Gender-based violence affects millions of women and girls every year. It’s a pervasive problem people face daily, and it affects communities across the whole world.
With a problem so deep and so global, we work towards solutions that begin by involving the entire community. When more people are aware and on board, instances of gender-based violence begin to drop. By building community awareness of violence, strengthening women’s leadership and capacity to help others, and involving the entire community in creating solutions, we see the greatest results in making the world safer for women and girls.
But before community awareness, leadership programming, or anything else, it’s important to first help the individuals impacted by gender-based violence. Before anything else, we work to meet our clients physical and mental health needs. We help women, girls and other victims of violence access the critical healthcare they need.
Today, we decided to help a family that had been affected by violence and was seeking ARC’s services. This family was a mother and her children who were unable to return home for fear of violence by the woman’s husband. They were seeking protection and resettlement services in order to stay safe. To help this family in that very moment, we gave them food that would help them last the time they needed to wait.
Though it’s just a start, that immediate response changes lives. Andrew, an ARC employee based in Uganda, said, “it’s a small effort for us that will make a big difference for them.”
