As the world prepares to mark another 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, I find myself reflecting deeply not on the orange ribbons, hashtags, or press statements but on the quiet, unseen lives of those who continue to live with the echoes of violence long after the cameras stop rolling.
Every year, institutions gather to “commemorate” this campaign. Speeches are made. Photos are taken. Banners are raised. But for too many survivors, nothing changes once the lights dim and the campaign ends.
We cannot heal trauma with theatrics.
We cannot end violence solely through visibility.
And we cannot claim progress if survivors’ voices are still muted beneath bureaucracy and tokenism.
This is a call, not for more events but for fundamental transformation.
Institutions must move beyond awareness to accountability.
Beyond advocacy and into action.
Beyond commemoration and into commitment.
Because survivors are not statistics for reports, nor stories for campaigns. They are people with dreams, fears, and strength that defy explanation. They deserve programmes that restore dignity, not perform empathy. They deserve spaces designed for their healing, not for institutional branding.
To every organisation, agency, and government preparing yet another agenda for these 16 Days, I ask you this:
- How will your actions this year make a survivor’s life safer, fairer, or freer?
- Whose voice will you centre and whose pain will you refuse to overlook?
- What systems of power will you challenge, not just acknowledge?
The 16 Days of Activism was never meant to be a ritual.
It was meant to be a revolution.
Survivors deserve more than words. They deserve the world to listen and act.
Signed
Abigail Edem Hunu
Advocate for Gender Equality, Justice, and Survivor-Centred Healing