Final Evaluation: Combating Violence against Women in Waspam, Nicaragua

Location: Nicaragua

Grantee: MADRE

Grant period: January 2016 – April 2019

Grant amount: $497,111

“Combating Violence against Women in Waspam, Nicaragua” was a project led by MADRE and the indigenous peoples’ organization Wangki Tangni. The initiative sought to reduce domestic and sexual violence in Nicaragua’s rural and indigenous-majority municipality of Waspam. To this end, the project:

• worked to raise awareness about gender-based violence among men and women;
• engaged local authorities to ensure that Nicaragua’s 779 Law, which is meant to further women’s right to be free from violence, is implemented properly;
• worked to strengthen the capabilities of local women’s organizations to improve their efforts to end gender-based violence; and
• provided women with information on how to access the justice system, and about health and psychological services at their disposal.

Main findings of the evaluation:

• Women in Waspam reported that they experienced less violence than before the project, ranging from 95 per cent of women in Kisalaya community to 55 per cent of women in Florida community.
• 94 per cent of communities reached by the project developed plans of action to reduce gender-based violence.
• A radio programme, which was established to raise awareness about women’s rights, changed the way women were perceived in Waspam.
• The project successfully engaged men and raised their awareness of gender-based violence.

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