Zonta Club of Oamaru president Rebecca Koberstein said as part of the campaign the club was sharing domestic violence information, and displaying orange, cut-out ladies at Woolworths, Mitre 10, the Oamaru Public Library, Collective Cafe, Waitaki MenzShed, The Business Hive and the Waitaki Aquatic Centre.
Zonta engages annually in 16 days of activism against gender-based violence from November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, through to Human Rights Day on December 10.
Mrs Koberstein said New Zealand had an "unacceptably high rate of family violence and sexual violence" and the global Zonta campaign was to raise awareness and advocate against violence towards women and girls.
"It’s making people aware of the alarming statistics, such as on average at least 20 children are killed or directly impacted by a child abuse death each year.
"We provide information about what abuse actually is because they might not realise that someone could be controlling them or what they’re allowed to do, or the people they’re allowed to talk to or what they’re allowed to wear.
"That is a form of being abused and losing your power and rights as a woman," she said.
A recent study published in The Lancet, which investigated violence in over 200 countries over the past three decades, estimated almost 30% of New Zealand girls aged from 12 to 18 experienced sexual violence.
NZ Police data shows between 2007 and 2022, 34% of the 1169 homicide victims were women, and more than half of them had a family relationship with the offender.
In June, a report released by the national mortality review committee examining violence-related deaths of women and girls identified family violence deaths that had not been accounted for in data such as that collected by police.
That included violence during pregnancy, contributing to deaths of mothers and babies and a strong link between family violence and maternal suicides.
"We really want to make people aware, and get people talking, and provide a safe space where people might want to talk to us anonymously, because a lot of people don’t really want to talk about abuse," Mrs Koberstein said.
The World Health Organisation has found 24.5% of women in New Zealand and Australia have been sexually or physically abused by a partner.
Other forms of violence against women include cyber violence, child marriage and gender-related killings.
Mrs Koberstein said the origin of "The Orange Lady" display started in Australia when the Zonta Club of Ipswich began using the free-standing orange cut-out figures to help draw attention to the campaign.
"A template for ‘The Orange Lady’ was created for consistency and ease of use for all Zonta Clubs."
Zonta members also wore orange vests as part of the campaign, and distributed brochures with emergency contact numbers, also displayed on the back of doors in most women’s public toilets, Mrs Koberstein said.
"Sometimes seeing our campaign, it might get someone thinking ‘I know someone who may need a little bit of help’ or actually ‘I do need help and I’m going to ask someone’."
"It’s a strength to ask for help, not a weakness".
