Collective successful experiences deriving from Prevention and Assistance in Domestic Violence Model
The process of this experience starts when we receive the woman victim of violence to detect psychological, physical, sexual or economic abuse. Then, she receives legal and psychological counseling and she receive a three months treatment which consists on welcome, self-esteem and independece workshops. After this, she joins self-help groups.
In 2005, two projects came up from the self-help groups. The participants had detected that one of the main causes of abuse was the economic dependence. These groups formed the two first Women Labor Cooperatives. The members of these cooperatives all have suffered from domestic violence.
DEVELOPED PROCESS
Stage N° 1. STRENGTHENING THE INTEGRITY OF THE SELF-HELP GROUPS
MODULE I – COMMUNICATION
A) Deliver necessary tools to better the communication inside the groups.
B) Develop right communicative processes that help to defend their rights.
C) Promote the search of information as a necessary mechanism to update their rights and duties.
D) Develop agendas that give priority to the needs related to personal development.
E) Design and make communicational tools such as murals, posters, diptyches, etc.
MODULE II – GENDER AND VIOLENCE
A) Deliver concepts that help to have a look on gender in relation with abuse and discrimination situations.
B)Develop a historical outlook of discrimination situations lived by women and the fight of their rights.
MODULE III – WOMAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS
A) Know the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its importance as a mechanism that establishes the normative that the countries should assume before it.
B) Know International Conventions that Chile have confirmed and bind the State to give the necessary conditions for their fulfillment.
C) Know International Organizations that watch over the fulfillment of the Universal Letter and ratified Conventions.
D) Implementation of the Modules: 1. Gender identity, Discrimination and Human Rights. 2. Our Rights as Human Beings.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Focus of activity
Community Involvement
Year the initiative began
2004
Position your initiative on the mosaic of solutions
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Women’s Low Status
Which of the insights is the primary focus of your work?
Increase Women’s Power
If you believe some other barrier or insight should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
Name Your Project
Collective successful experiences deriving from Prevention and Assistance in Domestic Violence Model
Describe Your Idea
The process of this experience starts when we receive the woman victim of violence to detect psychological, physical, sexual or economic abuse. Then, she receives legal and psychological counseling and she receive a three months treatment which consists on welcome, self-esteem and independece workshops. After this, she joins self-help groups.
In 2005, two projects came up from the self-help groups. The participants had detected that one of the main causes of abuse was the economic dependence. These groups formed the two first Women Labor Cooperatives. The members of these cooperatives all have suffered from domestic violence.
DEVELOPED PROCESS
Stage N° 1. STRENGTHENING THE INTEGRITY OF THE SELF-HELP GROUPS
MODULE I – COMMUNICATION
A) Deliver necessary tools to better the communication inside the groups.
B) Develop right communicative processes that help to defend their rights.
C) Promote the search of information as a necessary mechanism to update their rights and duties.
D) Develop agendas that give priority to the needs related to personal development.
E) Design and make communicational tools such as murals, posters, diptyches, etc.
MODULE II – GENDER AND VIOLENCE
A) Deliver concepts that help to have a look on gender in relation with abuse and discrimination situations.
B)Develop a historical outlook of discrimination situations lived by women and the fight of their rights.
MODULE III – WOMAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS
A) Know the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its importance as a mechanism that establishes the normative that the countries should assume before it.
B) Know International Conventions that Chile have confirmed and bind the State to give the necessary conditions for their fulfillment.
C) Know International Organizations that watch over the fulfillment of the Universal Letter and ratified Conventions.
D) Implementation of the Modules: 1. Gender identity, Discrimination and Human Rights. 2. Our Rights as Human Beings.
Innovation
Description of Initiative
The process of this experience starts when we receive the woman victim of violence to detect psychological, physical, sexual or economic abuse. Then, she receives legal and psychological counseling and she receive a three months treatment which consists on welcome, self-esteem and independece workshops. After this, she joins self-help groups.
In 2005, two projects came up from the self-help groups. The participants had detected that one of the main causes of abuse was the economic dependence. These groups formed the two first Women Labor Cooperatives. The members of these cooperatives all have suffered from domestic violence.
DEVELOPED PROCESS
Stage N° 1. STRENGTHENING THE INTEGRITY OF THE SELF-HELP GROUPS
MODULE I – COMMUNICATION
A) Deliver necessary tools to better the communication inside the groups.
B) Develop right communicative processes that help to defend their rights.
C) Promote the search of information as a necessary mechanism to update their rights and duties.
D) Develop agendas that give priority to the needs related to personal development.
E) Design and make communicational tools such as murals, posters, diptyches, etc.
MODULE II – GENDER AND VIOLENCE
A) Deliver concepts that help to have a look on gender in relation with abuse and discrimination situations.
B)Develop a historical outlook of discrimination situations lived by women and the fight of their rights.
MODULE III – WOMAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS
A) Know the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its importance as a mechanism that establishes the normative that the countries should assume before it.
B) Know International Conventions that Chile have confirmed and bind the State to give the necessary conditions for their fulfillment.
C) Know International Organizations that watch over the fulfillment of the Universal Letter and ratified Conventions.
D) Implementation of the Modules: 1. Gender identity, Discrimination and Human Rights. 2. Our Rights as Human Beings.
Innovation
A woman that suffered abuse has a low self-esteem, does not establish supporting nets, does not participate in organization, does not consider herself as someone with rights and does not recognize them. This experience has helped her to get back her independence and self-esteem and her capacity to make decisions and to recognize her rights. Besides, she achieves to be part of groups, be a leader and create initiatives on her own. It is an innovative experience because women victim of abuse for years achieve to generate development initiatives that help them to be economically independent. They are generators and administrators of their initiatives; they join training and participation programs and they get access to the authorities.
The initiative that we want to highlight is the one that emerges from the self-help groups generated during 2005 where women rescue their capacity and creativity creating a life project. The exposed initiative shows how these women are creators of their projects, eradicating one of the main causes of their violence situation.
This experience has generated new goals in the Center that are related to areas that are not of its competence such as:
A) Legal Counseling for the creation of the cooperatives
B) Coordination with public organizations from the productive sector
Delivery Model
The center has developed different communicational strategies that consist on informative fairs where the community expresses their worries and needs. The activities of the center are also promoted in the media, especially on the radio.
Women that are part of the initiative promote their activities through:
• The resgistration as suppliers on the website Chile Compra.
• The design of a corporative image, printing business cards and distributing them in different places.
• Meetings with local authorities and local business men to promote their work.
• Media participation (newspapers, TV, radio).
Key Operational Partnerships
The center is a member of a communal net for Prevention of Domestic Violence. The aims of this net are:
A) Invite the community to be an active part in the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse and promote individual and collective initiatives.
B) Coordinate and make more visible the private and public offer in this matter through a coordination space that promotes the existent resources and makes more efficient the assistance and prevention of domestic violence.
C) Call people from Chile to commit to better family relationships and to protect the rights of each member, avoiding violence, abuse and child abuse.
Impact
Financial Model
The centers are non-profit organizations that give free assistance to all women victims of violence older than 18 years old
The entrepreneurships of these women have been financed by public institutions and the professionals of the center have supported the design and production of the projects. The assistance centers lack of own resources to finance the projects or initiatives of the women.
What percentage, if any, of the total operating costs does earned income (from products, services, or other fees) represent?
tbd
How is the initiative financed? Is it financially self-sustainable or profitable? How much do beneficiaries contribute?
see above
Effectiveness
From 2004 to 2006 the number of women that have received direct support is 1,018.
There are two areas inside the entrepreneurships of these women:
Handicraft area: Most important actions developed:
• Awarding of funds of a total amount of USD 1,500. They were used to get supplies and necessary machinery to develop their activity.
• Participation in national and international handicraft fairs.
• Presentation of the products to the organization Fair Trade – Comparte.
Catering Service Area: Most important actions developed:
• Awarding of funds of a total amount of USD 7,700. They were used to get supplies and necessary machinery to develop their activity.
• Registration at suppliers in the website Chile Compra
• Presentation of the services to public and private organizations
• Awarded at the international competition of Fondo Esperanza.
How many people have benefited from your program over the last year? Which element of the program proved itself most effective?
From 2004 to 2006 the number of women that have received direct support is 1,018.
Scaling up Strategy
The priority for the center is to continue supporting initiatives that strengthen the development of women human rights and their initiatives.
The priority for the women is to grow and give working possibilities to other women that suffer domestic violence situations.
Stage of the Initiative
1
Origin of the Initiative
The Woman National Service, which mission is to propose, design and coordinate policies, plans, legal reforms that lead to equal rights between men and women, took the responsibility to contribute for the eradication of domestic violence problems. In the fulfillment of this mandate, it created the Comprehensive Assistance Centers for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. Interdisciplinary teams work together to give specialized assistance to women that suffer this problem using the ecologic model.
The Comprehensive Assistance Center for the Family Liwen is a center born in La Serena thanks to an agreement between the Municipality of La Serena and the Woman National Service to give assistance to women victims of violence in Elqui province.
The center counts with a multidisciplinary team formed by 1 lawyer, 1 social worker, 1 psychologist, 2 monitors, and 1 secretary.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate?
We knew about the competition through Internet.
We want to better our tools and to incentive women victims of violence. They are interested in bettering their conditions and in living a life without abuse.
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up
The experience developed with these women expresses the challenge that means to face the abuse problem suffered..
Economic Dependence – The existent inequalities for women to get a job are an adverse effect to reach economic independence. From this point of view, it is possible to see the poverty situation that some women suffer. They do not have access to health, education, social nets; they cannot practice their sexual and reproductive rights; they have less participation and less opportunity to express their opinions.
Poverty – Studies made by the Inter-American Development Bank say that there is a close relation between poverty and violence and state that poverty is a risk factor that might end in abuse situation inside homes. It is also said that poverty is a consequence of violence; it impoverishes and stops economic development because the State has to spend money to assist people affected.
Main Financial Challenges
The financial obstacle that affects us is not having necessary resources to support the new initiatives of women. In the last three years we have welcomed more than one thousand women victim of domestic violence; 60% of them are housewives in a limit financial situation.
After these women cut relations with the abuser, they will need to join the labor market or generate an activity to get money for them and their families. This situation will make them face a society that has only included 35% of women into the labor market.
The challenge is to get national or international funds to create a special fund for the initiatives of women victims of violence so they can better their lives. It is also necessary that the center counts with professionals that help to solve problems that women have to face:
• Difficulty to increase accumulation level and to create an independent business plan.
• There is thin line between how they mange the business budget and the family one.
• Less access to resources because of legal and cultural barriers and less personal income.
• Skills in devaluated trades
• Narrow territorial cover
• Less time because they have housework besides their jobs.
Main Partnership Challenges
n/a
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