School of Legal Training for Women
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
No Private Matter! Ending Abuse in Intimate & Family Relations competition.
The school of Legal Training for Women can be described as a community educational Project, that shares legal knowledge with women who are community leaders, through their participation in training sessions, so they later provide legal advise and/or support women who are victims of domestic violence in their claims before the justice.
The training process developed inside the school, aims at providing women with legal knowledge related to their rights as subjects of the law, which includes elements from General Law, understanding of the State and the legal frame where women rights rule, in particular the Criminal Code, Criminal Process Code and laws related to the protection of their rights to life, physical, psychological, sexual and economical integrity, such as Law 230 ( Law for the Prevention and Punishment of domestic violence), Law 150 (Law of Sexual Crimes), Law of Alimony, Law of Citizen Participation and Municipal Law. We also educate on the building of the gender, the feminine identity, processes of emotional recovery and the facilitation of self help groups.
Once they have completed the training, the women get a certificate as “community Defendants” and the are identified in their communities where there usually isn’t any kind of women support, with the knowledge and the will to advise and accompany women to complain against domestic violence.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Focus of activity
Direct Support
Year the initiative began
2004
Position your initiative on the mosaic of solutions
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Insensitive & Unresponsive Systems
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
School of Legal Training for Women
Describe Your Idea
The school of Legal Training for Women can be described as a community educational Project, that shares legal knowledge with women who are community leaders, through their participation in training sessions, so they later provide legal advise and/or support women who are victims of domestic violence in their claims before the justice.
The training process developed inside the school, aims at providing women with legal knowledge related to their rights as subjects of the law, which includes elements from General Law, understanding of the State and the legal frame where women rights rule, in particular the Criminal Code, Criminal Process Code and laws related to the protection of their rights to life, physical, psychological, sexual and economical integrity, such as Law 230 ( Law for the Prevention and Punishment of domestic violence), Law 150 (Law of Sexual Crimes), Law of Alimony, Law of Citizen Participation and Municipal Law. We also educate on the building of the gender, the feminine identity, processes of emotional recovery and the facilitation of self help groups.
Once they have completed the training, the women get a certificate as “community Defendants” and the are identified in their communities where there usually isn’t any kind of women support, with the knowledge and the will to advise and accompany women to complain against domestic violence.
Innovation
Description of Initiative
The school of Legal Training for Women can be described as a community educational Project, that shares legal knowledge with women who are community leaders, through their participation in training sessions, so they later provide legal advise and/or support women who are victims of domestic violence in their claims before the justice.
The training process developed inside the school, aims at providing women with legal knowledge related to their rights as subjects of the law, which includes elements from General Law, understanding of the State and the legal frame where women rights rule, in particular the Criminal Code, Criminal Process Code and laws related to the protection of their rights to life, physical, psychological, sexual and economical integrity, such as Law 230 ( Law for the Prevention and Punishment of domestic violence), Law 150 (Law of Sexual Crimes), Law of Alimony, Law of Citizen Participation and Municipal Law. We also educate on the building of the gender, the feminine identity, processes of emotional recovery and the facilitation of self help groups.
Once they have completed the training, the women get a certificate as “community Defendants” and the are identified in their communities where there usually isn’t any kind of women support, with the knowledge and the will to advise and accompany women to complain against domestic violence.
Innovation
This training model has the following characteristics;
1. The identification of women leaders in each community who are already providing support to women who are victims of domestic violence, but who lack the legal knowledge to do a better job.
2. Within their communities, these women are regarded with respect since in their poorly educated communities; they are considered students with legal qualifications and knowledge. This new condition contributes to change in the collective imaginary the common perception of women as “house wives”, with no skills to play any other role in society.
3. and finally it important to note that between 85 % and 90% of the women who have completed the program, have continued with further studies, and have become legal facilitators and arbitrators in their communities. They have gained the recognition from the police and justice authorities to carry this work.
Delivery Model
The training process is not carried out in a centralized manner, but it is developed in each community. This eliminates the obstacles so women can participate in the whole program. The organization is coordinated by the networks of women members of Asociación de Mujeres de Chinandega, who develop the student selection process and e
The Community Defendants contact the victims of domestic violence through different channels; :
• Because of their public recognition, women sep the advise and support of the Community defendants.
• They are contacted through women’s groups that already exist within their communities.
• The Community Defendants identify women and children who are victims of violence within their communities and offer support.
The School and the work of the Defendants is periodically evaluated by the Coordination in the School along with the networks of women in the communities where the Project takes place.
Key Operational Partnerships
The School implemntation has been posible thanks to some important partnerships;
The first one is with the Centre of Constitutional Rights, an NGO specializing in the study of legislation and that has developed the training methodology used at our school. With help of the CCR our facilitators do their work.
The second partnership is the one that we make with the local women communities, who provide the venues for the meetings and the follow up as well as the evaluation of the training process and the performance of the /community Defendants.
Although it isn’t one of the most strong, the partnership with the local governments, which provide financial resources, food or materials to foster the students participation in the rural communities.
The fourth partnership is with the public institutions in charge of administering justice, such as the National Police, the local Courts, the Attorney General, the Public Ministry to gain the recognition of the Community Defendants in their role of supporting victims from domestic violence.
Finally we have partnerships with other women organizations such as the Network of Women Against Violence and the Autonomous Women’s Movement in order to build a national proposal and advance our work.
Impact
Financial Model
Among the mechanism we have incorporated there is the criteria that the women who enter the program must be natural leaders and already have social recognition and who have the will of helping other women. This contributes to the effectiveness of the process since these women are not strangers to their communities and it also helps its sustainability since the investment in human capital stays in the communities.
What percentage, if any, of the total operating costs does earned income (from products, services, or other fees) represent?
0
How is the initiative financed? Is it financially self-sustainable or profitable? How much do beneficiaries contribute?
The School has three sources of financing:
1. The local women’s organizations that provide the infrastructure for the meetings
2. Local governments that provide the food for the partcipants
3. The Centre for Constitutional Rights that provide technical support and oversees the educational work of the school.
4. Help from international cooperation agencies that provide resources for travel, accommodation, meals for the participants and honorariums for the facilitators
We have planed that a substantial part of the budget could be warranted by the Municipal Budget, in accordance to the agreements signed with their authorities. Thus their current contribution in the form of food and materials would become more permanent and therefore warrantee more stable operations of the School in the communities.
Effectiveness
Even though the School started in 1996,. when the first group of women was trained who now are facilitators for the School. For the first eight years its operations were irregular due to lack of financing and the need to have to contact the women groups each time to to the high migration rate in the area.
But in the past two years our operations have become more stable, which contributes to the strenghtment of the Project and allows a better quantification on the benefits brought by the program.
Among the most relevant elements to evaluate the impact of the School, we find the following;
• A 100% increase in the number of women, teenagers and children who have complained before the justice authorities about domestic and sexual violence.
• Changes in the attitudes within the communities towards women participation in the public field. We have a conducted research that throws these results..
• An evolution in the women who went through the program as participants and members of other initiatives. For example more than 80% of the women who have graduated from the program have conducted further studies to become Justice Mediators.
How many people have benefited from your program over the last year? Which element of the program proved itself most effective?
In the past two years the school has trained as Community Defendants 400 women from 20 different communities. They each have given support and advice to 50 women victims of domestic violence which gives a total of 2,000 from these communities who have benefited from the program.
Scaling up Strategy
In the first place reach financial sustainability for the Project through a commitment from the local governments to warrantee financing for the training sessions.
In the second place to obtain academic recognition from a form an educational institution so the women can have a formally recognized certification.
Thirdly to extend the School to other municipalities and areas of the country.
Stage of the Initiative
1
Origin of the Initiative
Two leaders from the Asociación de Mujeres de Chinandega Lucrecia Lindo, have been deputees to the Nacional Assembly of Nicaragua,none of them finished secondary school but through an informal training process and the leadership they have built in their communities that have done amost relevant work in the parliament. Their lack of formal ecuation was not a barrier to their success. Thus these two Maria Castillo and Teresa Delgado,it contacted the Centre for Constitucional Rights to train community leaders in in legal matters to improve their work. From this initiative come the idea of seting up the School. The first group of students was no bigger than six, theyr were trained and credited as Legal Defendants. Then they each went to their respective communities to share their knowledge providing legal support to women.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate?
A Canadian friend, Nadinne Jubb, re-sent the information in Spanish to the Nicaraguan Network of Women Against Violence.
Obviously the main incentive is to showcase at the international level the beautiful work carried by the women in Nicaragua, specially in Chinandega. On the other hand to obtain
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up
We have no political barriers, only financial, since our members come from very low income a community which limits the possibility of any financial contribution.
The second obstacle is political since it is important to have the support of the local governments but they often tied their support to political favors and want to politically influence the women of our program.
Main Financial Challenges
In order to gain sustainability we need:
1. Obtain U$ 25,000.00 a year to warrantee the honorariums of the facilitators, materials, transportation, etc.
2. Have the support of the local governments to warrantee the food for the participants.
Main Partnership Challenges
We have no political barriers, only financial, since our members come from very low income communities which limit the possibility of any financial contribution.
 | 317 weeks ago School of Legal Training for Women has been chosen as a finalist in No Private Matter! Ending Abuse in Intimate & Family Relations. |
