The Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS) has launched a fundraising campaign on the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform to raise money for our Women’s Helplines Project.
The vision of the project is for women and children to be safe wherever they are. As a concrete first step, we aim to create a database and website with easily accessible information on trustworthy women’s helplines in every country of the world.
Such a resource does not exist yet. And in some parts of the world there are no women’s helplines. We want this to change.
This initiative could not have come at a more urgent time. The impact of COVID-19 on women and girls is staggering. According to UN Women there has been an intensification of intimate partner violence: an estimated 243 million women and girls have been affected in the past 12 months.
In lockdown, millions of vulnerable women are confined to their homes with abusive partners. Official figures show a 25 to 50 percent increase in reported cases of domestic violence during the pandemic.
Now more than ever, victims of sexual and domestic violence need discreet access to helplines, advice, and other services. Yet over a quarter of countries worldwide do not have helplines.
The goals of the Worldwide Women’s Helplines Project are to (1) create a website with a complete and certified database of existing national helplines, and (2) campaign to create trustworthy helplines in countries where none exist.
To do this, we need funding to pay for salaries, equipment, communications, travel, translation services, and other costs.
Please help support our GoFundMe by making a donation and sharing this information with people in your networks. Our goal is to raise US$90,000 (€75,000). With every US$15,000 we can fund a regional network for one year to coordinate and support the project in their region.
Together we can build a safe and secure website for phone numbers and other resources, so that women can reach out for assistance, wherever they are in the world.
Missed an earlier webinar? Watch previous GNWS webinars on COVID-19 by clicking the links below.
02 September 2020: Data & Shelter Management During Times of Crisis
15 July 2020: Heading Off the Risk of Exploitation
01 July 2020: Heading Off the Risk of Exploitation
17 June 2020: The Impact of Reopening Communities on Supportive Services
03 June 2020: The Impact of Reopening Communities on Supportive Services
20 May 2020: Updates from Around the Globe
06 May 2020: Fundraising to Keep Shelter Services Going During a Public Health Crisis
29 April 2020: Supporting Women at a Distance During COVID-19: Updates from Australia and New Zealand
22 April 2020: Serving Survivors with COVID-19
15 April 2020: Using Technology to Support Victims II
08 April 2020: Report – Using Technology to Support Victims
01 April 2020: Report – Policy Prospectives on Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence During The Outbreak
25 March 2020: Planning, Preparation and Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Every GNWS webinar is recorded and sent to all registrants afterward. If you can’t make a webinar, we will still make sure you receive the information!
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we know victims of domestic violence are on ‘lockdown’ at home with abusive partners due to stay home orders from their governments. Countries around the globe are reporting escalation of domestic violence and increased Google searches for help for domestic violence; abusive individuals are using the COVID-19 pandemic as another means to control and abuse. Even if a victim is unable to leave their home at this time, domestic violence and sexual violence services can provide essential support to help the victim remain safe.
Direct help is essential for victims of domestic and sexual violence and a helpline is one of the most important ways of ensuring victims can find help and support. To support all victims during this unique time and beyond, 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 pandemic, we are also asking about text, chat, and email helplines.
The included map shows countries we have received information from. Those in purple currently have a national helpline, those in red do not. Click the map to go to GNWS.org for a larger image and more information. 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
Not subscribed to the GNWS Announcements Listserv? Click the link below to subscribe NOW!
https://lists.gnws.org/lists/subscribe/announcement
We want to make sure facilitation with survivors is engaging, easily understood, and effective. What are some recommended tools or strategies to think through when deciding on platforms or applications to engage with survivors?
Here are some links on mobile advocacy – https://www.techsafety.org/resources-agencyuse/cell-phone-bestpractices and https://www.techsafety.org/resources-agencyuse/mobilecomputing-bestpractices
Is your country grey on this worldmap? That means we do not have information about the women’s helplines in your country (we even like to know if there is none). Help us and fill out this google form: questionnaire national helplines domestic and sexual violence
We use this information to create a database and a global website lila.help to inform women, family and professionals about trustworthy helplines in every country of the world for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
More info on tab Women’s Helplines
There is currently no comprehensive global list of helplines for victims of domestic and sexual violence. Over 20% of countries do not even have a women’s helpline
HELP US
LEARN MORE at CSW64 New York
DATE: 10 March
TIME: 2:30-4pm
VENUE: 4 W 43rd Street ROOM: Social Hall
Help us organize a global website with helpline information of every country in the world. Help us to organize international and national strategies to create, support and secure women’s helplines and crisishelp in every country of the world.
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
Help us
How can you help?
What are the keys to making impactful presentations at major conferences? How can you connect with an audience? How can you balance meeting your audience’s expectations while also getting your message across? These questions and more were answered by Kim Stockham (pictured above), Head of Corporate Communications, APAC, Expedia Group, in a webinar held especially for 4WCWS presenters last month.
The webinar was designed to help speakers and presenters to prepare for 4WCWS, and give tips on how to make powerful presentations in other contexts. Kim is an experienced trainer who regularly works with Expedia’s most senior leaders and spokespeople to prepare them for media interviews, internal presentations, and stage and panel appearances.
As part of Expedia Group’s CSR program, Kim kindly took time out of her busy schedule to help 4WCWS presenters connect with their audience, get their message across, build confidence on stage, and polish their presentation skills. Drawing on the ancient art of storytelling, Kim gave advice on how to land key messages, use data, and speak to the social-media generation. The presentation is now available online for anyone who missed the session to catch up with it. Whether you are an experienced presenter or if 4WCWS is your first international conference, we are confident you will benefit from this webinar.
Download the slides here (PDF 1,500K), take a look at the results of the pre-webinar survey here (PDF 68K). Many thanks to Expedia Group for hosting this fantastic session!
We have an update on our CSW63 parallel event in New York!
We will be addressing ‘Tipping the Balance: Sexual Assault and Power Relationships’ on Wednesday, March 13th and ‘Women’s Shelters: The Heart of Social Protection Systems’ on Thursday, March 14th!
The 4WCWS program reflects the key issues facing both the shelter community and the broader movement to end violence against women today.
From the Vagina Monologues to the #MeToo campaign, the arts and culture industry is a key player in changing public opinion on violence against women. This session will discuss using the arts to stop gender-based violence.
This session will challenge participants to think out of the box about protecting survivors by looking at innovative systems, integration of resources, and services that meet the diverse needs of survivors.
This session will critically examine international standards and goals, explore innovative strategies to improve accountability and coordination and identify laws and policies that help protect victims and end abuse.
This session will look at ways to increase the productive earning power of women and develop inclusive communities, reduce poverty and violence, and empower women and girls.
This session will be an open space for discussion on new and emerging issues such as data collection, privacy, LGBTQ shelter management, institutional abuse, and more.
Abaad and UNFPA have led a capacity building program that started in June 2018 and ended in December 2018. This was an effort by UNFPA Iraq to open a shelter in Baghdad and consolidating others in Kurdistan. The aim was to reinforce the capacities of shelter staff on Human Right Based approach and shelter management. The event also aimed to share experiences and expertise between different governorates and parts of Iraq mainly Kurdistan Iraq which has a long experience in running government women shelters. This event also showed their excitement towards the 4th World Conference and discussed the workshop that will be led by UNFPA Iraq in the shelter conference in Taiwan 2019.
