Violence against women - public awareness

International Women's Day 2024

Fife Violence Against Women Partnership (FVAWP) will be recognising International Women's Day, which takes place on Friday 8^th March 2024.

There will be two events held in Fife, organised by partner organisations:

• Fife Women's Aid are holding a creative performance called Dancing on Eggshells, followed by a Q&A session. The performance has been designed and developed by a group of women who are engaged with their services. This event is open to everyone and will take place on Friday 8th March at 12noon at the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes, KY7 5NX. There is a maximum of 50 attendees so book early to ensure you get a place. Email info@fifewomensaid.org.uk to book. See their Event Poster.
• Fife Centre for Equalities are holding a celebration event to mark International Women's Day. This will take place in the Dunfermline East Church, Nightingale Place, Dunfermline, KY11 8LW from 12 pm to 4 pm. There will be a range of activities and workshops and much more offered by organisations, groups, and individuals from around Fife. Everyone is welcome to pop in to find out what's happening in their community and take part in one of the workshops on the programme. Tickets are free, but please register for the event.

  For any enquiries, please contact info@centreforequalities.org.uk or telephone: 01592 645310 or text: 07800 005834. You can also view this Event on Facebook.

  As part of this event, a ‘Collage of Our World’ workshop will be held at 1.45 pm - 2.30 pm. This is a collaboration between FVAWP and Zero Tolerance. This workshop will be a lively exploration of what it means to be a woman in Fife. We welcome women from all walks of life, with a special invitation extended to those from marginalised backgrounds.

  Through the dynamic medium of collage, we will collectively weave together the stories, struggles, and triumphs of women in our community. Whether you're a seasoned artist or a first-time creator, there's a place for you here to express yourself and connect with others.

More Events

• Fife Council's Cowdenbeath Communities Team are holding a walk on Monday 4th March. Meet at the Willie Clark Centre at Lochore Meadows at 11:15am. FREE to attend with FREE refreshments and a flower for every woman. Please book a free space here. See their Event poster.

• Dunfermline Soroptimists are holding an 'Inspiring Inclusion' event on Thursday 14th March at 7pm in the Carnegie Conference Centre, Dunfermline. The event will include three speakers who will talk about their own experiences and a round table discussion on how we can “inspire inclusion”. This event is free and the group ask that those attending bring a pack of girls' or ladies' pants to donate to Smalls for All. Places must be booked by the 8th of March by emailing secy.sidunfermline@gmail.com See their Event Poster.

Our annual '16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence' campaign took place from 25^th November to 10^th December 2023.

Throughout these 16 Days, we had a programme of events that raised awareness about gender inequality and violence against women.

We also held a 'Reclaim the Night' March in Kirkcaldy on Thursday 30th November followed by a free, ticketed event at the Old Kirk. Everyone came together and raised their voices about women’s rights, gender inequality, and gender-based violence.

Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project (KASP) will be posting content on their social media page during September to highlight the issues of childhood sexual abuse. They’ll also be showing the support available for survivors through their service.

Follow their posts on Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project - KASP | Kirkcaldy | Facebook

This exhibition follows on from the success of the previous installations held in Fife (St Andrews University in partnership with Got Consent?, and Fife College's Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Dunfermline, and Levenmouth Campuses in partnership with Fife College). FRASAC has also been an integral partner offering a confidential safe space area at each of the venues.

• The installation challenges participants to engage with our universal connection with clothing and reflect on what gives this specific rape culture myth so much power. To put clothing on is so basic and common, to take that action and conflate it with pain and suffering taints not only the individual outfit for the survivor; but also, calls into question all simplistic and normal behaviours as dangerous
• The stories utilised were donated by survivors and are used with their consent
• Clothing in the installation is not the actual clothing worn by the survivor, they are recreations of the stories that were donated
• The goal of the Installation is for participants to see themselves reflected in not only the outfits but also the stories. This realisation moves us away from blaming the victim for violence and places responsibility where it belongs, on those who caused harm

The installation will be facilitated by experienced, trained staff throughout the entirety. Resources and signposting routes will also be supported by partner organisations who will be available at information stalls.

We will be publicising all support avenues including FRASAC (Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre), NHS Gender Based Violence Nursing Team, Fife Women's Aid, Police Scotland, Rape Crisis Helpline, and the Sexual Assault Referral Coordination Services. Staff from various agencies will be holding stalls at the venue with further information about these services and the work they do with Fife Violence Against Women Partnership.

This is part of an ongoing roadshow that has been running in Fife. Further dates within the wider community setting will hopefully be added later in the year.

Please see our Exhibition Flyer for more details.

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence campaign ran from Friday 25^th November to Saturday 10^th December 2022.

This campaign aimed to raise awareness of gender inequality issues and most importantly highlight the need for change to create a Scottish society that embraces equality and rejects all forms of violence against women and girls.

This included supporting the National White Ribbon pledge - “never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.

The programme contained:

• a mixture of in-person and online events, including talks and training sessions across a wide range of subjects
• a wide range of social media inputs, including posts, videos, blogs and chat events
• some practical ideas for involvement during the campaign
• a number of community based discussion events

The Fife Violence Against Women Partnership co-ordinates campaigns with partners. To give you a flavour of what we have been involved in over the years, our previous are listed below, with links to our campaign messages at the bottom of the page:

• #ToointoyouFVAWP2019
• #consent FVAWP2019
• #FVAWP16days2020

Part of our public awareness strategy has been to host exhibitions from national Violence Against Women (VAW) partners, that highlight various areas of Gender Based Violence. In 2019 we hosted two:

1. Zero Tolerance’s "Violence Unseen" photography exhibition, exploring types of violence against women that remain unseen and unacknowledged by mainstream society
2. Inside Outside - an exhibition which explores Women’s experiences of the sex industry in Scotland using multi-media platforms.