These Projects Are Working to Stop Gender Violence

February 26, 2021 10 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Violence against women is the most widespread violation of women’s human rights that affects women around the world, both in private and public spaces. Globally, one in three women have suffered physical and / or sexual violence, and in some countries this proportion increases to seven out of 10, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In Mexico, according to INEGI’s National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relationships (ENDIREH), seven out of 10 women have suffered at least one incident of violence at some point in their life and during COVID-19 this problem was has increased. The WHO warned last November that for every three months that the lockdown lasts, another 15 million women globally are expected to be affected by violence.

The US-based direct selling company Avon has had the mission of empowering women globally for 125 years and for 15 years has led efforts to address the fight against violence, fostering dialogue and raising awareness about their different forms, providing information to recognize and actively respond to these types of situations.

This Thursday the company carried out the delivery of donations to the winning foundations of the Avon Promise Call to End Violence against Women 2020. For the first time, organizations in Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic were awarded, benefiting more than 10 million 877,830 pesos to 16 projects that positively impact more than 148,000 people. The programs impact indigenous communities, young people, pregnant women, girls, boys and adolescents.

“Avon has always strived to improve the living conditions of women, providing them with opportunities and sensitizing society to important issues such as gender-based violence. Since 2004, we have been dealing with different initiatives, informing the population about this social problem that afflicts us all. It is our mission and commitment to continue generating awareness in both men and women, hand in hand with great allies, as this cause is of the whole of society ”, said Magdalena Ferreira Lamas, Avon Vice President and General Manager for the North Latin American markets.

^{Source: Avon}

Support for Chiapas

In Mexico, a donation of 5 million 183,717 pesos was made, which will benefit more than 70,489 people. Among the eight winning projects, the one that will be executed in the Tzeltal communities in the municipality of Ocosingo, Chiapas under the responsibility of the Asociación Mexicana de Transformación Rural y Urbana AC, which seeks to reduce gender violence with the implementation of the methodology of the Community Narrative Practice (CNP).

The project will provide tools to overcome the shame of talking about these topics considered taboo through the use of books with illustrated stories, with narratives similar to those that women face, to dialogue about the problem, without talking about their private lives but about the stories of those fictional characters.

“We are very happy as an Amextra community to collaborate with Avon this year to put an end to gender violence in Mexico. Through our Community Narrative Practice project, 25 stories are illustrated that will facilitate dialogue with women, men and young people from 10 Tzeltal communities in Ocosingo, Chiapas, fostering analysis and solution proposals by the participants themselves, to change relationship models that they give way to violence ”, said Verónica Vera, head of the project of the Mexican Association for Rural and Urban Transformation AC

Central America and the Dominican Republic

For the Avon Central America and Dominican Republic region, which includes the countries of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic, the donation is USD $ 281,447.48 for 7 foundations in 5 countries.

The 2020 Call invited organizations, associations and foundations to apply for their projects and obtain a donation in order to implement them in the following areas of impact:

• Strengthening of institutions dedicated to protection, support and assistance.
• Preventive awareness raising public awareness and social mobilization.
• Education for prevention from the young so that they promote equality and solidarity between the genders.
• Strengthen the economic empowerment of women to obtain economic and employment opportunities and thereby prevent them from experiencing situations of violence, exploitation and abuse.

More than 111 projects were received, of which eight winners were selected in Mexico and eight in Central America and the Dominican Republic, thanks to the participation of a group of professional experts on issues of gender equality, human rights, social and legal psychology, violence. , communication, who carried out a strict evaluation and assigned a score taking into account the aspects of innovation, impact, coherence, management and execution within a year.

The fundraising is done through the purchase and sale of products with an Avon cause, with which the representatives play a very important role, since they selflessly join and do not receive any commission for the sale of these products. This union is so that more women have the opportunity to break the cycle of violence and have a full and happy life.

^{Source: Avon}

The winning projects

Mexico:

MATERNANDO AC

• Amount $ 352,200.00 pesos.
• Project: For Pregnancies and Violence-Free Maternities.
• General Objective: Address the violence that arises during pregnancy, postpartum and motherhood from the public and private perspective, through a model of comprehensive care and support and breaking myths about motherhood, where the central line is to create healthy motherhoods, inclusive, independent and free from violence.
• Beneficiaries : 350 Women in pregnancy, postpartum and upbringing in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

MEXICAN FOUNDATION FOR FAMILY PLANNING AC

• Amount $ 796,000.00 pesos.
• Project: The Power of Your Voice, awareness and prevention of violence through the Mexfam Help Line.
• General Objective: Reduce the cases of violence experienced by Mexican women, through the comprehensive service of counseling, guidance and psychological-emotional care of the Mexfam Help Line, which allows them to increase their self-esteem and make decisions to break behavior patterns , based on cycles of violence and access to a better life.
• Beneficiaries: 60,000 Women with some type of violence nationwide.

ORIGEN AC FOUNDATION

• Amount $ 600,000.00 pesos
• Project: Origin Helpline Program (LAO)
• General Objective: Guarantee comprehensive assistance, protection and reparation to women victims of gender violence in Mexico and promote their empowerment through a comprehensive support service (psychological, legal and medical), which avoids re-victimization and contributes to preventing violence of genre.
• Beneficiaries : 8,000 Women victims of violence nationwide.

MEXICAN ASSOCIATION OF RURAL AND URBAN TRANSFORMATION AC

• Amount $ 495,793.00 pesos.
• Project : Ending Violence through Community Narrative Practice.
• General Objective: To contribute to reducing gender violence in indigenous Tzeltal communities, through the implementation of the Community Narrative Practice (CNP) methodology.
• Beneficiaries: 100 women and men from Tzeltal communities in Ocosingo Chiapas.

LABORATORY OF IMAGINATION AND SOCIAL ACTION AC (IMAGINALCO)

• Amount $ 469,200.00 pesos.
• Project: Safe girls, full girls. Detection, prevention and care of child sexual abuse in the State of Mexico.
• General Objective: Protect the rights to development and a life free of violence in girls, boys and adolescents through the prevention of child sexual abuse and the timely attention of its effects.
• Beneficiaries: 325 Women and adolescents from 6 to 18 years old in Malinalco, State of Mexico.

YOUNG BUILDERS OF THE AC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

• Amount $ 1,191,524.00 pesos.
• Project: Jóvenes con Rumbo, for the prevention of violence against women (JcR)
• General Objective: Reduce gender violence through the empowerment and strengthening of life and work skills of young women and men at risk, so that they encourage gender equality and solidarity in their daily actions and thus improve their living conditions and those of their community.
• Beneficiaries: 114 Women and men between 17 and 29 years old in Tijuana and CDMX.

IAP YOUTH SUPPORT FOUNDATION

• Amount $ 617,000.00 pesos.
• Project: Youth is without violence: Promoters and promoters for gender equality.
• General Objective: Provide young people with psychosocial tools that facilitate the detection and prevention of gender violence.  
• Beneficiaries: 1,250 young women and men from upper secondary schools in areas of high social backwardness in CDMX.

AC SOCIAL IMPULSOR HUB

• Amount $ 662,000.00 pesos.
• Project: Program of Entrepreneurship Led by Women (PELM).
• General Objective: Contribute to the prevention and eradication of social and economic violence present in 350 women heads of families who work in traditional businesses in the vicinity of the municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, through a program of empowerment, education and social entrepreneurship.
• Beneficiaries : 350 women heads of household.

Central America and the Dominican Republic

CICAM CENTER FOR RESEARCH, TRAINING AND SUPPORT FOR WOMEN:

• Amount USD $ 40,275.89
• Project : Transforming lives of women and youth, living free of violence.
• General Objective: Contribute to the fulfillment of SDG 5 gender equality and SDG 10 reduction of inequality, as well as involve the justice sector in the monitoring process for the eradication of gender violence).
• BENEFICIARIES: 250
• COUNTRY: GUATEMALA

SURVIVORS FOUNDATION

• Amount USD $ 29,871.79
• Project: Healing and empowering women and adolescents victims of violence.
• General Objective: Provide group psychological care to 100 women and adolescent victims in four virtual and / or face-to-face workshops. Objective 2. Provide 100 INTECAP scholarships to women and adolescents who complete the group therapy process. Implementation time: 12 months.
• BENEFICIARIES: 100
• COUNTRY: GUATEMALA.

ORMUSA

• Amount USD $ 72,397.80
• Project: Building strategies to end violence against women in El Salvador.
• General Objective: Build strategies and actions at the local and national level that increase information, awareness and public awareness for the prevention and care of violence against women, particularly sexual violence and femicide.
• BENEFICIARIES: 55,000
• COUNTRY: EL SALVADOR

KEYS FOUNDATION

• Amount USD $ 36,940.00
• Project: Prevention of violence against adolescents, young people and women in the context of two epidemics HIV and COVID19.
• General Objective: To develop actions that generate an impact on respect for human rights, generating evidence that contributes to promoting affirmative actions for the well-being of women’s sexual and reproductive rights, as well as actions for the prevention and attention to violence against women. women affected by HIV in the Covid-19 pandemic.
• BENEFICIARIES: 450
• COUNTRY: HONDURAS .

PADILLA VISIT

• Amount USD $ 16,000.00
• Project: Revolutionizing approaches against violence through virtual attention.
• General Objective: Strengthen the autonomy of women. Defend and promote the human rights of women, particularly the right to a life free of violence, femicides and the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights. Structure and strengthen a feminist movement at the national level for a society of women in equity.
• BENEFICIARIES: 51
• COUNTRY: HONDURAS

MORGAN FOUNDATION

• Amount: USD $ 8,050.00
• Project: Project to sensitize adolescents in building relationships free of violence.
• General purpose:
• Sensitize adolescents (12 to 18) men and women from vulnerable communities in Panama City in tools for building affective relationships free of gender violence.
• Sensitize parents and caregivers in the prevention of domestic violence, and attend to cases identified in the legal sphere.
• BENEFICIARIES: 21,000
• COUNTRY: PANAMA

MORGAN FOUNDATION

• Amount: USD $ 13,000.00
• Project: Project to sensitize and increase public awareness about violence against women through digital and radio media.
• General Objective: This project is aimed at men and women at the national level and the area of impact will be “Awareness for prevention; increase public awareness and social mobilization; creation of a sensitive public opinion ”. The objective of the project is to sensitize the population about the seriousness and reality of violence against women and break gender stereotypes, using literature, podcasts and radio to achieve a greater reach.
• BENEFICIARIES: 90
• COUNTRY: PANAMA

FOUNDATION RESCUING BUTTERFLIES:

• Amount: USD $ 64,912.00
• Project: I am Niña Mariposa and I am building my future .
• General Objective: Tutorial training, in which the girls will receive various, brief and precise Handicraft Workshops, accompanied by human training and violence prevention .
• BENEFICIARIES: 1,100
• COUNTRY: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC