This year’s report aims to provide inspiration for campaigners all over the world. The activities that took place in 2014 stimulated and generated support for ongoing campaigns in countries where women are still endangered by unsafe abortion, threatened with criminal punishment, and subject to stigma in the absence of progressive laws and services that recognize safe abortion as a public health necessity and a fundamental human right.
This year we again witnessed a wide and growing range of rallies, marches, street theatre, discussion fora, art installations and a social media thunderstorm throughout the month of September, peaking towards September 28. More than 100 events were reported in 65 countries around the globe. The social media outreach counted in millions of on-line users participating in on-line discussions with the hashtags #Sept28, #AbortionStigma and #AbortoLegal. Some activities were carried out by established groups, while other organizations and networks addressed the issue of unsafe abortion publicly for the first time.
We also believe the number of activities in the participating countries and among the international NGOs involved in the Campaign has grown, and their impact is greater. We have seen more reports of these activities, and more reports of publicly important speeches being made, reported in national newspaper articles and in the visual media too.
This report summarizes the entire spectrum of activities and showcases the collaborative spirit of the organizers and participants. The report is meant for all Campaign participants to reflect on their activities and plan future collaboration. It provides an overview of activities by country, Virtual Mural mobilization, social media reports and a quick capture of on-line publications dedicated to September 28 activities.
It emphasizes the importance of collaboration and working in alliances, the ethos that underpins the existence and purpose of campaigning internationally for women’s right to safe abortion.