ANNUAL EVENTS
Year at a Glance
- International Women’s Day and Week
- International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Sexual Assault Awareness Month
- International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
- Take Back the Night
- Orange Shirt Day
- Sisters in Spirit
- International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
- 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence
- National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence against Women
International Women’s Day
and Week
(March 8 and week around March 8)
International Women’s Day (IWD) has been celebrated around the world for over a century as a way for women to claim their political, economic, and social rights, as well as to protest against injustices that impact women, their families, and communities.
In the early 20th century, IWD was started by socialist women to fight for fair wages and safer working conditions in the garment factories where many North American women worked. In Europe, during the First World War, IWD events became an annual way for women across national borders to show their collective opposition to a brutal and bloody war. The United Nations declared International Women’s Year in 1975 and marked March 8th as the official day for International Women’s Day marches and celebrations.
Around the world, women, their families, and communities, use IWD as a platform to celebrate the achievements of women in fighting for their human rights and to continue to push for the changes still needed locally and around the world.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(March 21)
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination started in March 21, 1996 to signify the struggle to end the policy of apartheid in South Africa. It commemorates this day in 1960 when police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa against the apartheid “pass laws”.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month
(April)
Survivors, victims, and their supporters mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in Nova Scotia by learning, sharing information, and having critical conversations about sexual assault. Women’s centres, sexual assault centres, and other community groups and leaders in the province use SAAM to start and strengthen efforts to respond to and prevent sexual assault.
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
(May 17)
The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia is a day to draw attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics. May 17th was chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Take Back The Night
(September)
Take Back The Night (TBTN) is a demonstration against violence against women, gender-based violence, and sexualized violence that has been held around the world for over 40 years. TBTN is centered on survivors, victims, and their allies reclaiming their safety in all spaces, including the streets, workplaces, classrooms, and homes.
Orange Shirt Day
(September 30)
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School (1891-1981) Commemoration Project and Reunion events in Williams Lake, British Columbia in May 2013. The day is to commemorate the residential school experience, witness and honour the healing journey of survivors and their families, and commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation.
Sisters in Spirit
(October 4)
Sisters in Spirit is a day to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people, support their grieving families, and create opportunities for healing and action.
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
(October 17)
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty started on October 17, 1987 when over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence, and hunger. They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are upheld.
16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
(November 25 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
to December 10 – World Human Rights Day)
16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (16 Days) is an international campaign that starts on November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on December 10th, Human Rights Day. Activists at the first United Nation’s Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 started 16 Days. People, communities, and organizations around the world use 16 Days to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women
(December 6)
The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women is held on December 6th to commemorate the murder of 14 young women at Polytechnique Montréal on December 6, 1989, which was a fatal act of hatred against women (also known as “misogyny”). December 6th is about remembering people who have experienced gender-based violence and those who have been killed by it and about taking action.
