Women’s bodies have been primary battlegrounds in conflicts from Bosnia to Iraq. Our grants provide critical services to survivors and help them become advocates for lasting change that can bring an end to all forms of violence. Over the last five years, The Global Fund for Women has awarded 702 grants totaling more than $8.8 million to women’s groups that help protect women from violence through programs like these:

Grantee: Yayasan Sanggar Suara Perempuan (SSP – Space for Women Voices)

Location: Timor, Indonesia

Situation: Nusa Tenggara Timur is one of the poorest provinces in Indonesia, with women’s health indicators also among the lowest in the country. According to the group, reported cases of violence against women are rising, which it partially attributes to more women becoming aware of their human rights and gaining the courage to speak up. In Indonesia, the patriarchal community, religion, culture, and customs make it difficult to talk about violence against women.

Program: SSP provides counseling and legal assistance to survivors of gender-based violence. In 2006, a GFW grant enabled SSP to support 128 cases regarding women and child survivors of violence. As SSP monitors each step in the legal process, law enforcers have become more proactive in settling cases. As a result, several domestic and sexual violence offenders have been convicted.

Total GFW Grants: $44,050

Grantee: Alliance Against Trafficking in Women and Children in Nepal (AATWIN)

Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

Situation: Armed conflict in Nepal resulted in internally displaced people becoming more vulnerable to unsafe migration and trafficking. This situation is exacerbated by the discrimination that Nepalese women face in regards to employment and wages, labor rights, foreign employment rights and inheritance rights.

Program: AATWIN advocates and campaigns against human trafficking and violence against women, promotes network-building, and operates an information and resource center in Kathmandu. Trafficking survivors are represented in the group’s leadership and decision-making positions. The group plans to conduct legal capacity-building workshops in ten districts to increase awareness and implementation of an anti-trafficking law that was passed in 2007. The group also produces a biannual publication, Osar Posar, on issues of gender and women’s rights.

Total GFW Grants: $9,000

Grantee: Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (RDFL)

Location: Beirut, Lebanon

Situation: Like many places around the world, domestic violence is an oppressive force in Lebanon. Women’s inequality in matters of law, economy, and politics leads to the pervasiveness of the problem.

Program: RDFL works to raise awareness of violence against women. The group sees the problem with domestic violence and violence as being related to other cultural, social, economic and political factors. With its recent GFW grant, RDFL provided legal and psychological counseling to 565 victims of violence at its listening centers.

Total GFW Grants: $134,000