At the heart of change: Spotlight Initiative highlights breakthroughs in tackling gender-based violence

At the heart of change: Spotlight Initiative highlights breakthroughs in tackling gender-based violence

When it comes to protecting women and girls from gender-based violence, change happens when they are “at the heart of every decision,” said Erin Kenny, global coordinator of the Spotlight Initiative, a United Nations-European Union partnership focused on tackling all forms of abuse against women and girls.

Since 2017, Spotlight has been committed to preventing violence, sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), femicide, human trafficking and labor exploitation.

Globally, one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence, and in many places the number is even higher.

Here are some of the initiative’s key breakthroughs highlighted in a report that focuses on the initiative’s innovative approaches and sustained achievements over the past seven years.

Finding empowerment in Zimbabwe

In Zvimba, Ndakaitei Matare, mother of one and chair of a disability support group, knows first-hand the challenges of living with a disability, having faced barriers to education, resources and economic opportunities from an early age.

Through a partnership between Spotlight and the government, Ndakaitei and other women with disabilities have found empowerment, raising awareness about GBV, rights and inclusion through disability support groups.

“We can do a lot when we unite and work together,” she said, a testament to how knowledge and community can change lives.

Access to justice for women

Since then, access to justice for survivors of sexual violence has improved significantly. Victim-friendly courts now provide safe spaces for women and children, and the Judicial Services Commission continues to support survivors with transport and food allowances and has expanded three more courts with separation rooms.

Supporting child survivors in Haiti

In the summer of 2023, Taina* was kidnapped and held for a week by a Haitian gang.

She remembers being held in a home where two men raped her one after the other, describing it as a “nightmare week.”

While others were also held captive, she was the only minor.

Thanks to Spotlight, Taina received medical, psychological and social support, housing, microfinance and income-generating training, assistance with school fees and emergency relocation.

“In this environment I could finally breathe,” Taina said.

She now looks to the future with determination, dreams of becoming a police officer and plans to resume her studies while taking beauty treatment and cooking courses.

Tackling sexual violence

More than one in three Haitian women has experienced violence from a partner or husband. Nearly 30 percent of women of childbearing age have experienced physical violence, almost half of which was by an intimate partner. Twelve percent have experienced sexual violence, including many girls between the ages of 15 and 17.

Supporting the rights of female migrant workers in Thailand

Namwaan* left Myanmar in 2003 to pursue a better life in Thailand.

The first job she found was in a textile factory. She remembered working long hours for little income. “I had to work 12 to 16 hours a day for only 70 baht ($3).”

Invisible, exploited, abused, silenced. These are just some of the words that female migrant workers use to describe their working conditions.

Because Namwaan ​​could not read or speak Thai, she was unable to negotiate her terms of employment and feared she would be punished by her employer if she tried to speak up.

“Some of my colleagues were harassed, locked up or faced physical abuse when they spoke out about their working conditions,” she said.

Recovering from abuse

Through awareness campaigns, airport support desks and training for service providers, the Spotlight Initiative has explained the risks faced by female migrant workers.

For Namwann, the training provided a space to connect with others who had suffered similar abuse.

“I felt completely connected to their stories,” she said. “This program gives millions of women hope for decent work, free from violence.”

A ban on corporal punishment in Tajikistan

In 2023, Tajikistan became the 66th country in the world to ban corporal punishment, a transformative policy change made possible by the Spotlight Initiative.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the initiative has established 15 victim support rooms, providing integrated medical, psychological and referral services, including short-term shelter.

More specifically, the transformation extended to communities, strengthening the role of religious leaders as advocates for gender equality and key actors in violence prevention efforts.

In more than 300 schools, Spotlight supported the creation of a national incident reporting mechanism, which the government took full responsibility for and publicly committed to expanding nationwide by 2030.