Thursday, 13 November 2025

Toronto Sunrise Rotary - Supporting Safe and Healthy Communities - Local and National Action

16 Days of Activism

From 25 November to 10 December, communities around the world mark the United Nations 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The campaign calls for a world where every woman and child is SAFE, ALWAYS, EVERYWHERE.

In 2022-23, one Australian woman was killed every 11 days by a current or former partner. About 4.2 million adults, one in four women and one in eight men, have experienced partner violence since age 15.

Rotary Clubs across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific are responding with the campaign message:

We Say NO to Domestic and Family Violence,

We Say YES to Respectful Relationships.

The Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise are inviting locals to take part in the 2025 16 Days of Activism events. From Monday 24 November, knitted artworks will appear in the Toronto Foreshore Park, wrapping trees in purple themes, the colour of respect and remembrance, and sharing information on how to get help. A special survivor-made piece will also be displayed in the Toronto Library.

There are many services that provide help for victims, survivors and those who want to change their behaviour. Information and support are available through Services Australia, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, CALM, and Lake Macquarie City Council’s community-led projects.

A launch event will be held on Friday 28 November at 10 am at Toronto Library. Beforehand, the community is invited to gather at Toronto Town Square from 9.15 am for a walk against domestic violence, leaving at 9.30 am. Please wear purple to show your support for safe and respectful relationships.

In October, the Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise raised $24 000 for Jenny’s Place, a domestic-violence support service expanding into the Westlakes area. The lively “Pig Day Out” at the Toronto Hotel featured piglet races, auctions and community fun, all contributing to this impressive result. CEO Dawn Walker thanked Rotary, sponsors, 100 Club contributors and community supporters for helping women and children rebuild their lives.

Rotary’s care extends beyond Lake Macquarie with the club doing their bit to help eliminate trachoma, a preventable eye disease still affecting remote Indigenous communities in Australia, the only developed nation where it persists. The club supports Rotary’s national End Trachoma campaign, delivering Hygiene Kits to a remote community childcare centre 350 kilometres west of Alice Springs. These kits, of hand-sown bags, and locally stocked items, support the Families as First Trainers program, which teaches hygiene and disease prevention in early childhood.

By embedding hygiene knowledge early and improving living conditions, Rotary aims to eliminate trachoma and promote lasting health equity across remote communities.