Activism against Gender-Based Violence details are here

In 2022, the ACBC, ACRATH and people around the world held 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) until 10 December (Human Rights Day).

Rani is 17 and attends high school in Melbourne. When her parents said they were taking her overseas to marry a man she had never met, she thought she had no option but to comply. When the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH) spoke at her school, she learnt about her legal right to choose her own husband and to avoid a forced marriage.

The calendar for the 16 days against Gender based violence and  stories about Tamin and Shamira and forced marriages in Australia are below.

Issara was once a victim of Labour Trafficking

 Issara had been forced to work illegally for meagre dollars in a Geelong restaurant, moved between women's refuges before the violence within some of them was enough to make her leave.

She found a cheap place to rent and slept on the floor with her young son, unable to afford a bed.

"In Thailand, you feel like   an animal, so I came here with hope. It's a first-world country where people should be equal," Issara says.She fell into a deep depression when she realised that wasn't true.

........... but  small steps empowered her to keep going.

She was approved for Centrelink, granted a visa that allowed her to study and learn English, which led her to the local community centre;  that through Issara's relentless pursuits, has become a refuge for victims who are terrified of their modern-day enslaver and equally terrified of telling authorities.

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