MEMBERS of Dunfermline’s feminist book club have joined countless others across the world to stop violence against women this Christmas.

Since 1991, the 16 days between November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women, and December 10, International Human Rights Day, have been used to campaign against gender-based crime.

It is run annually by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership and as of last year has focused its efforts against femicide, the gender-related killing of women and girls.

This month, the book club, usually run for free from Fire Station Creative, will be giving ‘pay as you can’ donations to Fife Women’s Aid in support of the scheme.

Roz Weaver, who launched the group in September, said: “At the moment, we are in the middle of 16 days of action to end violence against women. It is an international campaign backed by a lot of women’s and feminist charities. As part of that I thought, because it is Christmas anyway and I wanted to do something more meaningful, that we would donate to a local women’s aid charity.

“Any donations from either the point where you register for a ticket or buckets on the day will go to Fife Women’s Aid. So far, everyone who has registered has donated some money, it’s pay as you feel, if people still want to come for free there is no judgement.

“We have had a really good response on social media and I am trying to share more about different local and Scottish charities who are trying to raise awareness and make a difference.”

Activists use the colour orange to mark the 16-day stretch, and Roz says it is a coincidence that December’s book would also fit in with this theme.

She added: “We are reading Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, by Jeanette Winterson, it is a coming-of-age fiction about coming out and organised religion.

“It was a coincidence, they talk about orange being the colour which represents the campaign and they use #OrangeTheWorld, it was a coincidence we ended up using a book with orange in the title.”

Originally, Roz had launched the club to celebrate works written by identifying women and hoped to help people make friends with common interests after she struggled to socialise when she moved to the city.

“There’s a lot of people registering and who have come along who are in a really similar boat to me and have moved up during, or just after, COVID when so much was still shut,” she said.

“As an adult it’s difficult to make friends and after COVID you don’t really know how to do it any more, how to be social and go and do things which don’t feel like they take up too much energy.

“They are finding it really helpful to know there is something to come along to every month where they can hopefully make friends, it takes a while but it seems to be getting on really well so far.

“People are coming along and enjoying reading something they wouldn’t have otherwise come across or wouldn’t have found.”

She continued: “You don’t have to like the book, you don’t have to have finished the book, you don’t even have had to read it to come along.

“Just come along, talk about it, people are sitting on different tables and they’ll maybe go off on a tangent, but people are coming along and finding people with similar interests and values.”

After an initial article in the Press reporting the launch of the book club, Roz says an extra 20 people registered, resulting in around 30 members, some with friends or others on their own, being included on her list each month. She also offers an option on her social media channels to recommend a book, something she says is giving her her own separate reading list.

This month’s meeting will take place on Friday, December 16, at Fire Station Creative and you can register and find out more about donating on Instagram @dunfem_bookclub or on the Facebook page, DunFem Book Club.