Every day, everywhere, women and girls face violence. This ranges from emotional and psychological to physical and sexual. Through the Funding Leadership and Opportunities for Women (FLOW) fund, we aim to strengthen women and girls to live a life free from violence and as active citizens.
The programme focuses on elimination of violence against women and girls in three countries affected by conflict: Burundi, Liberia and Guatemala.
As widely recognized, violence against women and girls is one of the most systematic and pervasive abuses of human rights, directly affecting one in three women globally and indirectly affecting all women and girls. It is both an extreme manifestation of gender inequality and a means of perpetuating it.
Women and girls living in poverty or conflict are at greater risk of experiencing gender based violence due to the absence or weakness in national systems to prevent and protect women from violence along with impunity due to poorly functioning judicial systems. The measures to support victims are likewise often not in place. The FLOW programme works holistically and in an integrated manner to address such flaws under the headline of Transformative Justice.
Oxfam IBIS is the grant holder, and the program is implemented by a consortium consisting of Oxfam IBIS (Denmark) and Impunity Watch (the Netherlands) in close collaboration with national partners in the three countries.
Title: "Women, adolescents and girls in Guatemala, Liberia and Burundi live a life free of violence and as active citizens”
Grant total: 10.646.144 Euro
Grant period: 5 years (from January 1st 2016 to December 31st 2020)
Funded by: The Dutch Ministry for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
Jennifer was sexually abused and got pregnant as a teenager. She was very close to giving up on life before it really started. But a local women's group helped her out on the other side
In theory, violence against women is illegal in Guatemala. But in reality, the perpetrators are almost never punished. It can and must change, says judge Verónica de León Xovin - a woman who really changes the world
Until a few years ago, women's rights were not discussed in the village of Janzon in Liberia. Then the strong women of the village joined forces, and now they are demanding more influence and equality.
It is not right that someone can rape a little girl and never go to prison – but this can happen when cases are settled in the 'traditional' system rather than in the judicial system. In collaboration with Liberia police and nurses, Oxfam is trying to get more women to report gender-based violence.
Mariah, mother of Janet, 28, mentally handicapped and deaf as a result of epilepsy: “It makes me so angry to think about what happened to my daughter...
Beatrice is one of the thousands of girls and women who experience violence and rape in Liberia every year. Every single number in those statistics hides a tragic story like hers.