UN Trust Fund grantees – 19th cycle (2015)

Community youth (Moran's) and a lady having a discussion after a session during community mobilization forum in Wamba (Samburu County).
Community youth (Moran's) and a lady having a discussion after a session during community mobilization forum in Wamba (Samburu County). Credit: Tervil Okoko/IIRR

Africa (6) | Americas and the Caribbean (7) | Arab States/North Africa (4)
Asia and the Pacific (7) | Europe and Central Asia (8) | Cross-regional (1)

Africa

Kenya and Zambia

Africa Alliance of YMCAs
Project title: “#ARealManIs: Empowering Young Men to End Violence against Women”
Description: The Governments of Kenya and the Zambia have recognized that violence against women is a major problem. In Kenya, the Constitution protects individuals against discrimination, the Children’s Act ensures the protection of children and the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Act and the Sexual Offences Act criminalize these abuses. In Zambia, the Anti-Gender-Based Violence Act was passed in 2011 and is supported by the 2008 National Action Plan against gender-based violence. Despite this, almost 50 per cent of adult women in Zambia and Kenya have experienced physical or sexual violence. The Africa Alliance of YWCAs project aims to decrease violence against women by building processes of transformative participation for young men in the public sphere. By the end of the project, the organization expects a 30 per cent decrease in violence against women in the implementation sites of Kilifi and Mombasa in Kenya and Lusaka and Kitwe in Zambia. The project will also undertake research that will inform the process of building civic competence among young men and an advocacy strategy against cyberbullying, a new form of violence against women and girls.

Tanzania

Amref Health Africa–Tanzania
Project title: “Female Genital Mutilation Elimination Project in the Serengeti District”
Description: Despite government measures to abolish FGM, the practice is still widespread in many parts of Tanzania. About 7.9 million women and girls in Tanzania have undergone FGM. In 2010, 40 per cent of these cases occurred in the Serengeti District. Amref Health Africa, in collaboration with the Legal and Human Rights Centre of Tanzania, will adopt a community-driven Alternative Rights of Passage model in communities in the Serengeti. The project will also engage the health sector through in-person, e-learning and mobile learning strategies. The aim is to raise awareness of the consequences of FGM and ensure that their sector’s interventions in the Serengeti District are culturally appropriate, sustainable and responsive to the needs of the community. The project’s model fosters change in the beliefs and practices of the community while preserving the positive socio-cultural aspects of indigenous cultures. The proposed project is based on three strategic axes. The first is furthering community sensitization by engaging voluntary peer educators. The second is promoting a modified version of the practice of “seclusion”, a process whereby newly mutilated girls are secluded and taught by an elder about women’s roles, cultural values and sexuality. In Amref’s version of the seclusion rite, girls will receive five days of training on women’s rights in an enclosed, safe space. The third and final axis is the celebration in the community of the girls when they emerge from the right of passage as women.

Cameroon
Association Pour la Promotion du Développement Local (APDEL)

Project title: “Breaking the Silence—Programme to Reduce Sexual Harassment against Girls in School Environments in West Region”
Description: Sexual harassment against women and girls is a burning issue in Cameroon. Several studies conducted by the University of Yaoundé showed that it is a major obstacle to female students completing their studies and that impunity is a major factor in perpetuating its prevalence at university level. The project aims to break the social consensus of silence surrounding sexual harassment in secondary school settings in Cameroon, particularly in the West Region (Mifi and Menoua Departments). Data on sexual harassment will be collected, analysed and disseminated to advocate for a change in the social attitudes that tolerate this form of violence against women and girls. The data will also form the basis of a social campaign for behaviour change focusing on men and boys, within the framework of the “HeForShe” global campaign. In addition, the project will increase the capacities of school staff to provide counselling and mediation services aimed at the social reintegration of survivors. In doing so, the project aims to contribute to the implementation of the national strategy for the elimination of gender-based violence adopted in 2010.

Côte d’Ivoire

Children’s Life in Rural Area (CLiRA)
Project title: “Capacity Building, Men’s Mobilization and Social Transformation to Develop Systems of Protection for the Attention of Gender Violence and HIV-related Violence in the Remote Communities of Biankuma and Man Departments, Cote d’Ivoire”
Description: The 2000 Constitution of Cote d’Ivoire set out the principle of equality between women and men. In addition, since 2014 national policy mechanisms to prevent gender-based violence, establish multisectoral coordination and collect data on violence against women and girls have been in place. However, repeated military crises, the prevalence of harmful community practices and discriminatory institutional practices still limit women and girls’ enjoyment of the right to live a life free of violence. This project will engage communities—leaders, Chiefs, women, men and teachers—in the development of community-based institutional mechanisms to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls and to eliminate discrimination against HIV-positive women. The project will also establish multisectoral services and participatory plans of action developed by community activists. It is expected that by the end of the project the communities will pass a set of customary laws to address violence against women and girls.

Kenya

International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR)
Project title: “Stop Violence against Women and Girls in Samburu, Marsabit and Isiolo Counties in Northern Kenya”
Description: More than a third of Kenyan women experience physical violence at some point in their lives. One in five women has also experienced sexual violence. In Northern Kenya’s impoverished communities, female genital mutilation (FGM) is almost universal. Girls are at particular risk of gender-based violence and are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and violence. Despite the laws and policies in place to address these abuses, law enforcement remains weak due to lack of awareness at the community level, strong cultural norms, poor access to services and weak sensitization among law enforcement officials. The IIRR, a development organization, is aiming to translate State commitments, laws and policies into action to prevent and protect women from violence and other harmful practices, with a focus on FGM and early marriage. Using community-based engagement strategies, the project will work to strengthen gender equality and ensure the roles of both women and men in development are recognized. Using sexual and reproductive rights approaches already employed in the East Africa region, IIRR and its partners will facilitate community dialogue and develop local peer leaders in the three northern counties of Samburu, Marsabit and Isiolo. The approach, called “Learning Our Way Out”, involves training local community-based facilitators to lead conversations with small groups, helping friends and neighbours recognize the link between gender issues and socio-economic conditions. In addition, the project will build a community-based referral system and link survivors to legal support, medical services, psychosocial therapy, shelter and protection. The aim is to engage and empower communities so that they can establish their own approaches to eradicate violence against women and girls.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Kenya

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
Project title: “Deepening and Expanding the Cross-Sector Network Response to Sexual Violence in the DRC and Kenya: A Project to Increase Justice for Women and Girl Survivors of Sexual Violence”
Description: High rates of sexual violence continue to plague both Kenya and the DRC. The 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey found that more than one in five Kenyan women reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetimes. Among Congolese women, 16 per cent report at least one instance of sexual violence after the age of 15. Despite laws against sexual violence in both countries, the comprehensive enforcement and robust prosecutions needed to fully address the problem are lacking. In particular, there is an urgent need to address the right to health of women and girls and the gaps in medical-legal processes in order to improve responses to sexual violence. Building on the UN Trust Fund’s initial grant from 2011-2015, PHR’s new proposal continues and up-scales successful cross-sectoral strategies to respond to sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. Their approach engages networks of doctors, nurses, police, lawyers and judges who work together for a common purpose: justice for survivors of sexual violence. The project will focus on deepening and broadening the capacity of PHR’s local partners to assume full ownership of training on forensic methods and documentation, including through the MediCapt mobile application developed in the first phase on the project; advocating the adoption of forensic techniques for evidence collection at all levels of government; integrating forensic training in the curriculums of medical and law schools; and introducing the cross-sectoral training model in one new country as well as in other regions of the DRC and Kenya.

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Americas and the Caribbean

Ecuador

ACDemocracia
Project title: “Integral intervention to guarantee access to justice for women survivors of violence”
Description: Gender-based violence is a pervasive structural problem in Ecuador where six in every 10 women have experienced some form of violence and one in four women have been subjected to sexual violence. ACDemocracia’s project aims to address the gaps identified in service delivery and the need to guarantee women’s and girls’ access to justice. The project adopts a comprehensive approach to improving access to justice for women and girl survivors of violence. It aims to promote the application of normative frameworks and policies for the protection of women’s rights by influencing legislative reform and through changing cultural norms. The project will work with the Decentralized Autonomous Governments to strengthen the institutional response to violence at the local level. ACDemocracia will work closely with the feminist movement in 10 districts of Ecuador to increase public awareness and mobilize communities to address and prevent violence against women and girls.

El Salvador
Attorney-General’s Office for Human Rights
Project title: “Supporting the Promotion of Specialized Justice for Women in El Salvador”
Description: Many forms of violence against women in the public and private spheres are widespread in El Salvador. Femicides have reached unprecedented levels: 314 women were killed in the country in 2013. However, of these cases, only 31 per cent were acknowledged as gender-related killings and dealt with as femicides. Less attention has been given to other specific forms of violence against women, including high levels of custodial violence and violations of the rights of women in detention. In El Salvador, 10 per cent of prisoners are women and they often face gender-based discrimination by the justice system. The Attorney-General’s Office for Human Rights is working to support judicial institutions and the security forces in creating a specialized justice system to address gender-based violence and promote justice for women . As part of the project, three investigations will be carried out in order to develop recommendations to relevant State authorities. The investigations will focus specifically on the consequences of criminalizing abortion, femicides and violations of the rights of women in prison. The project also seeks to strengthen the capacity of the justice and security sector to respond to gender-based violence.

Brazil

Casa da Mulher Trabalhadora (CAMTRA)
Project title: “Youth and Art everywhere to End Violence against Women”
Description: Young women make up 54 per cent of the victims of physical violence in Rio de Janeiro. Although young black women living in poverty are at particular risk, many programmes and campaigns to address violence against women in Brazil do not directly target them. This project seeks to raise awareness of violence and ways to address it among marginalized groups of young women in Rio de Janeiro. CAMTRA aims to achieve this by making visible the types of violence experienced predominantly by young women, including technology-related violence perpetrated through the dissemination of videos and photos. The campaign focuses on violence against young women in order to increase awareness of the issue and will include, for example, mutual support among young people, artistic interventions to address violence against women and girls and awareness raising in strategic places where there are large concentrations of young people.

Guyana

Help & Shelter
Project title: “Preventing violence through creating safer schools and communities”
Description: Violence against women and children continues to be the most pervasive human rights violation in Guyana. Despite laws and policies providing for protection from gender-based violence, sexual violence and child abuse, Guyana suffers from high levels of domestic violence (estimates range from 33 to 67 per cent), high rates of femicide (between 22 and 24 per year) and child abuse (715 child sexual abuse cases were recorded in 2011 alone), as well as the second highest rate of adolescent pregnancy in the Caribbean and South America. The project aims to build consensus, engagement and competencies within a community-based framework for addressing and preventing gender-based violence, sexual violence and other forms of exploitation in two communities and three schools. By the end of the project, it is envisaged that students will be able to recognize signs, attitudes and behaviours associated with gender-based violence, sexual violence, child abuse and other forms of exploitation, and will know how to protect themselves from such violence. The project seeks to improve the Ministry of Education’s Health and Family Life Education Programme and will serve as a pilot to be replicated in other schools by the Ministry of Education. The applicant, a well-established non-governmental organization (NGO) with 20 years of experience, will network with the specialist support service providers and the current national programme on safe neighbourhoods implemented by the Guyana Police Force to stop and prevent gender-based and sexual violence.

Nicaragua

MADRE
Project title: “Combating Violence against Women in Waspam, Nicaragua"
Description: In Nicaragua, violence against women is widespread, resulting in the death of one woman every three days, on average. The North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) of Nicaragua is a particularly marginalized area and has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls in the country. Indigenous women living in remote areas face epidemic levels of violence, including physical and sexual violence, femicide and trafficking. The post-conflict legacy, the rise in drug trafficking and the pervasive culture of violent forms of masculinity all contribute to the normalization of violence in the region. MADRE will work with a long-standing partner, the local indigenous women’s organization Wangki Tangni, to reduce violence against indigenous women and girls in 63 Miskito communities in the Waspam municipality of RAAN. The project aims to improve the way both the customary and statutory legal systems function and to empower women and girls to seek justice. MADRE will apply a multi-faceted approach, including awareness raising and training to change attitudes and behaviours around violence against women and girls. As part of the project, it will advocate for the effective implementation of Law 779 on violence against women and girls and seek to build capacity among local stakeholders to prevent violence and make the customary justice system work to protect women and girls. The project will also provide comprehensive services for survivors of violence.

Peru

Red Nacional de Promoción de la Mujer
Project title: “Exercising the Rights of Older Women Victims of Violence from a Gender-based Approach”
Description: Although Peru’s long-running internal armed conflict has ended, the lack of attention to the needs of the survivors is still an important factor in the reproduction of the structural conditions of violence. Many women survivors of conflict-related sexual and political violence are experiencing gender-based violence today. This project seeks to reduce gender-based violence against older women who were victims of conflict-related violence. The project will work in Ayacucho and Huánuco, regions that were highly affected by the conflict and where the prevalence of violence against women today is among the highest in the country. The project aims to empower older women by strengthening their awareness of their rights. The project will develop participatory needs assessments, awareness and training workshops and communications campaigns, all articulating the focus on rights, inter-culturality, gender and aging. The project will also work to raise awareness among local officials and advocate for gender and age-sensitive public policies for past and present violations of women’s rights.

Guatemala

Women’s Justice Initiative/Iniciativa de los Derechos de la Mujer
Project title: “Eradicating Violence against Women and Girls and Increasing Access to Justice for Rural Mayan Women through Culturally Grounded Community-Based Interventions”
Description: Although the government has put in place laws, policies and plans to combat violence against women and girls and strengthen institutional responses, these have so far failed to reduce gender-based violence in the country. One of the greatest gaps in implementation is the failure to reach women in rural areas. The majority of measures implemented under the Femicide Law, including specialized courts, a mobile court programme and support centres for women, are concentrated in urban areas and do not offer bilingual services for indigenous women. Additionally, capacity building for state officials focused on those working in the specialized courts rather than regular courts, where most cases are heard. The Women’s Justice Initiative (WJI) developed this project with the goal of ensuring that Mayan women and girls in 18 rural communities in the municipality of Patzún in Guatemala have improved access to justice and to support services in cases of domestic violence. The project aims to transform norms and attitudes at the individual, family, community, and municipal level that view violence against women and girls as acceptable. WJI will also contribute to national efforts to combat violence against women and girls by responding to critical gaps in existing services in rural areas and linking its community interventions to the larger national response. By the end of the project, WJI aims to demonstrate that community-based responses are effective and a necessary component of a comprehensive response to violence against women and girls.

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Arab States/North Africa

Jordan

ARDD–Legal Aid
Project title: “Know her Rights: Raising Awareness of Violence against Women and Girls among Societal Actors in Jordan”
Description: In Jordan, violence against women and girls has increased during the past few years and appears to be widely tolerated in society. Most respondents in a 2013 study accepted as normal that husbands, fathers and brothers beat their female relatives and did not consider that taking away women’s salaries or depriving them of their right to inheritance were possible forms of violence. Of particular concern is the fact that such violence is condoned by young people. The project builds on ground-breaking work currently being carried out in the country that includes a comprehensive review of Jordanian laws addressing sexual and gender-based violence and aims to disseminate the findings among non-specialist audiences. The project will adopt a two-fold approach. A consultative writing process (“writeshop”) will be developed with key stakeholders to ensure ownership of the messages that feed into the development of a toolkit to disseminate specialized legal knowledge relating to violence against women and girls among non-specialized audiences. This in turn will be followed by strong advocacy among government and civil society for the content of the toolkit to be adopted in order to enhance their capacities to identify and address all forms of violence against women and girls.

Egypt

El-Mashreq for Development
Project title: “Workplaces Free from Violence against Women—Safe Workplace”
Description: The Egyptian Labour Law does not specifically address workplace harassment or violence in the workplace. The provisions of the Criminal Code cover only sexual or physical assault in the workplace. Although there is no available data on the magnitude of harassment at work, 68 per cent of women surveyed in an independent recent study of female workers reported that they had been subjected to violence at their place of work. The project by El-Mashreq for Development aims to strengthen the institutional capacity of NGOs and trade unions to eliminate violence against women in the garment and health industries. The project will engage female workers, employers and law enforcement agencies in developing rights-based and gender-sensitive responses to address workplace violence against women. It is anticipated that NGOs and trade unions will create, manage and sustain a referral system that will also deliver legal, medical, and psychological assistance. The project will collect data to provide a comprehensive overview of violence against women in the workplace and to evaluate the effectiveness of national polices and legislation and the application of international law, especially International Labour Organization conventions, at the national level.

Tunisia

Fondation CIDEAL Tunisie
Project title: “MANARA”
Description: The 2014 Tunisian Constitution set out the State’s commitment to gender equality, including the elimination of violence against women. In a recent national survey, 47.6 per cent of women aged between 18 and 64 reported having experienced at least one form of violence—physical, sexual, psychological or economic—during their lives. Fondation CIDEAL Tunisie, a development organization, aims to address domestic violence by improving access to justice, health and other vital services in the governorate of Kef. The intervention builds on previous work undertaken with the Association on Gender and Citizenship. The first phase of the project focused on building the MANARA Centre, the only institution offering counselling services and integrated support for women survivors of violence in northwestern Tunisia. This new project is structured around the following intervention areas: preventing violence through community mobilization, advocating for zero tolerance communities in Kef, raising awareness and increasing knowledge of women’s rights and increasing the quality of available services, including the MANARA centre. The project is intended to contribute to the implementation of the National Strategy to Address Violence against Women.

State of Palestine

Women’s Studies Centre
Project title: “AMAN—Combating Sexual Violence in Palestinian Society”
Description: A 2011 national survey on violence against women found that 37 per cent of women who are or have been married have been exposed to intimate partner violence. The prevalence is higher in Gaza (51.1 per cent) than in the West Bank (29.9 per cent). The results also revealed that one third of women exposed to violence remain silent or turn to their families for help. The Palestinian Authority has ratified international human rights legislation, but the human rights perspective has not been adequately mainstreamed in local legislation. The Women’s Studies Centre aims to build the capacity of stakeholders, including university students, to address sexual violence and sensitize duty bearers to identify, address and prevent sexual violence. The core objective of the project is to identify and develop the capacities of health sector officials, social workers and other stakeholders. The project will teach children and young people to identify sexual violence and to protect themselves from it. It is expected that participating communities and the media will actively support and advocate for the elimination of sexual violence and for legal and policy reform.

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Asia and the Pacific

China

Equality
Project title: “Promoting Justice for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in China”
Description: Domestic and gender-based violence remain serious problems in Chinese society affecting up to a third of all Chinese families and at least half of all Chinese women. Government intervention efforts have primarily focused on intimate partner violence against married women. While this category of domestic violence makes up the largest percentage of cases, a substantial portion of those who experience domestic violence also belong to other vulnerable groups, including women with HIV/AIDS and lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) women. LBT and HIV/AIDS advocates report that the stigma and discrimination affecting these groups often impedes access to legal interventions and social services, making these populations particularly susceptible to long-term, unreported abuse. The project seeks to empower women and girl survivors of violence from marginalized and vulnerable communities, such as LBT women and women living with HIV/AIDS, to advocate for their rights and gain access to legal assistance and social services. The project will also focus on informing policymakers and government stakeholders about the rights, interests and needs of these communities of survivors in order to better inform the drafting of important new legislation on domestic violence and improve the implementation of existing policies. It will also work to train legal professionals, government stakeholders and direct service providers in best practices for intervention in cases of domestic and gender-based violence, especially multisectoral coordinated approaches. By the end of the project, it is envisioned that the perspectives of LBT women and women living with HIV/AIDS will be integrated into new legislation on domestic violence.

Viet Nam

Institute for Development and Community Health
Project title: “Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence among Pregnant and Lactating Women”
Description: In Viet Nam, studies suggest that over half of all women report experiencing at least one form of violence in their lifetime and that the majority of those affected did not seek external support. With antenatal care in Vietnam being nearly universal (93% according to UNFPA), health facilities offering ante-natal care present an effective window for screening and counselling those women who experience or are at risk of intimate partner violence, while avoiding the stigma associated intimate partner violence. In addition, there are no interventions in Viet Nam to prevent and protect women against intimate partner violence during pregnancy and lactation. This project aims to address this critical gap. The overall goal of this pilot project is to improve the safety, health and well-being of pregnant and lactating women in Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province, by reducing the prevalence and severity of episodes of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The project will provide training to counsellors and health-care workers to enable them to provide counselling at health facilities when women visit for antenatal and postnatal care and through a free telephone hotline. It will also provide them with training to conduct home visits and address the cultural and family norms surrounding intimate partner violence. The project hopes to serve as a model for scaling up interventions for preventing and reducing violence against women during and immediately after pregnancy in Viet Nam and other low and middle-income countries and make an important contribution to the evidence base for preventing intimate partner violence during pregnancy.

India

Pragya
Project title: “Comprehensive Primary Prevention Programme addressing Violence against Ethnic Minority Women in India”
Description: Violence against women in India is persistent and increasing, with many studies finding that India rates among the worst places in the world to be a woman. Violence against women is particularly acute where people are already marginalized. Tribal women from ethnic minorities are at heightened risk because of the marginalized position of tribal communities in the social hierarchy, customary laws supporting violence against women, extreme poverty, illiteracy, protracted conflicts and a poor response and justice infrastructure. Although India is committed to safeguarding women, enforcement of legal protection is weak. A social transformation is needed that empowers tribal women to actively resist violence and, at the same time, changes attitudes condoning violence against women within tribal society and among community leaders and law enforcement officials. The pilot project will work in 10 districts across five states on attitudinal change to address violence against women at the structural level by addressing deep-rooted gender norms in tribal societies and by seeking to empower tribal women. It will aim to create more gender-responsive support structures in the target areas, focusing on state/institutional structures such as Panchayats (village councils) as well as working with local civil society organizations to enhance protection and response. Specific interventions include awareness-raising campaigns, capacity development to empower tribal women leaders and training and sensitization of tribal leaders.

Pakistan

Sindh Community Foundation
Project title: “Curb early marriages through human rights education and advocacy in Sindh, Pakistan”
Description: According to Pakistan’s 2007 Demographic and Health Survey, 50 per cent of women aged between 15 and 29 marry by the age of 20 and 7 per cent become mothers by the age of 15. In 2013, the Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, prohibiting the marriage of children below the age of 18. This is the first legislative tool to curb early marriage in the country. The project aims to engage a wide array of stakeholders—including civil society, youth, the police, the media, the judiciary and religious leaders—in 30 villages across Sindh Province in creating a safe and protective community environment for girls at risk of early marriage. The project seeks to curb early marriages through community human rights awareness and by encouraging local stakeholders to be vigilant in identifying violations of the early marriage legislation. It will also encourage them to become agents of change, promoting the effective implementation of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act. The project will also promote girls’ leadership as a tool to eliminate violence and early marriages.

Nepal

Skillshare Nepal
Project title: “Kick Against Violence”
Description: A Sexual Violence Assessment report (Himrights, 2012) conducted in seven districts of the Mid-West and Far-West Regions of Nepal revealed that one girl in 10 experienced sexual violence. Young girls are victimized physically, sexually and emotionally not only in their workplaces and communities but also in schools and at home. Relatives, friends and teachers tend to be the main perpetrators, with young girls reporting high levels of sexual violence by male friends (23 per cent), school teachers (16 per cent), and relatives and family members (8 per cent). The proposed project will be implemented in schools in three districts of Kathmandu valley: Viz Kathmandu, lalitpur and Bhaktapu. Using a two-fold strategy of football coaching and life skills workshops, the project will teach young girls how to build their protection assets and to take a stance against gender-based violence. The football coaching uses football itself as a tool for empowering girls. By utilizing a sports-based intervention, it is intended that girl students will develop self-confidence to break gender stereotypes and stand up against different forms of gender-based violence. The project will also work with teachers, school management and male students to address gender-based violence and make the school environment safer for girls.

Cambodia

Victims Support Section of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)
Project title: “Promoting gender equality and improving access to justice for female and GBV survivors under the Khmer Rouge regime—Phase II”
Description: From 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th century. It is estimated that approximately 1.7 million people died during this time as a result of execution, torture, forced labour, starvation and disease. The Khmer Rouge committed specific forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including systematic forced marriage and rape in prisons, in re-education camps, among Khmer Rouge soldiers and of male victims. In 2011, the UN Trust Fund supported a project implemented by the ECCC on “Promoting gender equality and improving access to justice for female survivors of GBV under the Khmer Rouge regime”. An external evaluation of the three-year project highlighted its positive results and potential for significant and sustainable impact in the longer-term if the achievements during the first phase project could be built on and strengthened. Accordingly, the current project aims to reinforce and enhance gender sensitivity among stakeholders, ensure meaningful participation in ECCC proceedings of female civil parties and victims of gender-based violence. It also seeks to provide greater public outreach and government advocacy and improve the psychological well-being of this group of victims. A new component of the project is to connect female civil parties and victims of gender-based violence with skills training for income generation in recognition of the financial impact such trauma has had on families. The project will also strengthen the Ending Violence against Women Legal Aid Network, formed under its first phase. This provides an important platform for lawyers, legal practitioners and law students linking the ECCC’s work with the present day situation of violence against women in Cambodia.

Cambodia

World Hope International
Project title: “Enhancing Responses to Violence against Women and Girls in Cambodia”

Description: Research shows that roughly six in 10 women in Cambodia experience at least one form of violence before the age of 18. However, health, legal and welfare services to support victims of violence are inadequate and are not widely available or accessible. This project aims to improve service provision at all stages of a survivor’s recovery and increase coordination between service-providing agencies. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of government social and welfare workers in the areas of basic counselling, case management and client referrals in order to better serve woman and girl survivors of domestic and sexual violence in three districts in Kampong Speu province. Strategies include: intensive training and networking opportunities for frontline responders, both individuals and institutional bodies; collaboration among service-providing agencies; and the creation of enhanced referral mechanisms. The aim is to ensure the work of the project is sustained at the institutional level through the training of trainers. Providing follow-up support for survivors is also a key component of the project.

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Europe and Central Asia

Serbia

Association of Roma Novi Becej
Project title: “No More Victims—Roma Girls and Women Respond to Violence”
Description: Roma women living in the municipality of Novi Becej lack adequate support and resources to address and prevent violence against them. The institutions responsible for providing protection and support are not equipped to provide the necessary services and have demonstrated little interest in meeting the specific needs of Roma women survivors of violence. Roma settlements are isolated and located miles from the nearest city centre. Women living in settlements are exposed to violence on an almost daily basis. Yet, they are often unable to recognize or label their experience and the absence of alternatives and support prevents many from escaping the cycle of violence. The overall goal of the project is to strengthen the quality of institutional responses to violence against Roma girls and minority women in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The project aims to improve the emotional and social position of at least 2,000 Roma women by providing SOS Hotline services, legal aid and court representation. It also aims to influence the entity that represents Roma minority in Vojvodina to develop greater awareness of the issues and to stop treating early, arranged, forced marriages as a Roma tradition. The project also plans to facilitate a campaign created by Roma girls to represent their voice and bolster their confidence to advocate for their rights in the community. This aims to enhance the visibility of the violence that Roma girls experience and encourage girls and women exposed to multiple discrimination to step out of cycle of violence and claim their rights.

Serbia

ASTRA – Anti Trafficking Action
Project title: “Strengthening Capacities to Support Women Victims of Human Trafficking”
Description: According to official statistics, the number of identified victims of human trafficking in Serbia rose in 2014 to 125, up from 92 in 2013 and 79 in 2012. Children throughout the country, especially from the Roma community, continue to be exploited in the commercial sex trade and subjected to involuntary servitude while in forced marriage. Institutions rarely recognize forced marriage as a form of human trafficking or of gender-based violence. Social welfare centres do not have specialized programmes to assist victims of this form of violence and their employees tend to lack the necessary knowledge, expertise and sensitivity to recognize cases of human trafficking and deal with the needs of trafficking victims. ASTRA will work with the State Centre for the Protection of the Victims of Human Trafficking to establish procedures for referring victims to programmes run by civil society organizations. It will also advocate for the adoption of minimum standards for treatment of victims of human trafficking. The project aims to improve the quality and availability of services for women and girl victims of human trafficking, especially sexual exploitation and forced marriage, by improving cooperation between civil society and relevant state actors to identify victims of human trafficking and to ensure that they receive appropriate treatment. The project will also advocate for victims’ rights within institutions and organize specialized training for professionals who come into contact with vulnerable women and girls. By the end of the project, ASTRA hopes to have in place an improved institutional protection system with formalized gender-sensitive procedures to identify and treat trafficking victims.

Serbia

Autonomous Women’s Centre (AWC)
Project title: “No tolerance for gender based violence: Feminist change of the educational system”
Description: Despite comprehensive legislation, violence against women in Serbia remains a serious problem and is widespread among the young in particular. Educational institutions are not equipped to recognize violence at an early stage or to act upon it in a timely and appropriate manner. Most cases are not reported and survivors of gender-based violence face widespread stigma among professionals in all key services, including in the education system. The development of new technologies and means of communication has also led to new forms of violence spread through the internet and social networks; young girls are particularly at risk of digital violence. Sexual harassment against students in universities is still a taboo subject and remains under-reported, although there are positive examples that should be promoted such as the adoption of a Regulation on sexual harassment in the Faculty of Political Sciences of University of Belgrade. Despite Serbia’s obligations under international law and numerous recommendations from international bodies, gender-based violence has not been integrated into Serbia’s formal education system at any level. The project aims to raise the capacities (knowledge and skills) of young people and teachers to understand and address violence against women. It will also address gender stereotypes underpinning violence and seek to improve educational and pedagogical practice. It seeks to promote the integration of curriculums and policies on gender-based violence in the education system and raise public awareness of gender-based violence. The project is up-scaling previous activities with young people and piloting a new comprehensive approach to violence against women in high schools and universities. It will also promote systemic changes in education policy and the development of new audio-visual materials. In order to encourage personal engagement and bring about a change in attitudes and behaviour, the projects strategic areas of focus will include: the education of young people and their teachers in gender equality, violence against women, gender stereotypes and discrimination; practical exercises, follow-up and mentoring activities; and public actions that allow the knowledge acquired to be applied in practice and skills to be developed.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Young Lawyers’ Union
Project title: “Building bridges of life for the women survivors of domestic violence in Azerbaijan”
Description: A 2011 national survey revealed that women survivors of domestic violence in Azerbaijan do not seek redress and protection. The absence of any national mechanism capable of providing women with adequate preventive, protection, rehabilitation and reintegration services means that hundreds of women continue to experience physical, psychological and sexual abuse and economic deprivation. The 2015 Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women called on Azerbaijani Government “to ensure that women and girls victims of violence have access to immediate means of redress and protection, including a sufficient number of adequate shelters in all regions.” This project will set up a pilot shelter to provide women with free legal, medical and psychological support services as well as refuge from violent partners or family members, where needed. The socio-economic capacities of the survivors of violence will also be enhanced through range of business development and income generation strategies to ensure sustainability. An extensive community awareness campaign actively involving men and boys will be conducted aimed at preventing domestic violence as well as encouraging use of the services offered by the shelter. Although, the creation of a countrywide referral mechanism is beyond the scope of the proposed project, the development of a model referral mechanism in the selected region will be one of the major achievements of the project alongside the economic empowerment of women survivors of domestic violence. It is anticipated that the model can be replicated throughout the country, if successful.

Serbia

Mental Disability Rights Initiative (MDRI-S)

Project title: “Deinstitutionalize and End Violence against Women with Disabilities in Custodial Institutions”
Description: In Serbia, policies and action plans in Serbia to address the protection needs of women with disabilities do not reflect the needs of women with disabilities in custodial institutions. Given the fact that there are more than 3,000 women in different custodial institutions in Serbia and that they are at high risk of multiple forms of violence and abuse, it is important that Serbian policies and legislation recognize this group of women and incorporate specific measures and support programmes for them. This project aims to improve mechanisms and measures to end violence against women with disabilities in custodial institutions and to target intersectional discrimination. It will provide data on the scale of violence against women in custodial institution and formulate a policy paper for national strategies and actions plans to incorporate protective measures for this group of women, as an interim solution. It will also advocate for the deinstitutionalization and protection of women with disabilities within the local community; monitor implementation of the existing legislation and suggest amendments; and formulate a “roadmap” of mechanisms to prevent violence against women with disabilities in custodial institutions by analysing the current gender policy framework.

Turkey

Mother and Child Education Foundation (ACEV)
Project title: “Fathers are Here for Gender Equality”
Description: Violence against women and girls is still a pressing problem in Turkey. Based on a recent study, four in 10 married women have been subjected to physical violence by their husbands (Report on Domestic Violence Against Women in Turkey, Ministry of Family and Social Policies, December 2014). If a woman is subjected to physical violence in the home, there is a high probability that children will witness the violence. The Mother and Child Education Foundation aims to prevent domestic violence against women and girls in Turkey by engaging men in a comprehensive and community-based prevention programme. ACEV works in partnership with the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, as well as non-governmental partners. This project builds on ACEV’s “Father Training for Violence-Free Families Project (2010-2013)”, which was supported by the UN Trust Fund. According to the final evaluation, the project was found to have brought about some improvement in fathers’ attitudes towards violence, specifically violence against their children. This new project aims to enhance the impact of ACEV’s work through strategies to translate improved attitudes into gender-sensitive and non-violent behaviours within families. The project will be implemented in neighbourhoods in eight provinces (Bursa, Eskisehir, Istanbul, Izmir and Samsun) and reach almost 4,000 fathers through 307 Father Support Programmes. The overall goal of the project is to facilitate long-term change in men’s attitudes on gender equality and violence against women and girls.

Serbia

Provincial Secretariat for Health, Social Policy and Demography
Project title: “STOP-CARE-CURE: Stronger institutional response to gender-based violence in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina”
Description: In Serbia’s northern Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, there were 109 reported cases of sexual violence in 2013, including 30 rape and eight attempted rape cases. It is estimated that the real number of cases of sexual violence is much higher as only 20 per cent of cases are believed to be reported. When cases are reported, successful prosecution is often hampered by the absence of adequate documentation and evidence collection. At present there are no centres in Serbia offering specialized services for survivors of sexual violence. Survivors are generally referred to general service providers who do not have the expertise needed to deal with crimes of sexual violence. In addition, survivors often cite the unprofessional approach of various institutions, along with administrative and financial barriers, as obstacles to them receiving appropriate treatment. This project aims to address these gaps in service delivery and institutional response by improving the human resource capacities of the protection system dealing with violence against women, with a particular emphasis on the health system. The Provincial Secretariat for Health, Social Policy and Demography, the lead organization for this project, intends to pilot seven centres for survivors of sexual violence in each district of the Province of Vojvodina. The project will develop a comprehensive approach by providing physical, psychosocial, social and legal protection in one place. It is envisaged that the resulting operational model will have the potential to be scaled-up in other parts of the country. It will create a tailor-made work model for local multisectoral teams dealing with cases of sexual violence (Local Coordination Bodies). The project will also establish a system for multisectoral collaboration between social work units, health institutions, the police, the civil sector, prosecution services and the courts as well as local authorities in the seven municipalities. The project will also carry out an awareness raising campaign to publicize improved service delivery.

Armenia

Women’s Support Centre NGO
Project title: “Creating a coordinated response mechanism to prevent and combat domestic violence in Armenia”
Description: Domestic violence is arguably one of the most pressing issues facing Armenia today. The widespread discrimination against women in many spheres of Armenian society is accompanied by a generalized acceptance of domestic violence. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2013, Armenia ranks among the lowest in the world in terms of gender equality (103 out of 142 countries). Research conducted by Amnesty International revealed that more than 60 per cent of women in Armenia are victims of controlling behaviour, 40 per cent of whom are physically abused and 12 per cent severely beaten. Relatively few cases of domestic violence are reported because of social stigma, women’s lack of agency and broad misconceptions, including the widely held belief that speaking out about domestic violence is an attack on the Armenian family. At a societal level, few government officials publicly condemn violence against women; there is a lack of legislation to prevent, address and punish perpetrators; and few mechanisms exist to enable social work agencies and the police to protect victims. This project seeks to shift the existing paradigm by addressing primary prevention and response to survivors of domestic violence on a national scale. It aims to create sustainable change in the way service providers respond to and protect victims of domestic violence by: a) supporting service providers across different sectors to improve service delivery by training them on how to identify and manage cases as well as helping create community-based protection systems to offer psychosocial counselling and other services; b) helping provide government agencies and the police with the tools and resources necessary to carry out a robust and effective process to ensure that victims are safeguarded and the escalation of risk is prevented; and c) helping create an enabling environment so that a greater number of survivors will be empowered to access assistance and escape abusive homes.

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Cross-regional

Ethiopia, Haiti and Tanzania

Raising Voices
Project title: “Strengthening SASA! implementation through learning and guidance”
Description: The importance of up-scaling efforts to prevent violence against women is increasingly being acknowledged both by the international community and by civil society organizations. The SASA! methodology is a ground-breaking community mobilization approach developed by Raising Voices for the primary prevention of violence against women and HIV transmission. The methodology has been rigorously evaluated through a randomized controlled trial which demonstrated that SASA! is an effective approach, leading to a 52 per cent reduction in the risk of physical partner violence against women in communities where it was implemented. As a result, a wide range of actors, including NGOs, governments, UN agencies and faith-based groups are up-scaling implementation of this innovative and evidence-based approach. Currently, the SASA! methodology is being implemented in over 20 countries by more than 60 organizations. From 2010 to 2012, the UN Trust Fund supported Raising Voices’ first cohort of organizations across Eastern and Southern Africa to up-scale the SASA! methodology. Building on the learning from this previous grant as well as the increasing requests around the world to implement SASA!, this project seeks to meet the need for improved learning from, and guidance for, the wide range of organizations using and/or planning to use the SASA! methodology. Raising Voices will collaborate with three partner organizations implementing SASA!—in rural Tanzania, in refugee camps in Ethiopia and in a community in Haiti—to improve guidance on how to adapt the methodology most effectively, maximizing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of interventions. The core objectives are to strengthen the adaptation process, appraise context-specific implementation strategies and support the organizational structures and processes necessary for quality programming. The unique learning and tools from this programme are ultimately expected to enhance SASA!’s global impact to prevent violence against women and girls, thus benefiting women, girls, men and boys in communities across the world.

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