Ride on. Speak Out to End Violence against Women

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As part of the 16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence, UN Women in South Africa has partnered with the City of Johannesburg, Mercedes Benz Sandown and Harley Davidson as well as civil society organizations, to organize Ride On. Speak Out to End Violence against Women - a motorcycle ride across 9 Southern Africa countries - Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Swaziland.

Ride Out. Speak Out will raise public awareness and engage and train a network of men to prevent violence against women and girls. The ride will cover 7,800km in 16 days across the 9 countries and all 15 riders will participate in activities to mark the 16 days of Activism in the selected countries.

Ride On. Speak Out builds upon the successful initiative, Climb Up. Speak Out, Mount Kilimanjaro Climb organized by UNiTE Africa Campaign in March 2012, which brought together 70 climbers from the continent to raise awareness on preventing and EVAW.

Check out updates from the ride in the Ride On Speak Out blog at http://rideon.hdavidson.co.za/category/blog/

Date:	23 November 2012
Action Type:	16 Days

Photo Gallery

28 Nov 2012

Updates from the Riders! Check out a blog from John Koller, one of the riders from the Ride On Speak Out initiative:

"The first thing that got my attention, as I have mentioned in the media interviews, was the challenge of riding my Harley through 9 Southern African countries and doing close to 8,000 kilometers on an epic trip like this.

Then the UN workshops started and I realized that there was a whole lot more to this campaign than i had ever imagined. A “light switched on” and I realized that this was a subject that had reached pandemic proportions and that as men we needed to face this and do something about it as “agents of change”.

We have now been on the road for 4 days. Today in Otjiwarongo a petrol attendant filling my tank recognized my uniform and said in Afrikaans that we were doing good work. He had seen us on TV last night and he was looking forward to watching TV again tonight to see what we are doing. That makes every kilometer of the trip worthwhile..."

Watch this space for blogs from the riders: http://rideon.hdavidson.co.za/category/blog/

Read Older Updates

27 Nov 2012

The Ride on Speak Out initiative has started!

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence commenced in Johannesburg on Friday 23 November with the flag off of the 15 Bikers by the Minister of Women, Children and People Living with Disabilities, Ms Lulu Xingwana, together with the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Mr. Parks Tau and UN Women SARO Regional Director Ms Nomcebo Manzini on UN Women SARO.

Both the Minister and the Mayor welcomed the initiative of engaging men in efforts to prevent violence against women and girls, and the innovative approach of Ride On Speak Out and called for further collaboration with UN Women for programmes t end gender based violence. They embraced the Orange Day initiative - a day of action proclaimed by the UN Secretary-General's campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women, when all are encouraged to wear orange and speak out against violence - and committed to roll it out in all communities both at local and national levels. Prior to the flag off ceremony the Riders visited two shelters for survivors of violence andshared their reasons for taking part in the 16 days of Activism Campaign. The Riders had received training from Sonke Gender Justice earlier this month, and committed to continue raising awareness and working on the issue well beyond the Ride On initiative.