Breaking the cycle of gender violence

Gender-based Violence is enclosed in deeply rooted silence...with abused women being made to believe that it cannot be discussed in the open.

Well, GEMINI has started to break this veil of silence. For 2 months now, we have sensitized the commuity on violence and subsequently formed community forums to facilitate dialogue and discussion on the issue.

Like many African organizations, GEMINI has to contend with deeply-rooted cultural sentiments on domestic violence. Family violence is often believed to be a personal issue, not to be discussed in an open forum. Yet we were able to involve the community in a very successful “Let’s Talk About it!” campaign. The major aim was to demystify violence through community mobilization, open discussions and mass media. After a one-week awareness campaign, a Community Resource Team was formed, whose mandate includes mobilizing the support of stakeholders in ending violence. Members include law enforcers, religious leaders, community gatekeepers and families. Activities for the month of April/May included popular education workshop (attended by over 65 people), formation of neighborhood forums and a community event that used edutainment, poetry and cultural songs to bring out messages on violence. We are currently engaging local leaders in coming up with accepted format of including men as allies in ending violence. We hope to come up with workable alternatives to the justice system that seeks to punish perpetrators. We hope to keep you updated…and thanks for supporting our project!