Indian woman, 2009. Photo by Brad Hall.

Global fund for Women joins millions of people in India and the world in the outcry against the gang rape and consequent death of the college student in Delhi, India.

Unfortunately, this incident is but the end of a spectrum of violence that Indian women face every day. On Wednesday a teenage gang rape victim from Punjab committed suicide after police there refused to even file a complaint. Adding further insult, police in the latter case suggested the young woman either marry one of her rapists or accept a financial settlement.

Each and every day, Global Fund grantees in India, like Bangalore based Vimochana are battling the rising tide of crimes committed against women – from “accidental deaths” of young women killed for more dowry, to women who venture out of the home to sexual harassment and rape. In Bangalore city, touted as India’s Silicon Valley, Vimochana notes “there were 97 registered rape cases in 2011 in Bangalore city which means 7 women victims each month.”

Despite ostensible gains for women’s rights in India, more women in positions of leadership in government, more women business leaders and more women than ever going out to work in India’s booming tech and call center industries, violence against women is increasing.

The issue at hand is not one of just ensuring the safety of women on India’s streets. There is blatant disregard for women’s rights at the very highest levels of governance in the country. All major political parties have fielded candidates for state elections that have included candidates who have declared on disclosure forms that they have been charged with rape. Six elected state legislators have charges of rape against them. Reports of rape by the police of women and girls in their custody across the country and by armed forces in regions of India like the northeast and Kashmir are commonplace. In 2011, rape rose nearly 10% over the previous year, with more than 24,000 reported cases, and with more than half of the victims aged between 18 and 30. Even its most benign form, the social attitudes that prevail have families insisting daughters go back to violent situations in their in-laws’ homes, and police and judges urging women reporting rape to “settle out of court” or marry the perpetrators.

Musimbi Kanyoro, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, strongly called on world leaders to act and stop this senseless violence on women, “The rape of women is trivialized all over the world. Can this death and the uncountable daily deaths and suffering continue to count for nothing?” We say no.

Women and girls around the world have a right to quality education. And every city, whether in the virtual world or the real world, needs adequate resources to break down the barriers that stop women and girls from going to school.

Unfortunately, that's not the case for many women and girls Global Fund supports. Forget about the lack of resources for school libraries and classroom projects, many women and girls can't even make it to school because of harassment and forced labor.

To help address these issues, CityVille 2 and Zynga.org have teamed up with Global Fund for Women to provide funding for women and girls' education. Now, when you purchase Cityville 2 decorations, proceeds go directly to Global Fund for Women. Read More »

Supriya Pillai, Global Fund for Women's newest and youngest board member.

“My personal motto is to live every day inspired; to be inspired and to be inspiring,” said 37-year-old Supriya Pillai, Global Fund for Women’s newest and youngest board member.

Supriya accepts the invitation to join Global Fund’s international board knowing her participation is more than just a fiduciary responsibility.

“We are amassed as a group of learners and advisors,” said Supriya. “It is such an honor to be asked, but also a responsibility as someone who cares about the women’s movement.”

This Is My Life

Supriya’s parents moved from India to Chicago before she was born. She visited her family in India often and when she turned 19, Supriya spent the summer in the Himalayas at a rural women’s cooperative.

“Whatever this is, working with these women, this is my life,” Supriya remembered saying to herself at 19. “Learning about their struggles and seeing how they organized really sparked something in me.”

When she moved to New York City in the late nineties, she became a writer for a hip-hop magazine and worked in politics. But her activism jumped to the next level when she met young people, whom she now calls her US comrades, organizing around police brutality issues.

Like a true human rights activist, she didn’t stop there. When she finished graduate school, she went to rural villages and cities in Guinea West Africa to work with women on economic rights and development.

“I’m very politically left, so I had theory up the wazoo about post-colonialism, but to put it in practice was another thing,” said Supriya. “I didn’t see [my role] as I was coming to help people; rather, how can I as an outsider work with folks in the global south?”

A Changing World

Supriya answers that very question every day as Senior Fellow and previous Executive Director of the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing, where she strengthens youth organizing and grassroots movements throughout the world.

“The world is changing and those most impacted by inequities are growing in numbers and they will be the largest voice,” said Supriya. “I hope that the many worlds I straddle will benefit the future of Global Fund for Women.”

Dr. Mukwege, Congolese gynecologist. Photo by African Press Organization.

The news was startling and saddening – Congolese gynecologist, Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has performed surgeries on countless women physically damaged by indescribable rape, was attacked and almost killed at his home on October 25.

Dr. Mukwege leads a team of doctors working in Congo’s embattled northeastern corridor, where rape is used by armed groups to traumatize communities in their quest for political power and control of lucrative minerals destined for eager international markets. The Global Fund for Women supports women’s organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo who liaise with Panzi Hospital, where Dr. Mukwege performs 2-4 restorative surgeries per woman.

Since 2006, Global Fund has supported over 52 groups in the Congo, with over $1 million in operating funds for essential services and programs that advance women’s rights. Essential services include counseling and healthcare for rape survivors, shelter for those thrown out of their homes by families casting blame, and skills training to help them get back on their feet and earn an income. It also includes support to accompany them to report the crimes to police, file court claims, and prepare them to testify in court against perpetrators. Dr. Mukwege’s work and that of women’s groups are intertwined – the physical and psychological reconstruction gives rape survivors hope that they can get back to being the indispensable members of society that they have always been.

These brave women and men cannot be taken for granted. Dr. Mukwege is part of the human rights movement that has risen up to put some teeth into Congo’s 2006 Sexual Violence Law, criminalizing violence against women. While perpetrators of rape and other types of violence rule with guns, human rights activists’ work via messages of peace, reconciliation and mutual respect. Because of their efforts, women are entering leadership positions that were once closed to them, demanding accountability in governance and the legal system, and demanding justice for women. Because of their efforts, U.N. reports naming the countries that support armed groups are getting international attention and calls to cut off development assistance. Because of their efforts, in February 2011, the world witnessed the first-ever conviction of an army officer who ordered his soldiers to rape. It was the testimony of rape survivors, who were prepared in part by Global Fund grantees that sealed the fate of the officer. Thanks to human rights activists, local groups are holding communities together in the absence of government-provided health services and schools. The price of 16 years of war is steep. Globally, Congo ranks #1 in hunger, and is among the worst in maternal mortality and unemployment. Yet, who is accountable? The arms flowing into the Congo are not made there. There was a time when these sexual crimes did not happen.

There are many “Dr. Mukwege’s” in Congo, individuals and community groups working without fanfare. You can be part of the solution by supporting this movement and standing with us to end the senseless violence once and for all.