On December 4, 2024, IDAD successfully organized and facilitated a comprehensive capacity-building session for forty students at Trinity Lutheran High School as part of the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. This intervention demonstrated the organization’s deep commitment to engaging young people in the fight against gender-based violence and promoting a culture of respect and equality among the next generation of leaders who will shape Liberia’s future.
The event was strategically designed and implemented to sharpen and deepen the knowledge of high school students regarding best practices, principles, and concrete actions necessary for the elimination of violence against women and girls. IDAD recognized that young people play a critical role in challenging harmful social norms and transforming attitudes that perpetuate gender-based violence in their communities, making educational interventions during adolescence particularly impactful and far-reaching in their effects.
The training session provided students with a thorough understanding of the historical significance, objectives, and global impact of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, which runs annually from November 25th, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to December 10th, Human Rights Day. This timeframe symbolizes the fundamental connection between women’s rights and universal human rights, emphasizing that violence against women represents a violation of the most basic principles of human dignity and equality that should be protected and upheld by all societies.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence represents a crucial international campaign that mobilizes governments, civil society organizations, communities, and individuals worldwide to take collective action against all forms of violence affecting women and girls. These forms of violence include domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking, female genital mutilation, child marriage, and other harmful practices that violate women’s fundamental rights and dignity. The campaign provides a vital opportunity to revitalize global, national, and local commitments to ending gender-based violence by bringing renewed attention to the issue, amplifying survivors’ voices, showcasing effective interventions, and maintaining pressure on stakeholders to accelerate progress toward gender equality.
The campaign serves as a critical platform for calling for accountability and demanding concrete action from decision-makers at all levels, including government officials, policymakers, legislators, law enforcement agencies, judicial authorities, community leaders, and institutional actors who have the power and responsibility to create and enforce laws, allocate resources, and implement policies that protect women and girls from violence. This accountability mechanism becomes even more significant as the world approaches the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025.
The timing of IDAD’s intervention holds particular significance given this approaching milestone. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action represents the most comprehensive and progressive blueprint ever established for advancing women’s rights and was adopted by 189 countries at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995. This foundational document identified twelve critical areas of concern affecting women and girls, including violence against women, and set forth strategic objectives and actions required by governments, international organizations, and civil society to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment.
As the international community prepares to mark three decades since Beijing, the 16 Days campaign provides an opportunity to assess progress made in implementing the Platform for Action, identify persistent gaps and emerging challenges, renew political will and commitment to unfinished agendas, and mobilize resources and action to accelerate implementation of commitments related to ending violence against women and achieving gender equality. By engaging high school students in understanding the Beijing Platform’s significance and the ongoing 16 Days campaign, IDAD is preparing young people to become informed advocates who can contribute to holding governments and institutions accountable for their commitments and pushing for accelerated action as the world moves toward the Beijing +30 milestone.
The capacity-building session equipped students with foundational knowledge about the root causes of gender-based violence, including unequal power relations between men and women, harmful gender stereotypes and social norms, discrimination, and structural inequalities that create environments where violence against women is tolerated, normalized, or inadequately addressed by families, communities, and institutions. Students learned about the various forms of gender-based violence that affect women and girls throughout their lives, from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood, including physical violence, sexual violence, psychological and emotional abuse, economic violence, and harmful traditional practices. The training also addressed the devastating physical, psychological, social, and economic consequences that violence has on survivors, their families, and entire communities, helping students understand the full scope and impact of this pervasive human rights violation.
The training emphasized the importance of prevention strategies that address the underlying causes of violence rather than merely responding after violence has occurred. These strategies include comprehensive sexuality education, promotion of gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors, engagement of men and boys as allies, transformation of harmful masculinity norms, economic empowerment of women and girls, and strengthening of legal and policy frameworks that protect women’s rights and ensure accountability for perpetrators. Participants gained understanding of the critical importance of survivor-centered response services, including accessible reporting mechanisms, psychosocial support, medical care, legal assistance, safe shelters, and economic recovery support, as well as the need for coordinated multi-sectoral approaches involving health systems, law enforcement, judicial institutions, social services, and community-based organizations.
By targeting high school students, IDAD recognized that adolescence represents a critical period for shaping attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours related to gender equality and violence prevention. Educational interventions during this developmental stage are particularly effective in preventing violence before harmful patterns become entrenched and creating a generation of young people committed to building violence-free communities. The training empowered students to recognize their own agency and responsibility in challenging gender-based violence by providing them with practical tools and strategies for taking action in their schools, families, and communities, including speaking out against sexist jokes and behaviours, supporting peers who may be experiencing violence, promoting respectful relationships, and advocating for institutional policies that prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
Students were encouraged to become ambassadors for change within their peer networks and communities, spreading awareness about gender-based violence, challenging harmful attitudes and behaviours they encounter, and mobilizing their peers to join the movement for gender equality and violence prevention. This approach multiplies the impact of IDAD’s intervention far beyond the forty students directly reached, creating ripple effects that can transform school cultures, influence family dynamics, and contribute to broader community-level change in attitudes and behaviors related to gender and violence.
IDAD’s partnership with Trinity Lutheran High School demonstrates effective collaboration between civil society organizations and educational institutions in addressing gender-based violence. Schools represent important settings for prevention education, and teachers and administrators can play crucial roles in creating safe, gender-equitable learning environments where all students can thrive without fear of violence or discrimination. The event at Trinity Lutheran High School represents part of IDAD’s broader strategy of institutionalizing gender-based violence prevention education within school curricula and cultures, ensuring that students receive consistent, age-appropriate information about gender equality, healthy relationships, and violence prevention throughout their educational journey rather than through one-time interventions.
By building the capacity of students during the 16 Days campaign, IDAD is contributing to creating lasting change that extends beyond the campaign period itself. Educated and empowered young people carry forward their knowledge and commitment throughout the year and into their future roles as parents, professionals, community leaders, and decision-makers who can influence policies, norms, and practices in their spheres of influence. This long-term perspective on impact reflects IDAD’s understanding that ending gender-based violence requires sustained effort, generational change, and transformation of deeply rooted social structures and belief systems.
IDAD’s intervention at Trinity Lutheran High School represents one component of the organization’s comprehensive approach to the 16 Days of Activism, which likely included multiple activities targeting different stakeholders and populations. This demonstrates the organization’s recognition that ending gender-based violence requires engagement across all sectors of society and at all levels, from individual behavior change to systemic policy reform. The focus on education and awareness-raising among young people complements other essential strategies for addressing gender-based violence, including legal advocacy for stronger legislation and enforcement, provision of quality services for survivors, economic empowerment programs for women and girls, engagement of traditional and religious leaders in transforming harmful norms, and advocacy with government institutions to prioritize funding and action for violence prevention and response.
Through its participation in the global 16 Days campaign, IDAD contributes to building momentum for change by joining millions of activists, organizations, and individuals worldwide in raising awareness, demanding accountability, and demonstrating that gender-based violence is neither inevitable nor acceptable. This collective action creates societies where women and girls can live free from violence and fear, exercise their full rights and potential, and participate equally in all aspects of social, economic, and political life. The investment in educating and empowering high school students represents an investment in a future where gender equality is not merely an aspiration but a lived reality, where violence against women is universally condemned and prevented, and where all people can thrive in safety, dignity, and freedom.