| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Côte d’Ivoire |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
PCF |
Status: |
Open |
| File Number: |
364
| Region: |
AFR |
| Sector: |
Social Protection |
Country: |
Cote d'Ivoire |
| FY approved: |
2008 |
Grant Theme : |
Social protection and risk management |
| Keyword(s): |
Crime and violence;Gender |
Approved Amount: |
$732,759.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
International Rescue Committee (IRC) |
Grant Purpose:
The objective of the project is to prevent sexual violence against women and provide assistance to victims in select communities. The more specific objectives include:
(1) To improve commitment and capacity of local authorities and community members (women and men) in targeted areas, to prevent gender-based violence and respond to it;
(2) To improve access to extended multi-sectoral services for gender-based violence survivors in targeted areas;
(3) To improve coordination and capacity of local organizations and key stakeholders (e.g., the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Affairs, NGOs, the armed forces and UN agencies) in the prevention and response to gender-based violence, including the establishment of a multi-sector gender-based violence referral network.
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Grant Activities:
This approach is based on the principle that it is only when women’s and girls’ rights are respected that violence against them can stop. Thus, building awareness and respect of women’s rights into every aspect of a post-conflict society – through individuals, communities, institutions and governance structures – is at the core of all gender-based violence programs.
For effective short and long-term protection from violence for women and girls, interventions will take place at three levels:
1) Structural level (primary protection): preventive measures to ensure rights are recognized and protected (through international, statutory and traditional laws and policies);
2) Systemic level (secondary protection): systems and strategies to monitor and respond when those rights are breached (statutory and traditional legal/justice systems, health care systems, social welfare systems and community mechanisms);
3) Operative level (tertiary protection): direct services to meet the needs of women and girls who have been abused.
Component 1: Prevention
For obvious reasons, prevention has to be at the core of interventions against sexual violence, and violence in general. Prevention activities will be tailored to three main target groups:
(i) Society as a whole: awareness raising and information/education campaigns will be developed as part of this component. In addition to radio programs of general interest to be broadcasted nationally, community radios in the west - the area where violence is most prevalent - will be assisted to develop and produce programs anchored in the local context. Visual material, such as posters understandable to non-literate people, will complement radio programs.
(ii) High relevance groups: members of the armed forces and groups, teachers and students, and local authorities will be targeted for a more intensive and specifically-tailored campaign aiming not only at raising awareness and providing information but also at changing behavior.
(iii) Communities: Direct sensitization in about 34 communities (seven towns and 27 villages) in the West will be carried out through small group debates and door-to-door house visits, supported by radio campaigns. IEC material will also be developed to serve as support during sensitization activities, ensuring that materials are comprehensible to illiterate audiences. After the initial sensitization, community committees will be set-up and their members will receive specific training on the dynamics, causes, and consequences of gender-based violence, and community mobilization methods so that the members take active part in sensitizations. IRC will provide information to the committees about referrals and basic psychosocial and material assistance for the victims.
In addition, this component will provide funding for editing a documentary on sexual violence against women in Côte d’Ivoire. The documentary is an off-shoot of the Human Rights Watch report on the same topic and endeavors to show not only the unspeakable suffering of the victims, but also the strength and grace with which they have tried to put their lives back together. The documentary will be used for targeted awareness-raising within Côte d’Ivoire. In this sense, it will complement prevention efforts by reaching a “higher level” audience of decision and opinion makers, both national and international, whose support will be needed to scale-up prevention efforts. More generally, the film will be a powerful advocacy tool in international circles for conflict-affected populations throughout the world.
Component 2: Response Services
This component aims at ensuring that victims of sexual violence will receive adequate medical and psychosocial assistance in the area of concentration of the project . It will therefore work at different levels and with different actors to set up a first line of response at the community level and a referral system for further assistance and follow-up by health personnel, social workers, and law enforcement personnel when warranted.
Component 3: Systemic Capacity Building and Coordination
Given the pervasive and sensitive nature of sexual violence, it is crucial that action against it be firmly grounded in local realities and a system be put in place to ensure the continuation of efforts well beyond the project life and the existence of a dense network reaching grassroots communities. It is crucial that the government, and in particular the Ministry of Family and Social Affairs (MoFSA), take the leading role not only in advocacy and coordination but also in provision of services to victims of sexual violence. The implementing agency already supports MoFSA at the national and regional levels (in Tabou, Yamoussoukro, Bouafle, Daloa and Duekoue) through capacity building and financial assistance to rehabilitate and equip existing social centers. Through this project IRC will continue assisting MoFSA in playing its convening, advocacy and coordinating role as well as in putting to good use available resources. Above all, IRC will support the elaboration of National Plan of Action to combat gender based violence as well as the re-establishment of social centers in the region of Dix-Huit Montagnes.
Component 4: General Administration
This component includes office supplies, as well as a small contribution to office rent and maintenance, communication and general operating costs of the Abidjan office, and limited technical and administrative support from headquarters staff of the implementing agency.
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News:
Five thousand citizens of Cote d’Ivoire have participated in initiatives aiming to raise awareness of violence against women in the country between April and June of this year. The initiative is part of a World Bank-led program in Cote d’Ivoire designed to increase understanding of gender-based violence and the activities necessary for helping the survivors of violence.
For three months only, between April and June, the World Bank project has supported the development and broadcasting of 29 radio programs on gender-based violence. The main goal of the programs is to inform the population about the consequences of violence and the services available to victims, and to start a debate on the role of women in the home and the community. Key topics discussed focused on the types of violence against women and girls in Cote d’Ivoire, the psychosocial consequences of GBV, medical and legal assistance necessary for survivors of violence, the communication necessary between partners for a successful relationship, girl child rights, children’s rights, and girl’s education.
Other key initiatives supported by the project include a public debate on the responses to cases of gender-based violence, the celebration of the International Women’s Day, HIV testing and awareness-raising, and training sessions for society. Between April and June, the project has provided 117 training and awareness-raising sessions for community and local leaders, school personnel, community members, and soldiers on the consequences of gender-based violence at the individual, family and community levels. The trainings have focused on the forms that gender-based violence takes, the psychological and physical consequences of violence, the legal instruments for protection of women, women’s rights, and girls’ right to education. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), implementing agency for the initiative, is working with three NGO partners in conducting these sessions in 25 communities across the country.
For three months only, 347 victims of gender-based violence have been identified and referred for medical, psychological and legal help. To ensure proper handling of survivor cases and care, the project supported trainings of staff from the Ministry of Health, social workers from the Ministry of Family, Women and Social Affairs, and members of NGOs involved in the project. This has helped assist 136 survivors of gender-based violence aged 8 – 74. NGOs and community committees established as part of the initiative have played a key role in the process.
Seventy percent of the survivors of violence against women in Cote d’Ivoire have identified the perpetrator of violence as their intimate partners, and 19 percent identified other male family members. Many of these women, however, are afraid to report their cases. Others choose to disclose they are victims of violence but get publicly beaten afterwards. While women’s fears around reporting of violence are real, institutions dedicated to helping these women continue to support a safe environment for women to seek help.
SIXTEEN DAYS OF ACTIVISM MARK PROGRESS IN ADDRESSING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE
Over the years, thousands of girls and women in Côte d’Ivoire have been victims to the widespread and often systematic rape and sexual assault committed by combatant forces and civilians with close ties to these forces. It is estimated that seventy percent of women and children experience some form of sexual violence at some point during their life. Perpetrators, however, are rarely punished.
The problem of violence against women has been exacerbated by ethnic tensions over land rights and national identity, a deteriorating economy, and social disintegration. Rape and other forms of sexual abuse are used to terrorize the civilian population, and the resulting unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections like HIV, and physical and emotional distress have left many women and girls in the country traumatized both physically and emotionally. Victims are often stigmatized, rejected and ostracized by their communities and families, and left with no means of supporting themselves or their children. Compounding this situation is the fact that health facilities and staff, the justice system and the humanitarian community are unprepared to respond to the victims’ urgent need for medical and psychosocial help.
To address these problems, international and national agencies in Côte d’Ivoire joined forces in a campaign aiming to raise awareness about the suffering of women for 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM. The campaign took place between November 25 and December 10, 2008. Radio and TV programs, peaceful protests, trivia competitions, soccer games, bicycle racing, and theater, poetry and song festivals, were among the events arranged to raise awareness of sexual violence, and demonstrate the importance of preventing abuse, and building respect for women’s rights.
The campaign was organized jointly by the Ivorian government, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children-UK, CARE International, UNICEF, UNFPA, ODAFEM, ONUCI, CARITAS, the Red Cross, and other stakeholders working on the issue of gender-based violence.
Activities carried out during the initiative are part of the Protection from Gender Violence Project launched in Côte d’Ivoire by the World Bank in May 2008 and funded by the Post-Conflict Fund. The project is implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a global leader in the field. This project aims to prevent sexual violence against women and increase institutional capacity to provide assistance to victims. A key objective of the project is changing the attitudes and behavior of both the perpetrators of sexual violence and the community at large.
The project has so far helped to identify a number of victims of sexual abuse and provided them with much needed appropriate assistance. The most common cases of abuse have been rape and attempted rape, with the age of victims ranging between three and 70 years. In the majority of cases, perpetrators have been identified as intimate partners.
Support to victims has included distribution of PEP Kits used to prevent HIV infection in the first 72 hours after exposure, payment of medical fees, psychosocial counseling, and in-kind help, including, inter alia, food, clothing and textbooks for victims’ children.
The project has also supported a number of awareness raising sessions for communities, including mass presentations and small group discussions. Special attention has been paid to sessions with personnel from the security and defense forces, who are the most common perpetrators of rape and other forms of violence against women.
Radio and TV programs have been used extensively as a means of raising awareness about the continued abuse of women. Three radio programs are currently addressing the topic, focusing on the consequences of violence against women and suggesting peaceful means to resolve conflict. Each program also includes information on how to access available services designed to help victims. A TV spot on sexual violence, developed by partners working on gender-based violence issues, is broadcast regularly on the national television station, Radio-Télévision Ivoirienne (RTI).
A further achievement of the project has been the establishment of gender-based violence (GBV) committees in local communities and their training on basic GBV concepts. In particular, female members of the committees have been trained in personal case management, and have received detailed information on medical response to rape and physical violence, laws and legal responses, counseling, and community mobilization to prevent GBV. In addition to the GBV committees, health personnel have been trained in the clinical management of rape, and social workers have received training in psychosocial assistance to victims of abuse.
The project has already achieved important results in Côte d’Ivoire within the area of gender-based violence and the work of the project implementing agency, IRC, continues. The project is expected to contribute to increased recognition and protection of women’s rights through the National Strategic Plan for Action against Gender-Based Violence and relevant legislation.
A gender-based violence project is currently in the planning for the Democratic Republic of Congo to be funded by the State- and Peace-Building Fund.
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