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In Uganda, following the delivery of capacity strengthening sessions with government stakeholders, host and refugee communities advocating for EVAWG and the safety of women, new commitments were made in Yumbe District, which had a high prevalence rate of teenage pregnancies. Local authorities advocated for police to adequately investigate and bring perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to justice. In Adjumani District, a GBV ordinance is being pushed for by district women councillors (women caucus) and has received support by the local chairperson.
Additionally, through ‘security…
The Safe Mobile App (SAV-APP) aims to improve the ability to report, respond and fast-track cases of violence. Designed primarily for young women between 12 and 24 years, the app not only facilitates timely reporting of incidents but also connects women with medical, counselling, and policy assistance in emergencies. Launched in 2020, the app was developed with the support of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund under Spotlight Initiative.
"Through Spotlight Initiative, we have seen more women and girls coming up to report cases by themselves." - Inspector Muna Meah, Commander in the…
Capacity development of key stakeholders in the government, health, police, justice, and social service sectors, educators, private sector partners, and civil society, can help to embed EVAWG knowledge, attitudes, and practices in people´s personal and professional lives.
For example, in Malawi, gender-sensitive trainings on survivor-centred reporting for Police Public Relations Officers and the media continues to yield results beyond the initial training sessions.
In El Salvador, civil society organisations contributed to new areas of research on justice, social auditing for women's…
Spotlight Initiative worked with the Women and Children’s Protection Unit of the Liberian police force within Nimba county to improve their handling of VAWG cases and their understanding of how to work with survivors of rape. Spotlight Initiative built a relationship with the Liberian police force and provided a team who supported them with monitoring activities and following up on cases that had been taken to court. In addition, Spotlight Initiative renovated the police office building, providing police forces with chairs and computers to allow them to do their work more effectively. They…
In 2022 the Spotlight Initiative grantee, Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI), launched a training to build understanding within Marshall Island Police Departments about how to take a survivor-centred approach, how to respond to VAWG survivors, and promoting positive masculinities. WUTMI worked closely with the mayors of each outer island to ensure police forces committed to the training. They encouraged mayors to join the training themselves to demonstrate their political leadership and commitment to ending violence against women and girls. Some testimonies from these officers…
In 2022, Spotlight Initiative, in partnership with Partnership for Justice, established the Nana Khadija Centre. This One Stop Centre is located in a Specialist Hospital within Sokoto State, Nigeria. The One Stop Centre provides rapid response and rehabilitation services to survivors of VAWG and is linked to a shelter that provides a safe environment for survivors who need a short-term place to stay. It also provides counselling services, medico-legal support, legal support and police support. They have a pharmacy that distributes necessary medicine to providers for free and they provide non…
In December 2019, Spotlight Initiative established a fleet of trucks equipped as Mobile One Stop Centres across Zimbabwe to help dismantle the barriers that survivors in remote and hard to reach areas faced to accessing VAWG response services. As part of this, they supported volunteers engaged in VAWG referrals by providing them with data and airtime packages, to enable continuous two-way communication between volunteers, survivors, hotlines, and Mobile One Stop Centre teams. They also supported the coordination of shuttle services and fuel to support survivors to travel to Mobile One Stop…
Mozambique has introduced a digital police database for registration of GBV cases, known as “InfoViolência”. Instead of using paper, a police officer inserts the survivor’s data on a tablet connected with a server, thereby increasing efficiency and safety by digitizing the registration process. Ultimately, it will open the door to an integrated database that encompasses the whole GBV referral system in the country – a national digital platform to register and manage reported cases of violence.
"Once fully operational, Infoviolência will allow for more GBV survivors to be assisted, and for…
In December 2019, the United Nations in Zimbabwe established a fleet of Mobile One Stop Centres across the country to help dismantle the barriers the survivors in remote and hard to reach areas faced to accessing GBV response services. As part of this, they supported volunteers engaged in GBV referrals by providing them with data and airtime packages, to enable continuous two-way communication between volunteers, survivors, hotlines, and Mobile One Stop Centre teams. They also supported the coordination of shuttle services and fuel to support survivors to travel to Mobile One Stop Centres as…
In 2021, Spotlight Initiative supported their CSO partner ALFELA to conduct a capacity assessment of the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL). This involved interviewing 102 police officers from various departments to understanding PNTL’s response to VAWG cases. The assessment found that 55% of officers were not familiar with the Timor-Leste's law against domestic violence, 45% were not clear on how to handle cases, and only 60% knew how to properly categorise cases. Following on from this assessment, ALFELA conducted a day-long roundtable discussion with officers from the national Vulnerable…