Living free from violence

Children & youth

May 20

Who: FOKUS – Forum for Women and Development

What: Preventing violence against women and girls

Where: Tanzania and Guatemala

Project period: 2023-2025

He would beat me almost every day. I tried to stop him but that just lead to more abuse and violence. He kept on beating me and leaving us to fend for ourselves with no money. He took everything in the house even our mattress, I slept on the floor with my children. I am now getting help from FOKUS’ partners and activists trying to fight for my rights.
- Shida Ramadhani

Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread human rights violations of our time and constitutes a great barrier to achieving gender equality. FOKUS’ project “Living free from violence” will with the support of the Grieg Foundation strengthen mechanisms to tackle violence against women and girls in Tanzania and Guatemala, across the whole spectrum from prevention and protection to response.

The key objective of the project is to prevent violence against women and girls, meaning stopping violence before it occurs and reducing ongoing violence. This includes child marriage and unwanted pregnancies. Furthermore, the project will ensure that survivors receive quality services intending to reduce the harmful consequences of violence after it has occurred, such as legal and psychosocial services. By boosting the capacity of women’s organizations, marginalized women and girls will be empowered to claim their rights and become agents of change in their communities.

The social acceptance of gender-based violence remains high both in Tanzania and Guatemala, as a result of gender discriminatory social norms, behaviour and attitudes. Consequently, women and girls continue to be exposed to alarming levels of violence throughout their lives. In Tanzania, 50% of all ever-married women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetime and in Guatemala, more than 8100 cases of sexual violence against girls were registered in 2021 alone. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation and increased the risk of gender-based violence, child marriage and unwanted pregnancies among women and girls.

I was married for 10 years and had 3 children with my husband. I tried to convince him to let me go out and find a job but he would get mad at me and sometimes very violent. When FOKUS’ partner in Tanzania asked if I wanted to join their campaign to fight for women's rights I saw a little bit of hope. I knew these women would be able to help me.
- Mariam Daniel

The project will take place in six districts in Guatemala and two districts in Tanzania. The primary target groups are vulnerable girls and women, including indigenous women and girls, living in some of the districts with the highest prevalence of gender-based violence in these countries. Men and boys are also an important target group, as their involvement is essential to changing harmful social norms. For the same reason, local government officials and indigenous authorities will be involved as well.

Former FOKUS projects on the prevention of sexual and gender-based have achieved great results. In 2021, more than 880 indigenous women and girls survivors of violence were provided with legal and psychosocial support and 308 cases of violence were reported to law enforcement. Almost 2800 women, girls and men gained awareness and knowledge about gender-based violence, and the capacities of 482 ancestral authorities, justice operators, indigenous midwives (comadronas), municipal authorities, journalists and women leaders from communities were strengthened to address gender-based violence. Male perpetrators part-taking in programmes by FOKUS’ implementing partners reported being less violent, consuming less alcohol and being more affectionate with children.

FOKUS – Forum for Women and Development is a member-based knowledge and resource centre on international gender issues. The umbrella consists of 47 member organizations from various spheres of Norwegian society. FOKUS works to strengthen women's rights and opportunities through development programmes in seven countries, as well as through political advocacy in Norway and internationally. Our main objective is to contribute to the realization of SDG5 - to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.