‘Performance Act’ against Gender-based Violence in Kasthamandap (Photo Feature)

Kathmandu:  This year’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence campaign has begun.

The campaign began with the slogan ‘UNITE! Invest to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls.’ The Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal( FECOFUN) is the organizer of the campaign. Ava for Creativity is the coordinator of the campaign.

FECOFUN and Ava for Creativity collaborated to perform a ‘performance art’ in the Kasthmandap Dabali on Sunday. Raju Jhalu Prasad, Rasik Raj, Aapsana Chaulagain, Suraj Parajuli, Sunita Bhatta, Vijaya Luitel, Raju Uwarkoti, Shushma Timilsina, and Sadhana Niraula were the performers of the awareness act.

The campaign can be traced back to an incident in the Dominican  Republic. There was an oppressive dictatorship rule in the Dominican Republic in 1960 A.D. Dictator Rafael Trujillo brutally murdered 3 Mirabal Sisters. The murder was taken as gender-based political violence.

In 1981, The Feminist Encounter of Latin America and the Caribbean in Colombia designated 25th November as the Day for Non-Violence Against Women in honor of the Mirabal Sisters.

The 16 days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence is celebrated worldwide from 25th November till 10 December.

(Glimpses from Kasthamandap)

(Photo Courtesy: Saroj Basnet)