Americas and the Caribbean

Argentina

Asociación ciudadana por los derechos humanos (ACDH – Citizen Association for Human Rights) - Project Title: Wonder Women against Violence – Cycle 25

In 2021, a woman was killed every 34 hours in Argentina, according to Observatorio Ahora Que Sí Nos Ven (Observatory, Now That They Can See Us). Migrant women, women living with disabilities, and trans and non-binary women are exposed to alarming, intersecting forms of violence while there is a lack of public policies to address and protect their needs.

ACDH is a women-led, eco-feminist organization dedicated to promoting gender equality, inclusive citizenship, social equity and sustainable development.

The project, which ACDH will implement in collaboration with other women’s rights organizations, aims to empower migrant women, women living with disabilities and trans and non-binary women to help develop public policies to prevent and end gender-based violence and improve access to comprehensive services and justice.

Project strategies include: (1) training women about violence against women and access to justice; (2) enabling people to become agents of change in their communities and accompany women to report violence; (3) organizing regular, national gatherings for women to share their experiences and develop action plans; (4) training specialist service providers, women’s rights organizations and public officials on intersectional approaches to violence against women; (5) facilitating dialogue between women, civil society organizations and government representatives to develop inclusive mechanisms; (6) leading practice-based research on violence against women; and (7) amplifying women’s voices and lessons learned during the project through advocacy campaigns.

Enlaces territoriales para la equidad de genero - Project Title: Eliminando barreras de acceso para mujeres Sordas por una vida libre de violencias (Eliminating Access Barriers for Women with Hearing Impairment for a Life Free from Violence) - Cycle 24

The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated problems facing deaf women wishing to report gender-based violence as an adequate tool for them to seek support is lacking. A telephone helpline was established during lockdown, complemented by a WhatsApp channel. However, deaf women need to use Argentine Sign Language (LSA), not Spanish, so neither form of communication is effective for them. Often, deaf women have had to ask for support from a family member to report violence, undermining confidentiality.

Enlaces territoriales para la equidad de genero aims to ensure that deaf women facing gender-based violence can access safe spaces and essential services adapted to their specific needs. Beneficiaries of the project will be 100 deaf women from Buenos Aires city (Avellaneda and Lomas de Zamora municipalities) and La Pampa Province. The project will also address intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and violence in public spaces/institutions, and institutional violence.

The project will: (1) empower and train deaf women leaders; (2) build capacity in the field of gender equality of key actors applying the deaf culture approach, such as LSA interpreters to ensure effective communication; (3) train private companies to improve accessibility and promotion of safe and inclusive spaces for deaf women; and (4) conduct a qualitative data survey to highlight what is needed to ensure deaf women who experience gender-based violence can exercise their rights.

Belize

Promoting Empowerment Through Awareness for Lesbian and Bisexual Women (PETAL) - Project Title: Women's Autonomous Livelihood: Beyond COVID-19 Crisis – Cycle 25

In Belize, according to UNCCPR, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women of African and Indigenous ancestry in low socio-economic circumstances are more at risk of violence and are excluded from the police protection and support afforded to victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence in heterosexual relationships. A UNDP study shows that disparities in Belize have been exacerbated in the post-COVID-19 period, as fewer resources are available, heterosexual gender norms and patriarchal standards are more on display, and jobs in the informal economy are less available to LBT women.

PETAL is a women’s rights organization dedicated to achieving social, economic and gender justice for women, especially lesbian and bisexual women, through advocacy actions and empowerment.

The project aims to empower lesbian and bisexual women of African and Indigenous descent with low levels of education through skills training and improved access to economic empowerment services in six municipalities and two villages in Toledo, Stann Creek, Cayo and Belize districts.

Project strategies include: (1) equipping lesbian and bisexual women with financial and entrepreneurial skills and capacities to start and develop income-generating activities; (2) providing individual and group psychosocial support; (3) building the capacity of partner organizations and feminist networks on prevention of and response to violence against lesbian and bisexual women; (4) advocating for policy reform and supporting the design and implementation of violence prevention policies and action plans; and (5) developing and nurturing a network of financial and entrepreneurial public-private partners.

Bolivia

Centro de Desarrollo Integral de la Mujer Aymara “Amuyt’a (CDIMA) - Project title: Mujeres y niñas indígenas aymaras combatiendo la violencia en razón de genero desde el empoderamiento de sus derechos sociales, políticos y económicos en 7 municipios del departamento de La Paz, Bolivia | Aymara Indigenous women and girls combating gender-based violence through the empowerment of their social, political and economic rights in 7 municipalities of the department of La Paz, Bolivia – Cycle 26

Despite implementation of the Comprehensive Law to Guarantee Women a Life Free from Violence in 2013, Bolivia still has one of the highest rates of femicide in the region. Indigenous women of Aymara descent face heightened risks of intersecting discrimination and violence, while geographical, linguistic and economic constraints prevent them from accessing specialist public services.

CDIMA is a constituent-led women’s rights organization dedicated to promoting women’s rights and empowering Aymara and Indigenous women and girls in Bolivia. The project aims to contribute to a life free of violence for Aymara women and girls at risk or survivors of violence in seven municipalities of La Paz department in Bolivia through empowering them with better knowledge of their rights and supporting them to become agents of change in their communities.

Project activities include: (1) training Aymara women and girl leaders on women’s rights and violence against women and girls (VAW/G) prevention and referral mechanisms; (2) vocational workshops for Aymara women and girls at risk or survivors of violence on textile handicraft and Andean gastronomy, and organizing local and online markets where they can sell their products; (3) workshops for key stakeholders on VAW/G prevention and response mechanisms, masculinity and women’s economic empowerment; (4) creating women leaders’ committees and multi-stakeholder networks to foster peer-to-peer learning and collective action to prevent and end VAW/G; and (5) awareness-raising on VAW/G prevention and referral mechanisms.

Organizacion de mujeres aymaras del Kollasuyo (OMAK – Aymara Women’s Organization of Kollasuyo) - Project Title: Strengthening prevention and advocacy actions against violence against women and girls – Cycle 25

Although Bolivia implemented the Comprehensive Law to Guarantee Women a Life Free from Violence (Law 348) in 2013, the country still has one of the highest rates of femicide in the region and violence against women increased as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indigenous women of Aymara descent face particularly high risks of intersecting discrimination and violence, while geographical, linguistic and economic constraints prevent them from accessing specialist public services.

OMAK, a women’s rights organization, will lead a project that aims to increase and improve access to context-appropriate prevention, protection and restorative and care mechanisms and practices for Aymara women survivors or at risk of violence in rural and peri-urban settings in the department of La Paz. It will use an intersectional and participatory approach to strengthen OMAK’s comprehensive range of services to empower Aymara women.

Project strategies include: (1) identifying and providing personalized support for women survivors or at risk of violence through mobile excursions to peri-urban areas and rural municipalities, and by implementing self- and collective-care circles; (2) developing and updating a virtual platform to guide and inform Aymara women of the latest information and relevant legislation; (3) providing community awareness raising and reflection workshops on the causes and effects of gender-based violence, facilitated by community promoters and OMAK’s staff to generate collective proposals and action plans; and (4) disseminating printed communication material on the prevention of violence against women in rural peri-urban and rural areas.

Centro Yanapasiñani Bolivia para el desarrollo de la Mujer y la familia - Project Title: Recuperación de la justicia indígena para la prevención y atención de la violencia en razón de género, en el municipio de Coro Coro en tiempos de pandemia (Fostering of indigenous justice for the prevention and addressing of gender-based violence, in the municipality of Coro Coro during the pandemic) - Cycle 24

Coro Coro is a small rural indigenous Aymara community in Pacajes Province, La Paz Department in Bolivia. Centro Yanapasiñani Bolivia para el desarrollo de la Mujer y la familia is a women’s rights, women-led small organization with considerable experience of indigenous communities. Its project aims to address violence against women and girls in Coro Coro, responding to gaps in support during the pandemic. It will prioritize economic, sexual, physical and psychological violence against women, including non-partner sexual violence, which are disproportionately higher in rural indigenous areas than in urban areas. It aims to reach 3,000 rural indigenous women. The organization will work in partnership with SEMTA (Multiple Services of Appropriate Technologies), the Bartolina women’s organization of Coro Coro and the Servicio Legal Integral Municipal - SLIM (Municipal Comprehensive Legal Services).

The project aims to: (1) create the Municipal Network of Community Promoters for the Fight against Violence, comprising 39 trained women volunteers from 13 markas (local indigenous administrative units) of the municipality, which will guide and support women survivors of violence; and (2) create a written procedure to be agreed and applied by the indigenous authorities within the framework of existing regulations and their uses and customs. For these purposes, a self-diagnosis of violence against women and girls will be carried out.

Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanasy del Caribe - Project Title: Paixhi Aibu Nipiakaxi: una estrategia de atención integral para mujeres víctimas de violencias en Bolivia (Feminist Response in Action Through Community Mobilization for Access to SGBV Services Engaging Intersecting Vulnerabilities) - Cycle 24

Measures to address and prevent COVID-19 in Bolivia began in March 2020, but few were introduced to respond to the increased violence against women and girls. However, several organizations in Bolivia have reported thousands of cases of gender-based violence during the pandemic and highlighted the lack of psycho-social, legal and other support for survivors, particularly indigenous Chiquitano women and young lesbian women.

Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del Caribe, a women’s rights organization, in partnership with the feminist organization Colectivo Rebeldía, aims to respond to the needs of rural, indigenous, young and lesbian women survivors of violence in the municipalities of San José, Pailón, Cuatro Cañadas, Concepción and the indigenous territory of Turubó-este in Santa Cruz department, all areas with high levels of poverty and unmet needs. The project intends to benefit 500 women by providing them with direct support services, implementing an Alternative Model of Care for survivors and advocating the needs of survivors of gender-based violence. It also intends to build the capacity of NGOs and State institutions to respond to violence against women, working and consulting with other local women’s organizations.

The project will be implemented through online training, face-to-face training in rural territories without connectivity, and digital communications strategies. Methods to reach marginalized and vulnerable women will include building alliances, providing support services and increasing capacity for claiming rights.

Brazil

COMUNEMA Colectivo de Mujeres Negras Maria Maria - Project title: NEPAZ - Núcleo Estratégico de Derechos Humanos y Promoción de la Paz para Mujeres y niñas | Strategic Nucleus of Human Rights and Peace Promotion for Women and Girls - Cycle 26

A recent UN Women strategic note reports a recent increase in the number of femicides registered in Brazil, from 1,206 in 2018 to 1,350 in 2020. Of these, 61.6 per cent of the victims were black women. The COVID-19 pandemic has indicated further consequences in increasing the exposure of certain population groups to situations of risk and violence, as well as more broadly deepening structural inequalities across income, gender, race, ethnicity, age and location that, in turn, are determinants for access to rights and services.

Colectivo de Mujeres Negras Maria Maria (COMUNEMA – Maria Maria Black Women's Collective) is a constituent-led women’s rights organization dedicated to promoting human rights and ending violence against Afro-descendant women and girls in Brazil. The project aims to strengthen COMUNEMA’s organizational resilience and enhance access to specialist services for women and girls at risk or survivors of violence (including LBT women, Indigenous and Afro-descendant women, and women human right defenders) in 15 remote communities affected by agrarian conflicts and the construction of a hydroelectric plant. The project will be co-implemented with Colectivo Amazónico LesBiTrans de Mujeres LGBTQIAPN+ and the Colectivo de Mujeres Indígenas.

Project activities include: (1) training community members on women’s rights and VAW/G prevention and response mechanisms to assist women and girls at risk or survivors of violence; (2) improve COMUNEMA staff members’ working conditions, including by addressing their financial, well-being and equipment needs; and (3) awareness-raising on VAW/G prevention and referral mechanisms, including by disseminating advocacy campaigns in local languages.

Colombia

Corporación Casa de la Mujer - Project Title: Barequeando entre la opresión y la resistencia: Mujeres de zonas mineras en Colombia lideran estrategias para exigir una vida libre de violencias (Balancing between oppression and resistance: Women from mining areas in Colombia lead strategies to demand a life free of violence) - Cycle 24

Antioquia department in northwest Colombia has extremely high rates of violence against women, including sexual and physical violence and deaths. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased such violence, partly because it exacerbated intimate partner violence. Corporación Casa de la Mujer is a local women’s NGO that has been at the forefront of defending women’s rights in Antioquia for almost 40 years. Through the project, which will be co-implemented with Jaime Arteaga & Asociados and Casa de la Mujer y Jaime Arteaga & Asociados, it intends to improve measures to prevent gender-based violence and increase access to justice for survivors of physical and sexual violence, and the families of victims of femicide.

Strategies to achieve this include: (1) providing sustainable legal and psycho-social services for survivors; (2) litigation before national and international courts; (3) setting an agenda for the employment of women survivors; (4) strengthening the leadership skills and expertise of women activists and women’s organizations; (5) developing advocacy strategies; and (6) developing a cultural and historical memory strategy.

Corporación Colectiva Justicia Mujer - Project Title: Consultorio Psico-Jurídico Feminista: respuesta social a las violencias contra las mujeres, la otra pandemia en el contexto COVID) - Cycle 24

Although Colombia’s jurisprudence has recognized structural violence against women, women survivors of violence often do not receive adequate legal or psychological support to meet their needs. Migrant women are at particular risk of sexual harassment, inhumane working conditions, sexual exploitation, trafficking and femicide. Access to justice has been beyond the reach of many women, including survivors of domestic violence, and during the COVID-19 pandemic the situation has become much worse. Meanwhile, services for preventing violence or for supporting survivors have been further reduced.

Corporación Colectiva Justicia Mujer (CCJM), a small women’s rights organization, is the first feminist legal organization in Antioquia department and has years of experience in offering legal support to survivors of violence and working to transform the justice-gender relationship. Its project intends to improve access to essential services, such as psychological and legal support, during the pandemic for women and girls who are survivors of violence. It also aims to help reduce institutional violence through education and training of strategic State actors, specifically in the municipalities of Bello, Itagüí and Medellín.

The project will implement an already tested local model – More Justice Fewer Barriers – that was developed by CCJM with the support of UN Women/USAID. The model, which has been the benchmark for psycho-legal care and training for the CCJM in Antioquia since 2019, relies on strategic litigation, psycho-legal care, political advocacy, knowledge management, public communication and virtual training.

Ecuador

Centro de planificiación y estudio social (Planning and Social Study Centre) - Project Title: Participation through equality and politics free from gender-based violence against women in three municipalities – Cycle 25

In Ecuador, women in office face harassment and political violence, according to a 2020 UN Women study, leading to low levels of women’s political participation despite constitutional and legal provisions for parity. Marginalized women – particularly Indigenous women, Afro-Ecuadorian women, women who belong to the lowest income groups, and transgender women – face the greatest difficulties in accessing elected positions and are exposed to heightened risks of violence when aiming to do so.

Centro de planificiación y estudio social is a women-led human rights organization dedicated to overcoming gender, economic, social, environmental and ethnic inequalities through knowledge management and public policies.

Centro de planificiación y estudio social will implement a project to ensure that during the 2023 local elections, marginalized women can exercise their right to participate in political life without being exposed to violence. The project will be implemented in partnership with the public agency National Electoral Council, the women’s rights organization Fundación Nuevos Horizontes, and civil society organizations operating in the Amazon region.

Project strategies include: (1) creating observatories to collect data, monitor political violence against marginalized women and report cases identified; (2) training civil society organizations’ lawyers on women’s political rights and litigation to identify and defend cases; (3) empowering women candidates and women elected with knowledge on their political rights and skills to identify and report violence against women; (4) establishing a multi-stakeholder working group to formulate evidence-based inclusive procedural reforms, codes of ethics and protocols; and (5) leading language-inclusive advocacy campaigns on physical and online political violence against marginalized women.

Asociación de Mujeres por la Equidad de Género y la Autonomía (MEGA – Association of Women for Gender Equity and Autonomy) - Project Title: Improve GBV prevention through changes of misadapted social norms and legislation seeking to enjoy the right to a life free from violence for the girls and women of Archidona and Riobamba – Cycle 25

Six out of 10 women have experienced violence in Ecuador, according to the National Survey on Family Interactions and Violence Against Women in 2011. Marginalized women, including Indigenous women, migrant women and older women, face intersecting forms of discrimination that put them at heightened risk of violence.

MEGA is a women-led, women’s rights organization dedicated to promoting gender equality and political participation of women, strengthening democracy, and increasing the transparency of public power.

The project, which MEGA will implement in partnership with the ESQUEL Foundation, aims to revert negative socio-cultural gender norms that perpetuate discrimination and violence against women and to ensure that marginalized women survivors of violence have access to justice. It also aims to reduce violence against marginalized women by raising awareness among local authorities, creating community-led women’s support networks of and for marginalized women, and promoting inclusive legal reforms to ensure women survivors’ access to justice.

Project strategies include: (1) empowering marginalized women through workshops to enable them to become community leaders; (2) establishing community-led women’s support networks to provide women survivors or at risk of violence with comprehensive information and specialist services; (3) training local authority representatives and public servants, including police officers, and cantonal board members, on violence against women; (4) organizing cantonal meetings with local authorities, including mayors’ offices, to advocate for marginalized women survivors of violence to have effective access to justice and legal services; and (5) disseminating through social media advocacy campaigns on protection measures and gender equality.

El Salvador

Asociacion Comunicando y Capacitando a Mujeres Trans con VIH en El Salvador (COMCAVIS TRANS - Association Communicating with and Training Trans Women with HIV in El Salvador) - Project Title: Building safe and protected spaces for LBTQ women – Cycle 25

Lesbian, bisexual, transgender women, intersex and queer people (LBTIQ+) face intersecting forms of discrimination in El Salvador. The COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions have contributed to put them at heightened risk of violence.

COMCAVIS TRANS is a women-led, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) activist organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTIQ+ people through the recognition and protection of their human rights in El Salvador and internationally.

The project aims to empower LBTQ persons, improve their access to leadership, and ultimately enable them to live free of violence. It will provide comprehensive services to LBTQ survivors or at risk of violence, support capacity building at the organizational and leadership levels for better implementation of mechanisms to address violence against LBTQ persons, and raise community awareness on the rights of LBTQ persons.

Project strategies include: (1) providing LBTQ-competent humanitarian, legal and psychosocial services and supporting their livelihood by providing seed capital, financial training, self-care circles and theatre workshops; (2) providing training on leadership, community mobilization and digital activism; (3) creating a school of leadership and citizen participation; (4) providing awareness raising training to judges and members of the judicial system on violence against LBTQ persons; and (5) developing collective advocacy actions and disseminating communication campaigns highlighting various dimensions of violence against LBTQ persons.

Asociación para la Autodeterminación de Mujeres Salvadoreñas (ASmujeres) - Project Title: Mitigando la VBG en tiempos de Pandemia (Mitigating GBV during the COVID Pandemic) - Cycle 24

In El Salvador, gender-based violence increased during the COVID-19-related lockdown and often survivors were confined with their abusers, making it extremely difficult for them to seek help. Institutions that usually support survivors of violence were refocused during the pandemic. When institutions gradually re-opened after the lockdown ended, most prioritized those with a prior online appointment to avoid crowds. However, making such appointments was often not possible for those facing gender-based violence. Additionally, many survivors remained confined at home, often with their assailant.

The project to be run by the Asociación para la Autodeterminación de Mujeres Salvadoreñas (ASmujeres) intends to provide integrated support to women survivors of gender-based violence in six municipalities of Gran San Salvador, tackling intimate partner violence, sexual and psychological non-partner violence, and trafficking of women and girls. The Network of Women’s Rights Defenders, which was formed and trained by ASmujeres in 2015, will identify women that need support in each municipality, and the project will coordinate its work with other non-governmental organizations and public institutions.

Project strategies to be employed include: (1) strengthening the capacity of the Network of Women’s Rights Defenders, including by providing increased access to technology; (2) providing psychological support to women survivors or at-risk of violence; and (3) improving referrals of survivors to ASmujeres’ multidisciplinary team, which includes support for women with legal cases.

Guatemala

Haurralde Fundaziao - Project Title: Promotion of sexual and reproductive rights of women free from all forms of violence – Cycle 25

Cultural norms, restrictive legislation, geographical constraints are contributing factors that prevent women from fully exercising their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) according to UN Women. Haurralde Fundaziao is a women-led, women’s rights organization that focuses on the rights of women and girls in Guatemala. The project will be implemented by Haurralde Fundaziao, in partnership with the civil society organization Tierra Viva, in 19 municipalities in the departments of San Marcos, Sololá, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, Chiquimula and Izabal. It will aim to redefine negative socio-cultural norms and enable women and girls, including Indigenous women and girls, to exercise their SRHR without being exposed to violence.

Project strategies include: (1) strengthening the knowledge of women’s networks about SRHR and enabling members to carry out the healing processes for women survivors of sexual violence; (2) creating a network platform to maximize the networks’ collective action and enabling them to establish multisectoral partnerships at the community, municipal and departmental levels; (3) training midwives on SRHR and enabling them to advise and strengthen women's reproductive decision-making; (4) implementing awareness raising actions for young people to exercise and defend their SRHR and creating youth-led local and community-based information kiosks; (5) training justices, educators and health providers on SRHR; and (6) generating knowledge on SRHR and disseminating evidence-based communication and awareness campaigns.

Women's Justice Initiative/Iniciativa de los Derechos de la Mujer - Project Title: Innovating and Scaling Proven Model to Improve Maya Women's Access to Justice and End Violence Against Women in Rural Guatemala – Cycle 24

Women's Justice Initiative (WJI) has been providing legal services to survivors of violence in San Martín Jilotepeque and San José Poaquil since March 2020. Through this new project, it will combine service delivery with rights education and justice system capacity building to sustainably improve indigenous women’s access to justice. It will work with Maya Kaqchikel women in 24 indigenous rural communities in San Martín Jilotepeque and San José Poaquil municipalities.

The project will: (1) run courses on legal literacy and complementary radio programming, and train community advocates, to improve the knowledge of indigenous women and their communities about intimate partner violence and legal processes; (2) train female leaders to become community advocates; (3) provide legal services to women and girls who have survived violence; and (4) enhance the capacity of leaders, police and service providers to respond to violence against women and girls and sensitize these groups to the challenges facing indigenous women survivors of violence.

A three-month legal literacy course and complementary radio programming aims to provide indigenous women and their communities with the tools to know, use and shape the law while their families’ attitudes about violence against women and girls begin to shift. A two-year training course will teach community advocates how to lead rights workshops, connect women with WJI’s legal services and accompany women throughout the legal process.

Honduras

Unidad de Desarrollo Integral de la Mujer y la Familia (UDIMF - Unit of Comprehensive Development for the Woman and the Family) - Project Title: We sow and blossom together – Cycle 25

In Honduras, according to Centro de Derechos de Mujeres (Women’s Rights Center) women and girls continue to face violence in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and those who experience intersecting forms of discrimination, such as Indigenous women and women living with disabilities, are exposed to heightened risks.

UDIMF is a women-led, feminist organization dedicated to improving women's lives by recognizing, developing and strengthening their capabilities, providing them with spaces for political participation, and working to ensure their right to a life free of violence.

The project aims to raise awareness and prevent violence against women and girls living with disabilities, including Indigenous women of Garifuna descent. It will be implemented in the municipalities of Tela, La Ceiba and Jutiapa in Atlántida department, in partnership with La Asociación Hondureña de Lesionados Medulares y Similares (AHLMYS - Honduran Association for Spinal Cord and Similar Injuries). The project will use a feminist, intersectional and community-based approach to develop a comprehensive service provision strategy for women living with disabilities who are survivors or at risk of violence, and to strengthen women’s leadership and local feminist networks.

Project strategies include: (1) providing specialist legal and psychological services to women survivors of violence, including tailored services that address the needs of women living with disabilities; (2) implementing community-based training on women’s rights and social mobilization; (3) implementing training and collaborating with AHLMYS’s women members and local feminist networks to inform departmental action plans addressing the needs of women living with disabilities; (4) leading practice-based research and disseminating findings through advocacy campaigns; and (5) strengthening the organization and its partner’s organizational resilience by creating a database and integrating self-care into its strategy.

Mexico

Centro Interdisciplinario de Derechos, Infancia y Parentalidad A.C. - Project title: Mecanismo de respuesta para la atención de las violencias que viven las mujeres con discapacidad en México | Response mechanism to address violence against women with disabilities in Mexico – Cycle 26

A 2021 national survey found that 72.6% of women living with disabilities aged 15 and older have experienced at least one incident of violence in their lifetime.

Centro Interdisciplinario de Derechos, Infancia y Parentalidad A.C. (Interdisciplinary Centre for Rights, Childhood and Parenthood A.C.) is a constituent-led human rights organization dedicated to promoting human rights and empowering children, teenagers and women in Mexico. The project aims to improve access to inclusive specialist services for women and girls living with disabilities who are at risk or survivors of violence in Mexico City and the cities of Querétaro and Nuevo León in Mexico.

Project activities include: (1) providing inclusive specialist services to women and girls living with disabilities who are at risk or survivors of violence through further developing Morada, an app featuring an inclusive emergency helpline, accessible information on violence against women and girls (VAW/G) prevention and referral mechanisms, and safe spaces for users; (2) implementing a capacity-building programme for civil society organization staff members on violence against women and girls living with disabilities (VAWGWD) prevention and response mechanisms; and (3) awareness-raising, including the establishment of community-based support networks (Red Sororydiscas) and producing an accessible online toolbox on women’s rights, disability rights, and VAWGWD prevention and referral mechanisms

Grupo de Acción por los Derechos Humanos y la Justicia Social A.C. (Grupo de Acción DH – Action Group for Human Rights and Social Justice Civil Association) - Project Title: "Digna Ochoa y Plácido" Network of Litigating Lawyers with a Gender and Human Rights Perspective – Cycle 25

In 2018, according to UN Women, 9.9% of women aged 15-49 reported that they had been subject to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months in Mexico. In the same year, between January and October, 706 alleged femicides were committed. 

Grupo de Acción DH is a women-led, women’s rights organization that defends and promotes the human rights of Mexican and foreign individuals.

The project aims to create and support a network of women lawyers to accompany and defend cases of violence against women and girls – including sexual violence, human trafficking, forced disappearance and femicide – in the northern, central and southern regions of Mexico.

Project strategies include: (1) creating and training a network of 15 women lawyers working with civil society organizations on violence against women litigation cases; (2) creating a team to support the network in designing and implementing defence and litigation strategies; and (3) providing the network with specialist services, including expert analysis and documentation, to strengthen investigations and criminal proceedings to enable favourable judicial outcomes for women survivors or at risk of violence.

Instituto Mexicano de Investigación de Familia Y Población A.C. (IMIFAP A.C. - Mexican Institute of Family and Population Research Civil Association) - Project Title: Help them not to end up down the aisle: for the prevention of forced and child marriage in Guerrero State, Mexico – Cycle 25

Child, early and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU) are a violation of human rights which risk increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. They deprive girls of education, health and opportunities, and create a spiral of poverty and risks of violence. According to UN Women, a fifth of women in Mexico aged 20-24 were married or in a union before they were 18 years old.

IMIFAP A.C. is a women-led human rights organization dedicated to facilitating human, social and economic development.

The project aims to help eradicate CEFMU in 20 localities in the municipality of Metlatónoc, Guerrero State. It will scale up the community-based model of IMIFAP A.C. that has resulted in 11 localities criminalizing the sale of girls for marriage since 2015 through the signature of Agreement Acts. It will focus on community empowerment, preventive action in school settings, strengthening and training local civil society organizations, and creating multisectoral partnerships.

Project strategies include: (1) raising awareness on the harmful consequences of CEFMU among parents, school students, teachers, community members, social leaders and authorities through interactive conferences and community assemblies; (2) increasing prevention of CEFMU through participatory training sessions in school settings; (3) implementing workshops with representatives of local civil society organizations to facilitate and support replications of the project’s model; (4) creating a multisectoral alliance involving civil society organizations, community leaders and governmental agencies in charge of protecting children, adolescents and women’s rights to generate a joint work agenda to prevent and end CEFMU; and (5) leading advocacy actions to obtain the signature of Agreement Acts prohibiting the sale of girls for marriage by the 20 localities targeted by the project.

Equidad de Género, Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia, A.C. - Project Title: En comunidad, prevenimos y respondemos ante la violencia sexual y el embarazo infantil, en 12 municipios de México (Community Prevention and Response to Sexual Violence and Teenage Pregnancies in 12 municipalities in Mexico) - Cycle 24

Rates of sexual violence against women, girls and adolescents in Mexico, already high, have dramatically increased during the COVID-19 crisis due to the emergency health measures, including lockdowns, interruption of educational activities and closure of schools, and movement restrictions.

Equidad de Género, Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia, A.C. will focus on tackling the increase in sexual violence and teenage pregnancies during the pandemic. Through a comprehensive community-based approach, its project seeks to prevent and address sexual violence against girls and young women aged 10-19. Most of the project’s beneficiaries will be adolescent girls and young women from lower socio-economic classes, who are at a higher risk of sexual violence due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The project will cover four states – Estado de México, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Hidalgo – all of which have a high prevalence of violence against women and girls and human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The project’s overall goal is to strengthen prevention and protection measures against violence; and improve the safety and well-being of girls and young women at a high risk of sexual violence during the pandemic.

To this end, the project’s strategies include: (1) community mobilization and awareness raising; (2) capacity building; (3) consolidating the community network on prevention, protection, service provision and accompanying of survivors of violence; (4) advocacy for implementation of public policies on prevention of sexual violence against adolescent girls; and (5) changing at the community level the perspective, awareness and behaviour of everyone involved in the initiative, including by engaging with men and boys.

Peru

Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos - Project title: No más mujeres invisibles II: contra la trata, explotación sexual y violencia sexual en zonas de minería informal de Madre de Dios y Piura (Perú) | No more invisible women II: against trafficking, sexual exploitation and sexual violence in informal mining areas of Madre de Dios and Piura (Peru) - Cycle 26

In 2018, more than a third women aged 15-49 in Peru are estimated to have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in their lifetime. Illegal mining practices have also been linked to increased human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Indigenous women and girls living in remote areas are particularly at risk because geographical, linguistic and economic constraints prevent them from accessing specialist public services.

Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (Promsex – Centre for the Promotion and Defence of Sexual and Reproductive Rights) is a constituent-led women’s rights organization that promotes sexual and reproductive health and rights in Peru. This project aims to improve access to specialist services for women and girls at risk or survivors of violence, human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation affected by illegal mining and dedicated public policies in the departments of Piura, Madre de Dios and Lima in Peru. The project will be co-implemented with Centro Ideas.

Project activities include: (1) providing specialist services to women and girls at risk of or survivors of violence, human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation, and implementing a business training programme for them; (2) training key stakeholders on violence against women and girls, human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation prevention and response mechanisms; (3) organizing multi-stakeholder meetings and visits to foster peer-to-peer learning and collective action; (4) awareness-raising, including in school settings; (5) establishing two annual days on human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation in the context of informal mining; and (6) producing research papers and investigation articles on human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation in the context of informal mining.

The current project is a scale up of a previous project implemented by Promsex on ending the forms of VAW/G that are exacerbated by illegal mining in Peru with the support of a UN Trust Fund grant awarded in 2019.

Centro de la mujer peruana Flora Tristán (CMPFT - Flora Tristán Centre for Peruvian Women) - Project Title: Changing the structures: women, girls and adolescents from Amazonia free from violence and discrimination – Cycle 25

In Peru, 11% of women aged 15-49 reported that they had been subject to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, according to UN Women in 2018. Rates of violence are higher for marginalized women such as Indigenous women who face intersecting forms of discrimination, which have been exacerbated during he COVID-19 pandemic.

CMPFT is a women-led, women’s rights organization that addresses the structural causes that restrict the recognition and exercise of women's rights. It will implement a project to empower Indigenous Amazonian women, adolescents and girls to ensure their right to live free from violence in school and public settings in the municipality of Satipo and the districts of Pangoa and Mazamari in Satipo province.

The project aims to strengthen specialist services for survivors, raise awareness to reduce discriminatory practices in school and public settings, and enhance the capacity of authorities and community actors to understand, prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. It will be implemented in collaboration with public bodies and other local civil society and women’s rights organizations.

Project strategies include: (1) implementing participatory workshops for Indigenous women’s organizations on violence against women and structural discrimination; (2) leading marches advocating for the end of violence against women and girls in public spaces; (3) raising awareness in the educational community on violence against Indigenous women and girls; (4) training provincial and district authority representatives and public service providers to strengthen implementation of plans and legislation to stop violence against Indigenous women; (5) raising awareness among non-traditional actors, including local companies’ representatives and male leaders, on women’s rights and violence against Indigenous women; and (6) disseminating advocacy campaigns and actions, including the organization of cultural and artistic fairs and community forums, to raise awareness about violence against Indigenous women.

Over the past 25 years, CMPFT has successfully implemented five generations of projects supported by the UN Trust Fund.

Suriname

Stichting Projekta - Project Title: Strengthening local community support mechanisms for indigenous women and girls in the hinterland of Suriname – Cycle 24

The indigenous women of Suriname have been especially affected by COVID-19-related restrictions on movement, as their income derived from transportation, tourism and related sectors has drastically fallen while violence within families has risen sharply. Rural Indigenous people live in isolated communities, leaving women at further risk of violence and without access to critical support services. .

Stichting Projekta, the supporting office of the Association of Indigenous Village Leaders in Suriname, intends to mobilize and train indigenous community members to respond to cases of violence against women and girls as well as intimate partner violence. The aim is to strengthen the capacity of the Lokono, Kalin’a, Akoerio, Trio and Wayana tribes living in clustered villages in the hinterlands of Suriname to reduce barriers to service provision. The project aims to reach 120 local community members and 20 local trainers.

Project activities will include: (1) building the capacity of community members to provide basic counselling and to refer Indigenous girls and women that are survivors or at risk of domestic violence; (2) running participatory training courses for local trainers, who will then train other community members; (3) developing and rolling out localized case registration systems to improve data collection in the service delivery area; and (4) working to improve community responses to the most vulnerable women and girls.

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