Women for Change (WfC) says it is strengthening awareness of gender-based violence (GBV) reporting channels and referral mechanisms among persons with disabilities in Isoka District to improve their access to support services.
WfC Project Officer Charles Sichali said the engagement aimed to gather recommendations on preventing GBV against women and girls while raising awareness of available support services.
Mr Sichali said the initiative was essential in helping persons with disabilities report abuse and access assistance from relevant institutions.
Speaking during an awareness meeting for persons with disabilities at the One-Stop Centre in Isoka District, he said the organisation was working with key stakeholders to improve access to social services and strengthen community efforts to combat GBV.
He said the meeting had equipped participants with knowledge of the different forms of GBV, reporting channels and referral mechanisms.
“We were able to create awareness of the different forms of GBV, the reporting channels and the referral mechanisms, as well as strengthen the community capacity that has already been built in the chiefdoms where we are working and get recommendations on how to curb GBV,” he said.
Mr Sichali said collaboration with the One-Stop Centre, the Department of Social Welfare and other stakeholders was helping to improve access to essential services for vulnerable groups.
Meanwhile, participant Annie Sikanyika said the initiative had provided valuable information on where persons with disabilities could seek assistance when faced with GBV.
“We face so many challenges in the community related to GBV, but we never know where to go,” Ms Sikanyika said.
Another participant, Wyton Sikombe, said the meeting had helped persons with disabilities understand their rights and identify where to seek assistance when those rights were violated.
“We are grateful for this initiative because we have learnt not to allow people to infringe on our rights, and we now know the right places to go when we have such problems,” Mr Sikombe said.
ZANIS reports that WfC, with support from the Irish Government through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is implementing the Gender Equity Towards Eradicating Gender-Based Violence among Women and Girls project under the Spotlight 2.0 initiative.
The programme seeks to strengthen advocacy and community efforts to prevent and address violence against women and girls.
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