sign up through oaths to provide good conditions for women to thrive in in most of the developed countries of the world (Alexander, 2015). Environments that enhance their healthy stays are highly recommended by the organization to avoid challenges of getting into contact with rape cases or robbed with violence by roaming men. The white ribbon volunteers have been used to reach out to a group of women in remote areas of the world through awareness creation on their rights to get protected from any form of violence (Flood, 2015). Reports from such initiatives have revealed great improvements in the living conditions of most women visited from remote areas. Various campaigns have therefore been held to promote peace and harmony to help the women become close to their issues and to change into positive individuals (Fawcett, 2016). Equal treatment of the women at the work place is highly encouraged through Occupations Health and Safety (OSH) awareness and policies in workplaces. The policies ensure the working conditions of the women and men are good and promote equality where the women are given a good priority of conditions to work in (Alexander, 2015). The work conditions of the women are prioritized on by assigning them reasonable workloads to help them work properly. OSHA policies and regulations have however formed the most effective conditions that allow the women work well in the workplaces through informed ways. Power-Holder Map Figure 1: Power-Holder Map The above map illustrates the areas where the white ribbon campaigns were held or are being held in some parts of the world. Significant numbers of people and agencies have joined in the campaign as a means of protecting women rights. The roles of the campaigns have therefore intensified with most of the goals and objectives of the campaign being met at various levels in most of the countries. The campaigns have additionally being adopted by most of the peace-promoting agencies, which use the initiative to get rid of the violence rates in developing countries (Diemer, 2014). Developing the Strategy Thousands of men all over the world have committed themselves to the strategy of ending the sexual and domestic violence against the women. Various strategies have been developed to ensure the women are well safeguarded from being violated by the man in various parts of the world. Donors are committed to raising funds to promote the effective realization of the goals and objectives (Fawcett, 2016). Online platforms have also been used to raise funds through pledges to help in meeting the needs of the victims of violence. Trainings and workshops have also been used to train volunteers to offer their services in ensuring the women are protected from any form of violence whatsoever. The research policy groups have therefore indicated great successes in the use of the policies to promote the campaign against the sexual and domestic violence in most parts of the world (Alexander, 2015). Pledges Online pledging accounts have been set in place as a strategy to promote the effectiveness of the white ribbon campaign. Through the platform, willing individuals are advised to pledge on amounts to donate to the organization to help it run its activities in several parts of the world. Participants are highly encouraged to make pledges so as to increase the chances of the success of the campaigns in remote areas of the world (Chung, 2015). Reports on the use of the platforms have indicated tremendous improvements where the members are able to raise funds that could help the organization meet most of its goals and objectives. The pledges are utilized to help the abused women meet their needs in the society and to increase their capabilities by investing on the business that would help them generate more funds for themselves (Diemer, 2014). Based on the various practices that have been reported before, the initiative has increased the chances of the communities affected getting involved in developmental projects that help them grow in all sectors of the world. Supporters would join hands in ensuring the initiative is improved by raising enough funds to circulate the forum in most parts of the world. It has additionally been realized that over 5000 US dollars have been raised through the platform on a monthly basis to help cover the costs of the victims in developing countries (Ciclitira, 2016). Integrated Strategy Maps Figure 2: Integrated Starategy Map Those under the program have shared very influential stories that have affected the ways in which they operate. Wounds inflicted on them have healed by the accessibility of the funds to help them treat the injuries they suffer from their violence cases. Those dealing with conflicts of stress have also been helped by the funds, where the funds are used to run projects that help them in many sectors of life. Violent families have also benefited from the projects, where they utilize the resources to build themselves in most instances in life. Therefore, fundraising goals of $125, 000 have been realized from the platform (Chung, 2015). Trainings and Volunteering The programs of training of volunteers to help run the program have been realized from various sectors. Volunteers have been recruited to help spread the message to affected parts of the world and to help save the victims of the violence. The awareness campaigns have been reported to success in most countries where training of volunteers has been used. It is deemed that the goals and objectives of the initiative would all be achieved due to the many targets that are aimed from various sectors. Interested communities have therefore reported having experienced very difficulties where the volunteers are not able to handle their situations due to the lack of community entry (Ciclitira, 2016). Implementing the Plan The plan of the campaign was implemented through collaborative means. The implementation was conducted first Canadian polytechnic and later adopted to be run across various areas in the world where violence against the women was becoming an issue. Women from all parts of the world were protected from violence by the men through the campaigns that were held in most of the parts of the world (Chung, 2015). The implementers involved the men from all sectors and the planners who included the supporter organizations responsible for the control of violence against both sexes. Men collaborated to stand in support of the women who were victims of the sexual and domestic violence by helping voice their concerns against abuse. They could campaign and hold various organizations of events that involved; campaigning, lobbying, organizing, and fundraising (Ciclitira, 2016). Due to the ignorance by men to protect their women, awareness creation was conducted to help the women voice their issues in many forms to allow them meet their concerns. Additionally, support groups held very effective and innovative programs that could see them voice their challenges to the national levels. Environmental policies such as the workplace policies have been set by most organizations and industries to protect the women from violence and from working under extreme conditions. Pledging is also essential where planners have tried to utilize the men in many cases by allowing men work hard to provide for the needs of the women. Women have also been empowered through training programs to increase their skills in various projects that could help them increase knowledge on violence against the women (Ciclitira, 2016). Social groups have also worked hard towards ensuring that the work schedules for the workplaces involving women are attended to through set of rules and regulations. Planning of the workstations for the women has been examined in the past to include advantages from their disparities. There have been cases where the initiators of the projects have been forced to use very severe ways of eradicating violence by arresting the concerned parties. The actions have been very effective as it has been reported to reduce the rates at which the men abuse the women to lower rates (Chung, 2015). Other ways of implementing the plan include the use of training and awareness creation programs. Volunteers have been used to educate the public concerning the various ways under which they can be protected from sexual and domestic violence (Diemer, 2014). The process has been effective because various means of change have been witnessed from developers. Reports have indicated a great loss of virtue by the men on the women after abusing them. The eradication process has also engaged the youth in getting rid of drug abuse in most of the countries (Ciclitira, 2016). The youths are educated in ways in which they could help create awareness in their families concerning the detrimental effects of drugs and the need to acquire education. Therefore, the means of eradicating the violence have been also effective by the use of the youths and youth groups (Manning, 2015). Calendars of events have also been set to enhance easy steps of getting the work done in various forms (Walsh, 2015). Since 1999, the White Ribbon campaigns have been held on a yearly basis and many countries have adopted a serious structure to help them run the programs in all parts of the countries concerned (Fawcett, 2016). The calendar of events has also enhanced very critical sectors of development in the entire world, where the calendars guide in the running of the projects’ activities. There are various instances where the calendars have been used to reach out to large numbers of targets due to effective plans (Kaufman, 2012). Significant changes have therefore been realized from the effective use of the calendars to attend to the events in place. Campaign Calendars Figure 3: Campign Calenders Critical Discussion of Campaign Outcomes The outcomes of the WRC were very effective. Almost every person in the community especially in the UK could be identified wearing the ribbon as a sign of change and development of strategies to help them run the programs in all sectors (Manning, 2015). Since 2013, participants have increased significantly where the outcomes of violence against the women have been reported to reduce from 70% to 40% in other areas with low cases being reported in Australia as 20%. The program have also enhanced very many developments where the victims of the violence have been housed and fed (Walsh, 2015). Three hundred and eighty-nine men, children, and women have been sheltered in United States and Australian countries. There have also been counseling services where five hundred and twenty-seven youth and children have received counseling services from all parts of the world. Such cases of counseling have been received by the youths and children from violent families in the world (Diemer, 2014). Significant cases of violence have been reported to be reduced due to the various advances that have seen women gone through some forms of education on their rights. Additionally, there are significant cases where the where the individuals who participated in the program are issued with the ribbons to distribute to individuals who have undergone the process of change. More than 1, 424 individuals were reported in 2015 to change significantly from the advocacy program and outreach programs. Positive experiences from the participants indicated tremendous changes that involved very critical advancements from the women who went through the programs. It was realized that the significant experiences having been realized from the developmental experiences created very serious concerns of change in almost all kinds of individuals in most countries (Walsh, 2015). The children and the youth also benefited from the programs, where they experienced better ways of handling issues. As from 1999, significant positive changes have been realized from the initiative. More women are safe and are concerned with the normal social lives in helping the program initiators to report the cases of domestic and sexual violence. School-based and community programs have been developed to help in the continuous passing out of information concerning the eradication of violence against the women in all sectors. Other communities have experienced change from the advances that have helped communities to realize the need for violence-free environments. The changes that have been witnessed have therefore ranged from positive changes in the lifestyles of the women to the respect for the women by the men in both homes and the workplaces (Walsh, 2015). In 2015, more than fourteen thousand cases were reached and educated in communities and schools. The children and the youth from affected families revealed having gone through hard experiences to see their parents separate or divorced due to violence. Such individuals have been offered with counseling programs to help them gain positive changes by changing their minds concerning life (Walsh, 2015). Difficult situations have also been reported where the counselors are tired of handling the patient cases in many instances (Salter, 2015). There are experiences where the activities for change have been experienced from all forms of life. Women have been also reported to face domestic and sexual violence than the men. Their weaknesses have landed them in critical problems of even getting infected with serious diseases from rape cases (Diemer, 2014). The goals and objectives for both 2014 and 2015 have been met significantly by the activism campaign. More than expected goals have been achieved due to the good attitude of the people to change the society from the violence against the women. Various advances have also been made to include the women in educative programs and projects that help them shade light on the world. Findings have also revealed 90% of the women who go through the program to be very vigilant and determined to change their conditions in all sectors. Therefore, the campaigns have been successfully embraced by the highest percentage of the countries in the world. Conclusion Activism campaigns such as the White Ribbon Campaign have reported positive changes in communities since its adoption in 1999. The initiative as run by the men has aimed at eradicating violence against women, leading to adoption by more than sixty countries in the world. Significant experiences have been witnessed from the programs that have helped shape the lives of the women in all perspectives. Very many women have been saved by the initiators and volunteers through the program. The affected children and youth from the violent families have received counseling support to help them grow into stress-free citizens. Domestic violence has therefore been eradicated in most countries with women learning their rights in various subjects of studies. The campaigns have been of great significance too because many victims of violence have been housed in various homes for certain periods of time. Environmental policies have also been developed to control the living and working conditions of the women and men in industries. Therefore, the activism campaigns against violence of both sexes are critical in all countries. 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Walsh, S., 2015. Addressing sexual violence and rape culture: Issues and interventions targeting boys and men. Agenda, 29(3), pp.134-141. http://www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk/ http://www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk/worcestershire/facts http://www.verahouse.org/news-events/2016-wrc-tool-kit-facts http://www.verahouse.org/news-events/2016-wrc-tool-kit-history http://www.verahouse.org/news-events/2016-wrc-tool-kit-events-calendar http://www.verahouse.org/about-us/news-events/events-calendar/ev-detail/white-ribbon-campaign Appendices Read More