Community Empowerment: Addressing Violence against Women

Addressing violence particularly violence against women through building community awareness, community mobilisation for prevention and coordinating support to victims is a key programmatic area of our Community Empowerment Programme. CEP’s approach involves mobilising and engaging rural communities to monitor and prevent human rights violations towards creating a safer environment, particularly for women and children. CEP’s interventions in addressing violence against women involve the following –

Identification and Reporting:
Community based organisations facilitated by CEP i.e. Polli Shomaj serve as a strong network for identification and reporting of incidents of violence particularly violence against women such as acid throwing, rape, physical torture, murder, fatwa, etc. The reports are verified and sent to BRAC Headquarters within 24 hours of identification.

Survivor Support:
Coordinated support (emergency medical and legal aid as well as long term support for rehabilitation and social reintegration) is provided for the survivors through collaboration with other BRAC programmes and partner organisations.

Mobilisation for Violence Prevention:
Based on the field reports CEP creates awareness among the communities and mobilise them for monitoring and prevention of different forms of violence against women and children. This is particularly done through Polli Shomaj and Popular Theatre. 

Violence Database: 
Reports of violence sent from the field are stored in a central database which enables analysis of the data and provides directions for future action.  
 

Joint Programme on Violence against Women
The Joint Programme on Violence against Women project has been initiated with the aim to improve the overall gender based violence situation, particularly violence against women, through a comprehensive set of activities involving awareness raising and capacity building, developing networks and partnerships, policy advocacy, survivor support and establishing a database on violence against women in 6 districts presently covered by the REOPA project of UNDP.