Safe Browsing
The 25th November marks the beginning of 16 Days of Activism – a time to invigorate action to end violence against women and girls.
Nicole Jacobs, CEO at Standing Together, one of UK SAYS NO MORE’s partner organisations, explains the Blooming Strong initiative which runs each year on the 25th November. Find out more below & get involved!
Who do you think is “Blooming Strong?” Standing Together celebrate women in their local communities
If you have a friend who works in a service to end violence against women and girls, this is not the week to call for a date or to go for a coffee. We are all working hard to raise awareness about the UN day to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls. November 25th kicks off 16 Days Of Activism, so there will be plenty of opportunities for you to join events aimed to highlight violence against women as a human rights violation and to bring about change.
At Standing Together Against Domestic Violence (STADV) we work every day to establish a Coordinated Community Response (CCR) to domestic abuse. Simply put, this means we want to create an environment where the whole community of services and individuals play their part in addressing domestic abuse.
We choose to focus our efforts on November 25th on “Blooming Strong” – women in our community who are the unsung heroines making our world safer and intolerant to violence against women and girls.
Community partners nominate these heroines who receive a flower from our partnership in recognition of their efforts, and we hand out flowers to residents in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham. You will see us out on the streets at noon on Friday.
Passersby comment on how important our violence against women and girls services are, and often talk about their own experiences.
These residents and the thousands of survivors that we work alongside in the Tri-borough every year are our best examples of “Blooming Strong” women.
We are inspired by their stories and must find more ways to acknowledge their courage. Corey Maison is my Blooming Strong inspiration this year!
As Maya Angelou said, “…it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
Join us in Blooming Strong. Contact us for a pack and host a coffee, dinner or outing with Blooming Strong women in your life and fundraise for your local service.
Thank you to Nicole for contributing this blog – Nicole Jacobs is the CEO at Standing Together Against Domestic Violence.
