The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign that originated from the Rutgers Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. The dates - November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women through December 10, International Human Rights Day- link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, which marks the Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre. 

This year, ILRF is participating while highlighting violence against women at work. This dimension of gender-based violence can often be overlooked, but the reality is, it’s extremely pervasive.

• Worldwide, 35% of women experience violence and 40-50% of women experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at work.
• In a study of 400 women employed in commercial agriculture in Kenya, 90% had experienced or observed sexual abuse at their workplace.
• Intimate partner violence spills over into the workplace frequently; one study from the United States found that of 648 women killed by criminal acts at work between 2003 and 2008, 142 were killed by intimate partners.