02 December 2009

United States, South Asia Groups Empower Women to Fight Violence

United States aids efforts through funding and community initiatives

Students in Nangarhar hold their new backpacks, which read “Access to justice is the right of every man and woman.”

By Carrie Loewenthal Massey
Special Correspondent

Washington — Orzala Ashraf Nemat risked her safety for years to give other Afghan women a fighting chance at life.

As her country suffered under Taliban rule, she worked in secret to launch covert literacy and health education programs for women and girls. Nemat also founded Humanitarian Assistance to the Women and Children of Afghanistan (HAWCA), a Kabul-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that continues the fight to eliminate violence against women in the area.

The efforts led by Nemat and HAWCA epitomize the philosophy that empowering women is the best way to ensure that they cease to experience violence. HAWCA states on its Web site that its mission is to ensure the social well-being of all people, primarily women and children, and its goal is “to encourage the active participation of women in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan.”

Enabling women to become contributing members of society, as well as educating women on their rights and how to exercise these rights, is at the heart of the missions of several NGOs throughout South Central Asia that champion the elimination of violence against women. When women can advocate for themselves and support themselves financially, they can escape abusive situations.

While U.S.-based advocates have their own battle to wage at home — according to a 2003 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, 5.3 million American women are victims of violence by their partners each year — contributing to South Central Asian efforts remains a priority.

“The United States will continue to stand with women around the world to ensure that their rights are protected and respected, and that they have the opportunity to pursue an education, find a good job, live in safety and fulfill their own God-given potential,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Elimination of Violence Against Women Day, commemorated on November 25.

PROTECTING AND EDUCATING AFGHAN WOMEN

A leader in empowering women and protecting victims of violence, HAWCA has several ongoing projects. For example, since February 2004, the organization has run Safe House for Women at Risk, which establishes places of refuge for abused women. As of 2007, the initiative had supported three safe houses, two in Kabul and one in Herat province, with plans for expansion to other areas. The facilities not only offer temporary housing, but have also provided vocational training, counseling on civilian and legal rights, and classes on the basic values of democracy as well as literacy and health.

The safe houses take in women from different areas of the country, and from Iran and Pakistan, creating a diverse environment of people from different tribes and religions. As a result, teaching staff also impart lessons of tolerance and cooperation.

Support for the safe house project comes from collaboration with many different global agencies, including, in large part, from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to which the United States was the largest governmental donor in 2009.

The Afghan Institute for Learning (AIL), like HAWCA, directly correlates empowering women to eliminating violence against them. Sponsored by Creating Hope International, a Michigan-based NGO, AIL has trained more than 4,000 Afghan women and men in violence prevention. Women learn communication and leadership skills to enable participation in public and political life. According to the Creating Hope Web site, AIL has seen trainees transfer skills learned in the workshops to positions as representatives in a loya jirga, an Afghan grand assembly.

Using an Access to Justice Campaign poster, a USAID worker explains women’s right to inheritance to a woman in Baghlan.

Also in support of the effort to combat violence through women’s education, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) led a one-month public awareness movement in Nangarhar and Baghlan provinces in spring 2009. The Women’s Access to Justice Campaign sought to imbue women, as well as men, in rural and urban areas with a greater understanding of gender equality, women’s rights and the legal system. Spreading the message that “access to justice is the right of every man and woman” through broadcast media, printed posters, shopping bags, school bags and other everyday items, the campaign enjoyed a generally warm reception.

“We welcome this innovative approach to educating people about women’s rights. I promise that every family in our district will be informed of the theme of this campaign through our weekly meeting,” said Emam Ali, leader of the local shura (council) in one district in Baghlan.

FINANCING AND ENFRANCHISING THE WOMEN OF PAKISTAN

USAID also helps empower women in neighboring Pakistan.

On April 1, USAID and the U.S. Department of State jointly awarded a grant to the Kashf Foundation, a Pakistan-based microfinance group. The United States awarded the grant under the auspices of the One Woman Initiative, an international women’s empowerment fund administered by private and public sector partners, including USAID and the State Department. The initiative provides money to grass-roots organizations with a proven record of advancing opportunities for women in largely Muslim countries.

Kashf received the grant based on its past successes, one of which is Saima Muhammad, who once suffered daily beatings by her husband. According to an August 17 profile in the New York Times Magazine, Muhammad received a $65 loan from Kashf to buy beads and cloth to start an embroidery business. She sold her wares in the markets of Lahore, and quickly began making a profit. With her new earning potential came her husband’s new respect. She paid off the family’s debts and supported not only herself, but also her husband and children. The beatings, in large part, ceased, and her husband, who once only wanted sons, came to see his daughters as valuable members of society, according to the article.

Kashf’s grants are for 12 months and help provide small loans to women in rural areas to start their own businesses. The project will also include opening 10 new rural microfinance branch offices, training managers for each office and an empowerment study of new clients. Forty theater performances and 100 video presentations will also serve to teach the rural population about preventing violence against women, the value of education for women, family planning and health care.

To help more women like Muhammad overcome violence, The Asia Foundation, a San Francisco-based NGO, partnered with the Pakistani Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) to educate women on their civic rights and teach them voting procedures. In addition, the groups held 150 meetings with provincial and local election commission representatives to develop policies to alleviate gender-based discrimination and harassment. They also met with 1,100 religious leaders to discuss alternative interpretations of Islamic law. The Asia Foundation and FAFEN monitored the success of these efforts during the February 2008 parliamentary elections and issued a report with recommendations for protecting women at the polls in future elections.

STRENGTHENING LEGAL PROTECTION IN INDIA

While other South Central Asian countries do not yet have clear legislation on violence against women, India has a comprehensive law in place to criminalize it. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (PWDV) Act, passed in 2005, defines domestic violence and mandates a multitiered response to incidents of abuse that includes providing the victim with safe shelter, medical care and legal aid. Despite the protections of the law, India still struggles to combat gender-based violence.

At the forefront of the battle, the Lawyer’s Collective, an India-based NGO, seeks to empower women through the law. Its Women’s Rights Initiative is working to ensure effective implementation of the PWDV Act. With a grant from the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, to which the United States is a donor, the organization is trying to coordinate the efforts of the judiciary, protection officers, legal service providers, shelters and medical facilities in domestic violence cases. By training state agencies in effective multilevel responses to women victims, the organization ensures local authorities have the capacity to fulfill the PWDV Act’s mandate.

Other Indian NGOs, such as Prajwala (“intervention”), tackle violence prevention and victim rehabilitation. Prajwala, based in Hyderabad, focuses on sex trafficking and forced prostitution, with programs that include rescuing women, finding employment for survivors and providing extensive education to the younger generation on how to avoid being trafficked.

Also leading the fight against gender violence, the NGO Prajnya, based in Chennai, has organized a 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign. Running from Elimination of Violence Against Women Day to International Human Rights Day, November 25–December 10, the campaign includes workshops, roundtables, multimedia discussion forums, and activities and events to raise the profiles of service providers for victims and survivors of violence in the Chennai area.

Follow Prajnya’s 2009 campaign on the group’s blog.