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Webinar #14: The GNWS Women’s Helplines Project

GNWS COVID-19 Webinar Series

Panelists

  • Marieke Ruinard, WAVE, Netherlands
  • Cindy Southworth, National Network to End Domestic Violence, USA

Moderators

  • Rachel Gibson – National Network to End Domestic Violence, USA

The Women’s Helplines Project

The Global Network of Women’s Shelters wants women and children to be safe in every country of the world. Direct help is essential for victims of domestic and sexual violence. A women’s helpline is one of the most important ways of enabling victims to find help and support.

If a woman needs help, what number do you want to give her?

Currently across the globe

  • There is NO respected global website that lists accurate, vetted, safe resources for victims of domestic and sexual violence in every country across the world.
  • There is no global organization responsible for collecting and constantly updating reliable and accurate helpline information on every continent.
  • Over 20% of the countries worldwide do not provide women’s helplines

Our global network unites daily experience with essential services and direct help to women and their children who are victims of domestic or sexual violence in every part of the world: we provide helplines, crisis centers, counseling and community services, shelters and rape centers. We work from a human rights and feminist perspective. We know what women need.

A global website with trustworthy and validated helpline information for victims of sexual or domestic violence is a necessary part of integrated services for women in crisis. It is also a vital referral source for supportive friends, colleagues, family members, and for professionals (including police, doctors, hospitals, legal advisors, government or embassy staff).

Currently the European Network WAVE6 has the only continent-wide vetted list of helplines on their website https://www.wave-network.org/find-help/. The GNWS proposes to build on the data already collected by the European network to avoid duplicating efforts, but to ensure that helplines for every country in the world are easy to access in a crisis. WAVE has struggled to keep the helpline information up to date and accurate with only one half-time position funded to maintain all of the helpline and NGO information for across all of Europe. This proposal includes some modest additional staffing funds to enable a full-time staff person to work across Europe to regularly update the database. It also contains some modest staffing to allow the GNWS to collect and vet helpline and NGO information from all continents.

As mentioned on the webinar, GNWS is collecting the national helpline for every country so victims and their friends and family have a place to find accurate support. Even if your country doesn’t have a national helpline, we want to know! In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also asking about text, chat, and email helplines. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief form so we can continue to update our list of helplines. If you have already completed the form, thank you so much. Your information is greatly appreciated!

Form in English: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3ykdy9kjBqce58cGvFmpKv6DHiblZNnnWH6m0vmoqcAb67A/viewform

Forma en Español: https://forms.gle/X6Rw6hHM7Lo6SmC57

List of helplines listed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safety/domesticviolenceresources

Previous Webinar Recordings

2 September 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4HUHpa2PuQ

15 July 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWSWebinar12

1 July 2020: https://youtu.be/eRGpZeXyXxI

17 June 2020: https://youtu.be/mLEICnVTMNA

3 June 2020: https://youtu.be/aymp8kklfw4

20 May 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_8

6 May 2020: https://youtu.be/k2h0XGANrHM

29 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_6

22 April 2020: https://bit.ly/serving_survivors

15 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_4

8 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWSTech

1 April 2020: https://shelterasia.org/2020/04/01/report-on-coronavirus-webinar-2-policy-perspectives-on-protection-of-victims-of-domestic-violence/

25 March 2020: https://shelterasia.org/2020/03/27/video-and-qa-from-the-coronavirus-and-womens-shelters-planning-preparation-and-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic-webinar

Provide Feedback on Webinars 

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

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GNWSwebinarseval

Sign up for the GNWS Listserv

If you are not on the listserv, you can sign-up by clicking the following link: https://lists.gnws.org/lists/subscribe/announcement.

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Registration for upcoming 2020 Asian Conference of Women’s Shelters

Registration for the 2020 Asian Conference of Women’s Shelters is now open! This year’s conference will take place virtually in three 90-minute webinars throughout October and November.  We have a fantastic line-up of top speakers including CEDAW committee member and former GNWS chairperson Bandana Rana, UN Women AP Regional Ending VAW Programme Manager Melissa Alvarado, Thai LGBTQ activist Matcha Phornin, internationally renown journalist/author and activist Mona Eltahawy, Australian journalist and author of the groundbreaking “See What You Made Me Do” Jess Hill, and leading Singaporean lawyer Malathi Das.  With the COVID-19 crisis still raging, the webinars will focus on empowering the next generation of activists and frontline shelter workers in the post-COVID age, hearing and responding to the voices of survivors, and concrete steps to end the shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls.

Please click this document for details. The webinar series is organized by the Garden of Hope Foundation and the Asian Network of Women’s Shelters, with a focus on Asian issues, but all are welcome to join. Please register separately for each webinar. 

Tuesday 6 October at 16:00-17:30 Taiwan local time (GMT +8) 

Gender Equality and Paving the Way for Future Generations

Speakers: 

Bandana Rana, Vice Chair at UN CEDAW Committee 

Melissa Alvarado, Ending Violence against Women Regional Programme Manager, UN Women

Register here. 

Tuesday 20 October at 16:00-17:30 Taiwan local time (GMT +8)  

Testimonies from Gender-Based Violence Survivors during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Speakers: 

Matcha Phornin, Founder and Executive Director of Sangsan Anakot Yawachon Development Project

Mona Eltahawy, Journalist 

Register here. 

Tuesday November 3 at 16:00-17:30 Taiwan local time (GMT +8)  

How to Systematically End Violence Against Women?

Speakers: 

Jess Hill, Investigative journalist and author of SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DO

Malathi Das, Family Lawyer and Mediator, Joyce A Tan & Partners LLC

Register here.

To find out when the webinars will be held in your time zone please check here. Videos will be posted online at a later date. Feel free to share this information among your networks. Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at secretariat@shelterasia.org. webinar will be held in your time zone. 

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Webinar #13: Data and Shelter Management During Times of Crisis

GNWS COVID-19 Webinar Series

Panelists

  • Erica Olsen – National Network to End Domestic Violence, USA
  • Ghida Ananai – ABAAD, Lebanon
  • Netty Musanhu – SAFE Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe

Moderators

  • Ashley Slye – National Network to End Domestic Violence, USA

United States

Erica Olsen:

Erica Olsen discusses disaster planning protocol and the protection of safety and privacy for survivors of domestic violence. It has been proven that perpetrators will take advantage of disasters such as the current pandemic, using it to control or abuse victims. Disasters not only increase vulnerability to domestic violence, but open up the possibility of a breach in data on survivors. An example of a privacy concern for survivors is being listed on safe lists of family reconnection websites where abusers are able to locate them. While it is well-intentioned, this has been an issue for DV survivors. 

Erica stresses the importance of helping survivors stay informed so they know what to expect and have strategies in case of a disaster. It is also important for shelters to be prepared as much as possible and have a plan on how to protect data amidst a disaster. This could include creating an inventory for all tech and software to better understand where data risks could be. It is additionally important to prepare staff on how to protect the privacy of survivors and have clear policies in place. 

Other strategies that Erica outlines include collecting less information about survivors is another way to minimize risk, critically thinking through access to data and thinking through where data is (e.g. backups on the computer, paper files, and multiple access points). 

Beth Meeks:

An important consideration during a disaster is insurance. In the US, the basic insurance people have on their homes and properties typically does not cover technology and documents. One of the universal things about disasters is that a lot of the technology we depend on is unreliable. Almost always, phone calls won’t go through but you often can access text messages and social media. 

Often in a disaster, shelters have to evacuate and survivors must do multiple intakes. A recommendation that Beth has is to have a policy where brand new intakes each time survivors move is not required; this way you can minimize risk of a data breach. Instead of sending a huge file per person, you can include a one-page sheet with any important information. 

Lebanon

Ghida Anani:

In Lebanon, there is a high percentage of migrant women who seek services. Many of these women are fleeing combatants across the border and protecting their information is especially important for their safety. There is a large, unique spectrum of man-made disasters (e.g. violent attacks, risk of conflict with neighbouring countries) in Lebanon that pose risks to the data of survivors. It is a daily challenge for staff to safely collect, safeguard and store data, especially if there is an emergency that forces evacuation.

Ghida suggests that we must rethink the way that we collect information from survivors. This could be by adjusting the kind of documents that the case workers in the shelter keep, thinking through the kind of adaptations for shelter programs in different contexts and disasters, and having a plan on how to protect the privacy and confidentiality of survivors if the shelter data is compromised. 

Zimbabwe

Netty Musanhu

Netty illustrates how Zimbabwe is a complex country with multilayered problems and the women who run shelters persevere through much. Local organizations have been struggling with how international guidelines for shelters can be adapted to local contexts. Netty’s organization, SAFE Zimbabwe, supports these local organizations in strengthening their data collection and management. They have developed standard operating procedures for shelters and provided expert support in how counseling could be adapted to COVID-19. In a context where resources are minimal, it can be difficult to manage the trauma amid a crisis, which is why it is important to provide support to the staff and help the shelter heal from trauma.

Previous Webinar Recordings

15 July 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWSWebinar12

1 July 2020: https://youtu.be/eRGpZeXyXxI

17 June 2020: https://youtu.be/mLEICnVTMNA

3 June 2020: https://youtu.be/aymp8kklfw4

20 May 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_8

6 May 2020: https://youtu.be/k2h0XGANrHM

29 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_6

22 April 2020: https://bit.ly/serving_survivors

15 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_4

8 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWSTech

1 April 2020: https://shelterasia.org/2020/04/01/report-on-coronavirus-webinar-2-policy-perspectives-on-protection-of-victims-of-domestic-violence/

25 March 2020: https://shelterasia.org/2020/03/27/video-and-qa-from-the-coronavirus-and-womens-shelters-planning-preparation-and-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic-webinar

Provide Feedback on Webinars 

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

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GNWSwebinarseval

Sign up for the GNWS Listserv

If you are not on the listserv, you can sign-up by clicking the following link: https://lists.gnws.org/lists/subscribe/announcement.

Global Network of Women’s Shelters Helpline Project

As mentioned on the webinar, GNWS is collecting the national helpline for every country so victims and their friends and family have a place to find accurate support. Even if your country doesn’t have a national helpline, we want to know! In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also asking about text, chat, and email helplines. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief form so we can continue to update our list of helplines. If you have already completed the form, thank you so much. Your information is greatly appreciated!

Form in English: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3ykdy9kjBqce58cGvFmpKv6DHiblZNnnWH6m0vmoqcAb67A/viewform

Forma en Español: https://forms.gle/X6Rw6hHM7Lo6SmC57

List of helplines listed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safety/domesticviolenceresources

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Her Stories Untold

Traei Tsai is the author of Her Stories Untold, a book on women empowerment about diverse women coming into becoming who they are today (their journey of success) and how also how they are coping with the Coronavirus/COVID-19 situation.

Traei Tsai, author of “Her Story Untold” (photo: herstoryuntold.com)

This book is intended to capture the journey of women to inspire themselves and others to look forward to the future with wonder. This is especially important during this global pandemic time.

Because of the Coronavirus/COVID-19, women around the globe are experiencing something they have never experienced before. The gendered experience of coronavirus is grounded in gender inequalities that impact all of us, every single day.

Traei is seeking stories full of different journeys of many global women to empower and inspire. If you would like to share your stories, please feel free to connect her. Narrators can include founders of your organizations (how it was started and its journey to help other women) and any women (e.g. someone that has experienced something in their life and how they overcame those struggles to where they are right now) that want to empower and inspire with their story.

Traei is the Vice-President of BC Minorities in Film & TV Society, a writer, fashion model and artist. She was recently in the film “Corona Movie” about the Coronavirus and Xenophobia. For the “Her Stories Untold” project, Traei has connected with local and global organizations (such as Dress For Success and Society for Canadian Women in Science & Technology).

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Webinar #11: Heading Off the Risk of Exploitation

 

GNWS COVID-19 Webinar Series

Speakers

  • Matcha Phorn-in – Sangsan Anakot Yaowachon, Thailand
  • Ghida Anani – ABAAD, Lebanon
  • Adine Samadi – ROKS, Sweden
  • Nafula “Faith” Wafula – Brydges Centre, Kenya

Staffed by:

  • Ashley Slye – National Network to End Domestic Violence, USA
  • Anthony Carlisle – Garden of Hope, Taiwan

Thailand

Matcha works at the Thai/Myanmar border and she works with stateless people in Thailand. In Thailand, indigenous groups are marginalized – they are not given ID cards so they cannot travel, work, or get an education. If girls can’t go to school, they often get married at underage. Matcha has tried for the past 15 years to ensure that girls go to school. During this time, 4,000 girls have learned about human rights and over 1,000 of them went to university.

COVID has caused the indigenous populations to run out of food, have no money or access to health care. Many cannot go to hospital because of language barrier or because they cannot pay hospital fees since the Thai healthcare system doesn’t cover these people. Four people have died within her community already this month. Matcha wishes to launch a fundraising campaign to raise money for the family of COVID victims. She is also seeking help from the government and planning to visit Parliament with an indigenous girl to request them to take action in response to the emergency and prevent the deaths of more native people during the pandemic.

Lebanon

Racism and prejudice towards refugees has resurfaced during the pandemic. Syrians are accused of bringing COVID to Lebanon.  Furthermore, the lockdown has isolated Syrian women refugees from essential services. 

Syrian women refugees caught in domestic violence situations are unable to leave their abusers because of the pandemic. Atrocities, such as honor killings, have increased since the outbreak. Even if she didn’t have COVID, men didn’t want women to live for 14 days with strange people in isolation without having access to her, leading to cases of femicide or threatening to kill her.

Currently, the asylum system in Lebanon is overwhelmed. Embassies consider that the crisis is not their problem and will not pay for the return tickets for refugees’ to their countries if they’re deported. In response to the crisis, ABAAD has made food kits with some essential items, and included a booklet with hotline numbers and advice on how to deal with domestic violence.

Sweden

Sweden hasn’t had the same kind of lockdown as other countries but hasseen differences with women who seek help. The shelters are quiet with less visits and phone calls. ROKS have a close relationship with the police and the reports are lower than usual.  Violence is mostly digital, sexual violence and cases of prostitution where young women have either been offered/forced.

Elderly women are also at risk because they don’t have social media and thus cannot access support networks, such as the chat for women’s shelters or the new app. ROKs have requested money from the Swedish Government to build up resources and help women post pandemic.

Kenya

The Kenyan Government’s response has involved a curfew, but not a full lockdown. A lot of people have lost their jobs, Kenya is largely driven by informal sector employment so that’s been tough for the economy.

There has been a huge number of cases of sexual and gender based violence., with a 40% increase since March (this is the number of reported cases from the hotline and police stations). However, the true  situation is expected to be much worse because domestic violence is normalized and often under-reported. 

In the slums, social workers say they have 4 cases a day of  domestic violence. 65 girls interviewed in a slum said they had experienced/heard about domestic violence. Transactional sex has drastically increased to pay for food. Teenage pregnancy has drastically increased – one county had 4,000 cases of teenage pregnancy from what the government was able to collect. Kenya has also seen an increase in child marriage as families struggle with finances, so girls are seen as a source of income. The government’s response has been to ban pornography because they believe this is the cause of teen pregnancies.

There is only one government-funded shelter in the country, the rest are run by NGOs. Gender based violence ends up falling by the wayside as the government prioritizes the COVID response. Rescuers can’t rescue women after curfew.  Nafula is currently trying to reach grassroots organizations to give more aid to these women.

Previous Webinar Recordings

17 June 2020: https://youtu.be/mLEICnVTMNA

3 June 2020: https://youtu.be/aymp8kklfw4

20 May 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_8

6 May 2020: https://youtu.be/k2h0XGANrHM

29 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_6

22 April 2020: https://bit.ly/serving_survivors

15 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_4

8 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWSTech

1 April 2020: https://bit.ly/316uCpk

25 March 2020: https://bit.ly/30YhOBb

Provide Feedback on Webinars 

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

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GNWSwebinarseval

Register for Upcoming Webinars

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.

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

The link below can help you find the time the webinar will be held in your time zone.

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Sign up for the GNWS Listserv

If you are not on the listserv, you can sign-up by clicking the following link: https://lists.gnws.org/lists/subscribe/announcement.

Global Network of Women’s Shelters Helpline Project

As mentioned on the webinar, GNWS is collecting the national helpline for every country so victims and their friends and family have a place to find accurate support. Even if your country doesn’t have a national helpline, we want to know! In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also asking about text, chat, and email helplines. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief form so we can continue to update our list of helplines. If you have already completed the form, thank you so much. Your information is greatly appreciated!

Form in English: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3ykdy9kjBqce58cGvFmpKv6DHiblZNnnWH6m0vmoqcAb67A/viewform

Forma en Español: https://forms.gle/X6Rw6hHM7Lo6SmC57

List of helplines listed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safety/domesticviolenceresources

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Webinar #10: The Impact of Reopening Communities on Supportive Services

 

GNWS COVID-19 Webinar Series

Speakers

  • Vera Vieira – Associação Mulheres pela Paz (Brazil)
  • Ranhee Song – Korea Women’s Hotline (South Korea)
  • Cindy Southworth – National Network to End Domestic Violence (United States)
  • Maria Yusuf – Association for Women’s Sanctuary and Development (Ethiopia)

Staffed by:

  • Ashley Slye – USA
  • Patricia Vargas – Canada

     

Brazil

Vera shared a pharmacy initiative that involves over 10,000 participating pharmacies across the country. The concept is simple yet effective: when a woman goes to a pharmacy and writes x on her hand, employees are trained to call the police and bring the woman to safety.

South Korea

Ranhee talked about the pandemic situation with a focus on domestic violence. In South Korea, since only 2.3% of cases of domestic violence are reported to police, it is hard to judge whether cases increased or decreased; nevertheless, Ranhee believes that there has been an increase in cases as the ratio of domestic violence counseling rose from 26% in January to 40% in March.

Handling and bringing justice to domestic violence cases also face the challenge of deep-set attitudes and judicial barriers in South Korea. Emotional abuse is not recognized as “abuse” within Korea’s judicial system, and yet the rate of emotional abuse is four times higher than that of physical abuse. Rather punishing the abusers, physical abuse cases are usually dealt with through counseling. Even if incidents of domestic violence are reported, most of them are disposed of or filed as “household protection case”. Ranhee concludes that, during a global pandemic, Korea may be relatively safe from COVID-19, but not from domestic violence.

United States

Cindy shared the Women’s Helpline Project, which aims to create a worldwide women’s safety net. The initiative will involve a global database that would help women find resources for domestic violence that could be filtered by country or by topic (e.g. for LGBT women, migrant women, etc.). Taiwan is on the list of countries that have shared data with the helpline database. Furthermore, Facebook is partnering with UN women to start a list of domestic violence helplines: facebook.com/safety/domestic violence resources

Vera shared a pharmacy initiative that involves over 10,000 participating pharmacies across the country. The concept is simple yet effective: when a woman goes to a pharmacy and writes x on her hand, employees are trained to call the police and bring the woman to safety.

Ethiopia

12 shelters across the country, servicing 110 million people, have closed due to COVID-19. The association has opened a quarantine shelter where women can stay for 14 days – if they are negative they could be transferred to other shelters. This quarantine shelter is always full and domestic violence cases have increased. An emergency court room has been opened that can process domestic violence cases Media attention on the shelters has also led people to raise funds to support.

 

Previous Webinar Recordings

20 May 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_8

6 May 2020: https://youtu.be/k2h0XGANrHM

29 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_6

22 April 2020: https://bit.ly/serving_survivors

15 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_4

8 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWSTech

1 April 2020: https://bit.ly/316uCpk

25 March 2020: https://bit.ly/30YhOBb

Provide Feedback on Webinars 

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

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GNWSwebinarseval

 

Register for Upcoming Webinars

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. Questions that will be addressed in this webinar include: Is there evidence that the pandemic has increased human trafficking? What has been the experience in different parts of the world? How can we be more vigilant to stop exploitation of victims? And what lessons can be shared to prevent vulnerable people falling into the hands of organized crime? 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.

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

 

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

The link below can help you find the time the webinar will be held in your time zone.

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Sign up for the GNWS Listserv

If you are not on the listserv, you can sign-up by clicking the following link: https://lists.gnws.org/lists/subscribe/announcement.

 

Global Network of Women’s Shelters Helpline Project

As mentioned on the webinar, GNWS is collecting the national helpline for every country so victims and their friends and family have a place to find accurate support. Even if your country doesn’t have a national helpline, we want to know! In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also asking about text, chat, and email helplines. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief form so we can continue to update our list of helplines. If you have already completed the form, thank you so much. Your information is greatly appreciated!

Form in English: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3ykdy9kjBqce58cGvFmpKv6DHiblZNnnWH6m0vmoqcAb67A/viewform

Forma en Español: https://forms.gle/X6Rw6hHM7Lo6SmC57

List of helplines listed on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safety/domesticviolenceresources

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Webinar #9: The Impact of Reopening Communities on Supportive Services

 

GNWS COVID-19 Webinar Series

Speakers

  • Melissa Alvarado– UN Women
  • Marcella Pirrone – Donne in Rete contro la violenza (Italy)
  • Ang Jury – Women’s Refuge (New Zealand)

Staffed by:

  • Ashley Slye – US NNEDV
  • Anthony Carlisle – Taiwan

     

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. In this webinar, we will assess the current situation for the shelter movement, with a lead-off presentation from UN Women’s Asia-Pacific Programme, and follow up with updates from shelter networks around the world.

UN Women

Melissa Alvarado, Ending Violence against Women Programme Manager at UN Women shared services for Violence against Women and the Impact on CSOs (civil society organization) Amid COVID-19 in the Asia and the Pacific Region.

UN Women conducted Rapid assessment on the impact of COVID-19. UN Women found that almost three quarters (71%) of CSO respondents said that COVID-19 was affecting them somewhat or very negatively. More than 60% of CSOs participated in shaping the government’s response to COVID-19. Only 15% of the respondent organizations are in full operation. More than 70% of them are forced to stop part of the provision of their services for women temporarily, and 12% have had to temporarily suspend activities altogether.

CSOs reported increased cases of VAW, with violence by family members representing the highest increase at 42%. The lockdown and quarantine measures mean that millions of women are confined with their abusers, with limited options for seeking help and support. Women, girls, and vulnerable groups are at an increased risk of GBV during public health outbreaks, such as COVID-19, due to limited input and control in decision making on a household’s response and shifts in social safety nets, mobility, and access to information/ services.

CSOs are focused on the survival and immediate needs of beneficiaries and struggling to maintain a presence and service delivery. The work of CSOs/WROs on access to services, prevention, and legislation or policy change is on hold. CSOs are expanding the reach of their services and prevention programming on violence against women and girls.

Italy

Marcella shared about the situation in Italy. Italy is moving to the next phase of the pandemic. Violence against women hasn’t been addressed enough by the government. Furthermore, women are absent among the experts who are specialized in crisis response. Therefore, the stakes for women under violence are often being neglected. The ongoing crisis will be the foreseeable increasing number of economically disadvantaged and socially underprivileged women. Long-term and systemic policies on empowering women are also essential. Marcella also pointed out that data collection is crucial so that people can be well prepared for future crises.

New Zealand

Ang also shared about the relatively good situation in New Zealand. They haven’t seen significant growth of women seeking help. But it is for sure that number will rise inevitably. It may be the perfect environment for violence against women after the lifting of lockdown due to the economic damage caused by the virus. New Zealand’s government is closely working with shelters. They listen to the needs and advice of the civil societies, which helps a lot in alleviating the crisis. Three weeks ago the refugee sector received three-year funds from the government.

 

Previous Webinar Recordings

20 May 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_8

6 May 2020: https://youtu.be/k2h0XGANrHM

29 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_6

22 April 2020: https://bit.ly/serving_survivors

15 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWS_4

8 April 2020: https://bit.ly/GNWSTech

1 April 2020: https://bit.ly/316uCpk

25 March 2020: https://bit.ly/30YhOBb

Provide Feedback on Webinars 

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

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GNWSwebinarseval

 

Register for Upcoming Webinars

Heading Off the Risk of Exploitation

We know vulnerable people are being hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the human, social and economic effects of the crisis deepen, women and children are at greater risk of falling victim to human traffickers. Questions that will be addressed in this webinar include: Is there evidence that the pandemic has increased human trafficking? What has been the experience in different parts of the world? How can we be more vigilant to stop exploitation of victims? And what lessons can be shared to prevent vulnerable people falling into the hands of organized crime? In addition to presentations on the main topic, the webinar will also include updates from around the world on the COVID-19 situation and gender-based violence risks.

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

 

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

The link below can help you find the time the webinar will be held in your time zone.

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Sign up for the GNWS Listserv

If you are not on the listserv, you can sign-up by clicking the following link: https://lists.gnws.org/lists/subscribe/announcement.

 

Global Network of Women’s Shelters Helpline Project

As mentioned on the webinar, GNWS is collecting the national helpline for every country so victims and their friends and family have a place to find accurate support. Even if your country doesn’t have a national helpline, we want to know! In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also asking about text, chat, and email helplines. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief form so we can continue to update our list of helplines. If you have already completed the form, thank you so much. Your information is greatly appreciated!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3ykdy9kjBqce58cGvFmpKv6DHiblZNnnWH6m0vmoqcAb67A/viewform

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ANWS board member Uma Shah wins Generation Equality award

Uma Shah (second right) with GNWS/ANWS chair Chi Hui-Jung (center) and other ANWS board members at the 4th World Conference of Women’s Shelters

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.

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Upcoming Webinars

1591602269430Please 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