Gender-Based Violence: WID Office Activities
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The mother of the baby being held by his father in this photo died during childbirth, and her only sister, pictured on the left,
was forced to marry the man because of the tradition of having to "inherit" her sister's position as wife and mother. She was nine years-old at the time.
Two years on, through the support of the Healthy Unions Project, local authorities are now handling the case so that the girl can get divorced and
go to school.
Photo Credit: Assefa Amenu/CARE |
Below is a list of the current activities and recent activities on gender-based violence funded by the Office of Women
in Development (WID). Click here for list of gender-based violence activities funded by other USAID offices.
Current WID Activities
USAID Awards $2.8 Million to Combat Child Marriage and Gender-Based Violence in South Asia
The Healthy Unions project strives to educate and encourage change within communities in Ethiopia regarding the harmful traditional practices of bride abduction,
bride price and early marriage. Read more...
Through this task order, the Office of Women in Development aims to create safe school environments for girls and boys that promote gender-equitable
relationships and reduce school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV).
Read more...
The goal of the Through our Eyes project is to support the capacity of local communities to influence changes in attitudes and behavior in order to reduce
violence against women and girls. Beneficiaries include displaced and returning populations in Liberia; Afghan refugees in Pakistan; and Congolese refugees
in Rwanda. Read more...
The marriage of girls under 18 is a common practice in many developing countries. USAID recognizes the critical issue of child marriage
especially as it impedes our development efforts and undermines the health and well-being of women and girls worldwide.Read more...
Recent WID Activities
The 16 Days Campaign, started in 1991, has been used as an organizing strategy by individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
This initiative advanced the legal, civil, property, and human rights of women.
- In partnership with the Guatemala Public Ministry and Supreme Court, WLR produced and distributed 30,000 posters about violence against women. This public awareness campaign united justice-sector groups with grassroots organizations for the provision of legal aid to women victims of violence. Also in Guatemala, WLR trained nearly 50 community women as certified paralegals, in connection with an advocacy project by one of the graduates of the Gender and Law diploma program. The paralegals in turn assisted more than 5,000 women suffering from domestic violence.
- In Albania, WLR partnered with a prominent local NGO to develop legislation against domestic violence. The NGO employed a novel participatory process, the "citizens' petition," to introduce the bill to the Albanian Parliament. WLR also designed an extensive training program for government officials and NGOs to create a community-coordinated response to domestic violence in which victims' psychological, legal, health, and social needs would be addressed in a coordinated, holistic fashion.
- In Benin, WLR supported the development of a landmark legislation to address sexual harassment, a critical problem for girls and women in schools, at home, and in the workplace.
- In Mozambique, WLR partnered with an NGO network and the
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to develop a draft law on trafficking
in persons (TIPs) as there was no existing legislation prohibiting
the practice.
- In Rwanda, together with an umbrella network of women's organizations, WLR helped empower organizations working on gender-based violence and facilitated groups working on media strategy and gender and social justice.
USAID's Women in Development Office supported the work of Georgetown University Law Center, International Women's Human Rights Clinic, and four women's rights NGOs from Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria.
The program worked to improve women's lives through concrete legal reform measures and public education designed to ensure that the new laws would be effectively implemented.
Focus areas were: domestic violence; reforming discriminatory marital property, inheritance and land ownership law; polygyny; ending employment discrimination; political empowerment;
ending trafficking in women. Read More...
The project goal was to enhance community-based efforts to protect women's legal rights in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically in Colombia, Mexico and the
Dominican Republic.
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Child Marriage
