The nonprofit organisation organising the Gender-Based Violence Walk 2026 on March 7th, Integrated Health Outreach (IHO), is putting a spotlight on the importance of volunteers to the success of the annual event, noting that without their support, this year’s walk would not be possible, nor would the previous walks in 2025 and 2024 have been. IHO, which partners with the Directorateof Gender Affairs (DoGA) to put on the event, which is staged from the Botanical Gardens, states that so far, volunteers have been instrumental in getting people mobilised through sharing flyers, connecting with community groups, registering people in-person on weekends, and making placards for March 7th.
Volunteers Are Engine Driving
Communications Officer with IHO, Kieron Murdoch, said it was “extraordinary” to see the commitment of those who have stepped forward, noting, “Our volunteers are the engine that drives the walk each year. They make all of it possible through the hours and hours of work they put in.” So far, dozens have made themselves available for different activities in support of the upcoming awareness and advocacy event, which aims to turn a light on sexualised and gender-based violence (GBV) and to encourage positive change in society.
Murdoch noted that volunteerism “is not as strong as it could be” despite Antigua and Barbuda’s often close-knit small society, but suggested that perhaps people needed more opportunities to take part in activities that aligned with causes about which they are passionate. “You can tell without asking that those stepping forward to help us understand how important it is that we speak up for survivors, that we demand the rights of women and girls be respected, and that we refuse to be silent about things like rape, sexual abuse of any kind, domestic violence and misogyny,” he added.
Now in its third year, the GBV Walk is Antigua and Barbuda’s largest public advocacy event on GBV. Organised by IHO through the IHO Gender-Based Violence Coalition (IHO-GBV), and in partnership with DoGA, the walk attracted more than 2000 participants in 2025. Both IHO and DoGA are confident that the number will increase sharply this year.
Anyone, regardless of sex or gender, can be a victim of sexual violence, harassment, abuse, or violence from an intimate partner. Women and girls experience these forms of violence disproportionately due to negative social norms and attitudes that promote misogyny, disrespect, and violence toward them. This is why the focus of the event is on the rights and safety of women and girls, and why the issue of the walk is gender-based violence, because women and girls experience significantly higher rates of such violence as a consequence of their gender and in the context of gender inequality.
