http://www.youngcare.com.au/
SOURCE: Oktoberfest Brisbane

Objective: A day to celebrate the humble, yet vitally important, toilet and to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis.

19 November is World Toilet Day – a day to celebrate the humble, yet vitally important, toilet and to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis.

Imagine life without a toilet. No toilets in your home or at work, no public toilets, no toilets anywhere. Imagine the mess. Imagine the disease.

WaterAid is working hard to change this, using simple and low cost solutions, and there are many easy and fun ways you can get involved.

Did you know?
• 2.5 billion people do not have somewhere safe, private or hygienic to go to the toilet.
• One gram of faeces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs.
• The simple act of washing hands with soap and water after going to the toilet can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40%.
• Safe disposal of children’s faeces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhoea.

http://myoath.com.au/take-the-oath.php
SOURCE: White Ribbon Day 2009

Objective: What is the White Ribbon Campaign? The White Ribbon Campaign aims to end violence against women by encouraging men and boys to take positive action to create change. White Ribbon is working to develop a culture of gender equity and respect where attitudes and behaviours that support the use of violence, are no longer tolerated. Read more about the White Ribbon Foundation and its work here

Why should I swear?
UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon has labelled violence against women the most prevalent violation of human rights on the planet. And Australia is far from immune. Currently, one in three Australian women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Every single one of us knows a woman who has suffered its effects, whether we know it or not. These women are our mothers, daughters, our wives, our girlfriends, colleagues and friends. By supporting this campaign you are helping to ensure that Australia becomes a safer place for all women, and their children.

What is violence?
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women defines violence against women as: “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” In simple terms, violence against women is violence “directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects a woman disproportionately” There are many kinds of and names for violence against women:

* domestic violence, family violence, wife-beating, intimate violence, intimate homicide, femicide
* sexual violence, sexual assault, rape, marital rape, gang rape, date rape, acquaintance rape, indecent assault, sexual harassment, sex-based harassment
* child abuse, child sexual abuse, paedophilia, incest
* homophobic violence, hate crime, lesbian bashing, elder abuse
* genital mutilation
* enforced prostitution
* enforced sterilisation, enforced abortion, killing of unwanted female babies, enforced motherhood