Students Re-Launch Campaign Against Rape

Students Re-Launch National Campaign Against Rape And Violence

The New Zealand University Students Association (NZUSA) is re-launching its national campaign against rape and violence 'Thursdays in Black' on Thursday May 17.

'Thursdays in Black' invites all people of New Zealand to wear black on Thursdays, teamed with a badge or T-shirt, which reads: 'Thursdays in Black - demanding a world without rape and violence'.

"The campaign focuses on ways that the individual can challenge attitudes to rape and violence, and reinforces at both a personal and a public level that there is something wrong with a world that will allow the human rights of women, men and children to be abused," said Dayna Berghan, National Women's Rights Officer for NZUSA.

'Thursdays in Black' was started by such groups as Mothers for the Disappeared in Argentina, Black Sash in South Africa and the Women in Black movements in Israel-Palestine and the former Yugoslavia. The World Council of Churches has also been involved in facilitating the campaign internationally.

"Wearing black on a Thursday is a gesture of solidarity for all women, men and children who are outraged by the incidences of rape and violence that happen in our communities"

Campus women groups from NZUSA constituent associations and other tertiary associations will be organising actions to publicise the campaign that will draw student and public attention to the campaign.

ENDS

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