Defending Democracy and Dismantling Violence: Community Mobilization in Guatemala and Tanzania
Who: FOKUS
What: Living Free from Violence
2023 was an election year in Guatemala, with an important level of social mobilisation to defend the election results. In September, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal was raided by the Prosecutor's Office with the intention of carrying out a technical coup d'état. This was the trigger for the Ancestral Authorities to install themselves in front of the Prosecutor's Office for peaceful resistance in order to defend the democracy demonstrated at the ballot box. This situation unleashed protests and road blockades due to the citizenry's weariness with the corruption practices that were becoming increasingly evident, as well as the setbacks in the area of human rights. Finally, Bernardo Arevalo was able to take office as new president in January 2024, representing an important hope for Guatemala in terms of fighting corruption and advancing social policies that tend to reduce existing inequalities.
VAWG is perpetuated as a tool of submission of and control over women’s and girls’ bodies and lives and is deeply rooted in unequal gender power relations that are upheld by gender discriminatory social norms, which is strikingly true in both Guatemala and Tanzania. With the support from Grieg Foundation, 11 communities have been mobilised and sensitised to change attitudes, behaviour and gender discriminatory social norms. An example is 330 community members in Huehuetenango participating in a sit-in during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and 10 dialogues conducted with youth to identify norms and patterns that can lead to teenage pregnancy and sexual violence.
In addition, the capacity of 177 service providers, local leaders, indigenous authorities and community members involved in VAWG prevention and response has been strengthened. To reach the most remote communities with information about VAWG, 33 radio programmes were broadcast in 2023.
FOKUS’ implementing partners are also engaged in direct service provision due to the state’s failure to ensure that the needs of survivors of violence are met. 464 women survivors of VAWG received direct counselling and accompaniment in health, justice, alimony, healing and self-help. Of these, 113 adult women and 29 girls were supported to access justice.
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