Uma Shah, ANWS board member and co-founders of the Saathi shelter organization in Nepal, and her colleague Suvekchya Rana, were among the winners of UN Women’s Generation Equality Campaign awards for 2020.

The awards are organized by NGO CSW/NY in partnership with Women Have Wings, and with the support of ten grants worth US$5,000 each from the Generation Equality Campaign.

After consulting with its regional branches, NGO CSW/NY announced the 10 organizations to be awarded the US$5,000 grants last week. The funds will be used to mobilize local voices from diverse communities worldwide.

Uma co-founded Saathi Women Shelters in 1992 and has been its president since January 2016. Before being elected as head of Saathi, Uma was extensively involved in managing and operating the shelter organization, which is the first of its kind in Nepal.

She is a board member of ANWS and has participated in various international programs of women shelters. Uma has grassroots experience working with the underprivileged women and children.

Other winners of the Generation Equality awards include Saathi senior program officer Suvekchya Rana, FEMNET executive director Memory Kachambwa, Asia Pacific Women’s Watch political activist Carole Shaw, Graduate Women International members Amy Dowdle and Pouya Saeedi, RMAAD representatives Dorotea Wilson Tathum and Paola Tañez-Inofuentes, Jamaican Women Working for Social Progress council member Delores Robinson, SAFECO core faculty member Ariane Moza, DIVA political adviser Noelene Nabulivou, Marsa Sexual Health Center executive director Diana Abou Abbas, and Nasiliu.net director Anna Rivina.

Please join the Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS) for our upcoming webinars.

Each webinar will be an opportunity to hear from the VAW/GBV field, with panelists from across the globe, as they discuss the impact of COVID-19 on essential services and survivors.

The Impact of Reopening Communities on Supportive Services

As governments push to lift lockdowns, there are fears of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and other unforeseen consequences. Meanwhile, other regions are becoming new epicenters. These uncertainties create evolving challenges for women’s shelters and other organizations working to protect survivors of violence while anticipating a surge of survivors seeking safe shelter and support. In these webinars, we will assess the current situation for the shelter movement.

When: 17 June 2020 7:00 PM Washington, DC | 12:00 AM London, UK | 2:00 AM Istanbul, TU | 4:30 AM Mumbai, IN | 7:00 AM Hong Kong | 9:00 AM Sydney, AU
Registration Link

Heading Off the Risk of Exploitation

After natural disasters we know the risk of exploitation rises. What we don’t know is how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the risk of exploitation. This webinar will discuss preparing for the aftermath of the pandemic, ideas for reducing exploitation of vulnerable/targeted populations, and ways NGOs can support exploited individuals.

When: 1 July 2020 10:00 AM Washington, DC | 3:00 PM London, UK | 5:00 PM Istanbul, TU | 7:30 PM Mumbai, IN | 10:00 PM Hong Kong | 12:00 AM Sydney, AU
Registration Link

Topic to Be Determined

The Global Network of Women’s Shelter is currently developing content for this webinar. We value your feedback and opinions. If you are interested in a specific topic, please let us know by using the question in the first three webinar registrations or emailing Ashley Slye at aslye@nnedv.org.

When: 15 July 2020 7:00 PM Washington, DC | 12:00 AM London, UK | 2:00 AM Istanbul, TU | 4:30 AM Mumbai, IN | 7:00 AM Hong Kong | 9:00 AM Sydney, AU
Registration Link

GNWS COVID-19 Webinar Series

Speakers

• Fatima Outaleb – Morocco
• Ranjana Kumari – India
• Onika Mars – Trinidad & Tobago
• Vera Vieira – Brazil

Staffed by:

• Ashley Slye – US NNEDV
• Cindy Southworth – NNEDV

MENA

Fatima Outaleb talked about how the coronavirus crisis has dramatically increased domestic violence in Arab cities which were suddenly locked down and are ill-equipped to deal with the shutdown of travel and communication.

Women mainly work in the unstructured economy so do not have authorization to go out to work. However, men more than women are able to claim financial aid. Yet women have to find food and support their families.

The Ministry of Justice’s claim than domestic violence had gone down was exposed by activist who released figures showing reports of domestic violence had more than doubled after the lockdown.

Religious fundamentalist are proliferating rumors that COVID-19 is not real, while at the same time using the crisis to spread misogynistic, reactionary and hateful concepts.

Activists in Morocco used social media to publicize hotlines all over the country. Because of the lobbying work done by the network, the Ministry of Justice has created consultation platforms in local courts.

The pandemic has unveiled how far the MENA region is behind the rest of the world in progress towards gender equality.

Asia

Ranja Kumari talked about the silence of women, family pressure, and structural weaknesses in law enforcement and the justice system. These problems were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many women were already vulnerable are feeling suffocated, isolated and exhausted at now they have no space to breathe at home. Wife beating is very common, and accepted by 52% of women in India.

The National Commission of Women said 92,000 cases were reported to them after lockdown, double the figure before the crisis.

The government was unprepared to deal with the increase in domestic violence, and the virus response has been gender blind and shelters have been closed.

North America and the Caribbean

Onika Mars speaking from Trinidad and Tobago talked about how her organization, Women of Substance, has been working together with the police’s Gender-Based Violence Unit in response to the spike in domestic violence.

Women of Substance in partnership with another NGO is supplying free meals and food hampers to people affected, including single mothers.

So far Trinidad and Tobago only has 116 cases and 8 deaths. So far the government has handled the situation very well.

Latin America

Vera Vieira started by saying more than 50% of Brazil’s population of 200 million are of African descent, and they are suffering more from the pandemic. Yesterday over 1,000 people died from COVID-19.

The president is irresponsibly encouraging people to go back to work, and puts economic recovery above protecting people’s lives.

Domestic violence has increase 30%. Confinement has revealed the reality of sexual division of labor, in which women are responsible for most domestic work. Vera concluded that the future of Brazil is tragic.

The seventh webinar in the GNWS series during the COVID-19 pandemic was on the topic of “Fundraising to Keep Shelter Services Going During a Public Health Crisis” on 6 May 2020 at 6:00 PM Washington, DC time.

Speakers

• Cindy Southworth – NNEDV
• Kaitlin Geiger-Bardswich – Women’s Shelters Canada
• Ana Cruz – Asociacion Calidad de Vida (Honduras)
• Riekje Kok – The Netherlands
• Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi – Nigeria
• Ang Jury – New Zealand

Delivering a consistent message and finding funders who identify with your cause are keys to funding at NNEDV. Cindy Southworth says it is important to first build a relationship with potential corporate donors by offering expert advice, tips on protecting staff who may be subjected to violence at home, and creating a peer partnership. NNEDV has seen an increase in funding during the COVID-19 crisis. Cindy added that a Facebook donation account is a useful source of revenue.

The Canadian National Network has seen a doubling in donations during COVID-19, with many new donors offering support. Kaitlin Bardswich said this was largely due to the Network’s high media profile in recent week, with the executive director appearing on television to talk about the issue of domestic violence during lockdown. The Network has been quoted in the media, published press releases, launched “make a mask” and “Giving Tuesday” campaigns, and worked on social media initiatives including Twitter storms by asking celebrities to share tweets. The Canadian government has also been very supportive, offering additional funding to support shelters.

The situation is very different in Honduras, where shelters are at capacity but lack government support. Most funding comes from international donors, said Ana Cruz. Shelters have produced social media info graphics to publicize their in-kind donation needs, including disinfectant, face masks and other supplies. During the crisis, shelter staff are working long shifts of 15 days a month.

In Nigeria, shelters are also struggling to stay open. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi reported that NGOs are struggling to persuade the government to give coronavirus control measures a gender perspective. Abiola has been able to raise a small amount of money (US$3,000) but most help is coming from local communities, with households opening their homes to survivors of violence when shelters cannot cope with the demand.

Meanwhile, as lockdown measures are being relaxed in the Netherlands and New Zealand, shelters are preparing for a new phase in the crisis, and a possible surge in demand as women who were unable to report domestic abuse while under lockdown can now leave their homes to seek help.

Reference materials

• Q&A
• Slides

Evaluation

This brief 2-3 minute survey will help GNWS develop future webinars in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We appreciate your feedback.

Register for upcoming webinars

Webinars will now occur on a bi-weekly basis. The next is scheduled for 20 May 2020. Register at the links below.

• Wednesday 20 May 10:00 – 11:30 AM ET Washington, DC
• Wednesday 3 June 7:00 – 8:30 AM ET Washington, DC