Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti

Your Generosity and Solidarity Keeps the Movement to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls on Track

The past 11 months have been some of the most challenging in recent memory in Haiti. The potential to see long-held plans sidetracked or even completely upended is a daily concern.

But thanks to the faithful generosity and unceasing solidarity of supporters like you, Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team has been able to keep the focus on three main strategies they’ve outlined to build the movement to prevent violence against women and girls. They are:

• the Creation and Adaptation of Materials,
• Community Mobilization, and,
• Advocacy and Feminist Network Building

The Three Key Focus Areas Your Generosity Supports

Creation & Adaptation of Materials: Through your generous support, Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team is working to develop key sets of materials: the Haiti adaptation of Raising Voices’ updated version of SASA!* called SASA! Together, which includes key elements of SASA! Faith; and the development of a new resource pack for the economic empowerment of adolescent girls, to be integrated within the Power to Girls* methodology. In addition, we went beyond these three to develop Safe and Capable*––a resource pack on VAWG with disabilities, and we are updating Power to Girls based on lessons learned in the first implementation cycle.

Community Mobilization: Thanks to you and supporters like you, Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team will conduct a new implementation cycle of community mobilization in a new group of communities in Haiti for the prevention of VAWG, integrating these elements into one intervention: the adapted SASA! Together, Safe and Capable, and Power to Girls with an all-new resource pack for the economic empowerment of adolescent girls. (The Global Women’s Institute (GWI) at the George Washington University had expressed a strong interest in evaluating the impact of this combination of interventions given its potential to contribute to learning in the field regionally and globally.) Beyond Borders’ community mobilization in the Lavale area concluded in June 2021. (See the August 2021 report for photos from the graduation ceremony held in Lavale.)

Advocacy and Feminist Network Building: With your generous support, Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team is working to take its advocacy and movement building to the next level. Working in collaboration with existing feminist movements and the growing network of activists that emerged as part of SASA! and Power to Girls implementations, our team is working to strengthen capacity for collective advocacy in Haiti. We’re doing this by reinforcing connections with existing national and regional feminist networks to promote community advocacy priorities, and creating linkages between larger advocacy bodies and the community-based activism networks that have emerged from the implementation work. Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team continues to provide technical support on its methodologies to other organizations in Haiti and internationally, taking to scale evidence-based VAWG prevention and adolescent girls rights methods and tools.

More than 49 organizations have benefited from Beyond Borders’ technical support programming, including 41 participating in short courses offered on topics like VAWG with disabilities, principles of effective VAWG prevention, and Power to Girls and/or Safe and Capable. In addition, eight organizations have benefitted from long-term support in implementation of VAWG prevention/ girls’ rights methodologies. Beyond Borders worked to facilitate networking between these organizations, supported local and national advocacy efforts led by partners, and accompanied eight long-term technical support partners in various stages of implementation, including the six partners of the Haiti VAWG Prevention Coalition. In addition, the Rethinking Power team in Jacmel that provides technical support also supported Beyond Borders’ programs on Lagonav Island using the SASA! methodology.

Thank you for making it possible for the team to both keep the focus and make real progress in these three key areas!

*Created by our friends at Raising Voices, SASA! (Start, Awareness, Support, Action) is a ground-breaking, internationally-recognized model of community-mobilization to stop violence against women and the spread of HIV. Engaging all actors in the community — women, men, cultural and religious leaders, local officials, police, health-care providers — SASA! fosters critical reflection on gender and power and instigates local-level activism.

Created by Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power Team, Power To Girls includes a complete, three-year methodology to integrate lessons on equality and preventing gender-based violence into the school curriculum, including sample lesson plans for social science, biology and language teachers. Power To Girls also includes a guide to help schools and communities create and support local girls’ groups, and a set of community organizing tools designed to create deep and lasting change among adults too.

Also created by the Rethinking Power Team, ‘Safe and Capable: Haitian Communities Preventing Violence Against Girls and Women with Disabilities’ is designed to change how people see women and girls living with disabilities and to increase their social inclusion and better protect them from violence. Created with funding from the UN Trust Fund/UN Women, the program is being integrated in communities alongside our SASA! and Power to Girls programming. Safe and Capable includes a five-part introductory guide, training curriculum, theater plays, dialogue-based posters, “quick chat” sessions, and learning and evaluation guides.

Your Generosity is Building a Network of Local Activists to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls

Thanks to you and your generosity, an activism network of 518 activists was trained and supported by Beyond Borders’ local activism team to facilitate community meetings, materials campaigns, popular theater performances, public events, radio shows, quick chats, household visits, neighborhood dialogues, school mobilization, girls’ groups, parent engagement, girls’ group mentors, community activists, school personnel, health workers, community leaders, religious leaders, women leaders, and journalists.

More than 19,500 members of the general population were reached directly and likely repeatedly through these community mobilization activities; in principle, a great enough number to achieve a critical mass for social norms change. Thank you for making this movement building work possible.

Your Generosity is Making it Possible to Engage Local Authorities in the Movement to Prevent VAWG

Your support also made it possible for Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team to engage local government and justice sector personnel, with the goal of seeking to create improvements in response services. One highlight was a workshop held with local Lavale authorities. Together with the Lavale Commune, Beyond Borders organized the workshop at the request of the Lavale Mayor’s office to build relationships, share knowledge, and increase the engagement of local government in the movement to end VAWG.

Four women and 13 men participated, including the three Mayoral Representatives for Lavale, the Ministry of Education’s District Inspector, Lavale’s Titular Judge, a representative from the Water Authorities (DINEPA), the local authorities (CASECs) from the Mizak, Tènye, and Mòn Abrile communal sections, staff from the mayor’s office, the Police Commissioner, and a police officer from the commune. During the session, Beyond Borders staff presented the work of the Rethinking Power program, and there was a presentation on the feminist movement in Haiti, taking time for discussion to dispel the myths surrounding it.

Several positive outcomes resulted from the workshop. Lavale’s District Judge shared that any woman who experiences violence who comes to the courthouse will be sent to St. Joseph’s Hospital to receive medical care and a free medical certificate, and that women and girls should be able to access a free medical certificate at any of the doctors in the Lavale Commune. The Police Commissioner raised the issue of poverty as a contributing factor to women’s inequality. Most notable was a commitment from the District Inspector for the Ministry of Education, who suggested that the Commune develop and adapt a protocol document for the engagement of teachers in promoting balanced power, and that this be a part of their orientation when hired. The activism network continued to conduct advocacy on this point, and the Lavale mayor’s office has issued a communal decree in support of preventing violence against girls in schools. 

This workshop laid the groundwork for the continued engagement of local government and justice sector representatives throughout the community mobilization intervention for VAWG prevention in Lavale. It ensured the development of important relationships that will continue to underpin this work.

Engaging School Personnel in the Movement Building Effort

Beyond Borders’ local activism team was successful in working with school personnel -- through training and ongoing technical support -- to implement Power to Girls programming, integrating Safe and Capable tools to ensure the inclusion of themes related to violence against women and girls living with disabilities. Supplementary practice sessions and coaching were included during monthly School Focal Point meetings to continue building capacity. Project staff repeated many sessions covered earlier in the project to reinforce concepts, particularly among new school personnel. School focal points used materials and guides to facilitate dialogue in school communities, and teachers facilitated sessions within the classroom using the Power to Girls curriculum. 

Empowering Girls Through Girls Groups

Thanks to your support, 288 girls were engaged through girls’ group programming led by 16 girls’ group mentors. The use of Power to Girls and Safe and Capable programming generated many positive outcomes within girls’ groups:

• Six girls living with disabilities joined girls’ groups;
• New girls’ groups are being established by girls’ group graduates who have requested to be trained as mentors. Some have secured or are seeking financial support from their own connections, and Beyond Borders provided materials to start their new groups. The 16 groups established through Beyond Borders’ direct programming continue to operate and formalize into local organizations after the close of the intervention, some of them procuring support from the community to continue operating;
• Girls found ways to express their activism. Many shared their learnings with other girls and community members. For example, one Girls’ Group (ages 10-14) participant took the initiative to facilitate Power to Girls activities in her school. She used Power to Girls communications materials and reported back to her Girls’ Group Mentor every month;
• Older girls’ group participants acquired crafting and livelihoods skills and began to sell their products;
• Girls’ groups created six soccer teams, and a girls’ soccer tournament was held;
• Girls’ group participants have mastered the game of Chess and were planning a Chess tournament but have postponed this until public health conditions allow; and
• Girls groups formed two advocacy committees in Lavale, and one girl serves as delegate to the community-wide advocacy group of adult activists.

Using Creative Means to Keep Girls’ Groups Active in Challenging Times

Staff and mentors successfully maintained the momentum of girls’ groups throughout political unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increased gang activity in Lavale by employing creative strategies. Because Mentors are from the same communities and neighborhoods as the girls in their groups, many continued and contextualized activities were possible to ensure girls were supported during this difficult time. Mentors and staff distributed hygiene kits and face coverings to all girls’ group members and their families. Mentors conducted regular, socially-distanced home visits to check in with their members, distribute materials for home activities, and connect with parents.

Parents of all girls were increasingly engaged as staff and mentors organized and implemented parent-focused, year-end events and sought to coordinate parent involvement with community activists and others in the Power to Girls network, which seems to have led to increased levels of girls’ participation at girls’ groups. Whenever possible, girls’ groups continued to meet, building skills on the six key topics of power, communication, leadership & friends, finance, girls’ health, and violence. They selected hands-on skills training that interested them, including sandal making, macrame, and poetry and painting workshops. Some groups selected field trips, such as one to a successful, local farm.

Through the pilot of the complementary resource pack Safe and Capable (in partnership with UNTF), mentors promoted specific themes to raise awareness about the experiences of girls living with disabilities at girls’ group activities, and they conducted focused outreach to encourage parents of girls living with disabilities to allow their participation in girls’ groups. As a result, at least six girls with disabilities are now active members of girls’ groups. Girls in the girls’ groups have become activists in their own right. They have the capacity now to support other girls, including girls with disabilities, while working for social change and increased safety, agency, and voice of all girls at school, in other children’s spaces, in the community, at home, and in their girls’ groups. Testimonies have continued to come in about the changes this programming has sparked in girls’ lives.

Your support makes accomplishments like these possible. Thank you!

Research and Learning: Studying the Impact of Our Work

Beyond Borders continued its research collaboration with The George Washington University’s Global Women’s Institute to build the evidence base for community-based primary prevention in Haiti. GWI is conducting an impact study of SASA! and Power to Girls as implemented by Beyond Borders; they are also researching the effectiveness of Safe and Capable as piloted by Beyond Borders within the same intervention. During the reporting period, GWI and Beyond Borders developed Safe and Capable baseline and endline evaluation tools. Baseline, midline and endline data were collected for SASA! and Power to Girls throughout the program cycle; baseline and endline data were collected for Safe and Capable. Data analysis is ongoing, and a final report and dissemination of results are planned for 2022. 

Thank You Again

Thank you again for all that you are making possible through your generous support for Beyond Borders' ‘Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti’ project on GlobalGiving. We are deeply grateful for your solidarity in these challenging times.

You are building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls and ensure that every day more and more girls and women in Haiti are living free from violence, discrimination, and inequality. If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please contact Brian Stevens, Beyond Borders’ Engagement Director, at (305) 450-2561 or b.stevens@beyondborders.net.

Links:

• [VIDEO]: Get an in-depth look at Beyond Borders' work in Haiti.

Eight New Communities and 132 New Activists are Fully Trained to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls - Thanks to YOU

Your faithful support for Beyond Borders’ ‘Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti’ project on GlobalGiving is building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls and balance power between women and men. Thank you for your generosity and your solidarity!

Continued Progress in the Face of Profound Challenges

This is an extremely difficult moment for the people of Haiti. Despite the heightened insecurity in the wake of the assassination of Haiti's president, and the threat posed by the rapid spread of the covid variant, the work to prevent gender-based violence and balance power between women and men -- work that you make possible -- continues.

I am grateful for your continued support and solidarity in these uncertain and often volatile times in Haiti. Thank you for standing with the Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team and the grassroots leaders and community members who are building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls. This work simply could not happen without you!

Fully-Trained to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls and Balance Power

There is encouraging news to share from southeastern Haiti, where eight communities recently completed the three-year SASA! program to prevent violence against women and girls and a year-and-a-half of training in two new anti-violence initiatives: Power To Girls and Safe and Capable.

These communities are now fully trained in proven strategies to prevent gender-based violence, balance power between women and men, and prevent violence against women and girls living with disabilities -- achievements made possible by you and your generosity.

You Can Get an Inside Look at Power To Girls

You can get an inside look at one of the three pillars of the movement to prevent violence against women and girls that you make possible: Power To Girls.

We are happy to share with you a one-hour, in-depth webinar conducted by Beyond Borders' staff members in Haiti and the United States who lead the Power To Girls program.

You can watch the webinar here: www.girlpowerhero.com.

This three-year program is transforming classrooms, providing teachers with a guide they can use to integrate lessons on equality and preventing gender-based violence into the curriculum.

Power To Girls includes sample lesson plans for social science, biology, and language classes, a guide to help schools and communities create and support local girls’ groups, and a set of community organizing tools designed to create deep and lasting change among adults too.

By equipping girls and boys and school and civic leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to influence attitudes and behaviors related to girls’ safety and voice, schools and communities can address the root cause of violence against women and girls: gender-power imbalances.

I hope you can take a moment to watch this webinar. It will give you a look at the kind of life-changing work that you and your generosity are making possible.

132 New Violence-Prevention Activists Graduate, Thanks to You and Your Support 

Now, thanks to you, more women and men are trained in proven strategies to prevent gender-based violence, balance power between the sexes, and prevent violence against women and girls living with disabilities.

This summer -- before the latest political crisis -- Beyond Borders' Rethinking Power team organized a graduation for 132 new violence prevention activists in the community of Lavale in southeastern Haiti.

The graduation was the culmination of a four-year-long formation process that included people from all walks of life in Lavale: religious and community leaders, journalists, health care workers, and girls club members, to name a few.

I hope you are inspired by the courage, determination, and commitment of these women and men to preventing violence and balancing power in their community.

This graduation and the tremendous growth of the movement to prevent violence against women and girls -- since 2010 more than 60,000 women and men have been trained -- would not be possible without you.

Thank You Again

Thank you again for all that you are making possible through your generous support for Beyond Borders' ‘Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti’ project on GlobalGiving. We are deeply grateful for your solidarity in these challenging times.

You are building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls and ensure that every day more and more girls and women in Haiti are living free from violence, discrimination, and inequality. If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please contact Brian Stevens, Beyond Borders’ Donor Engagement Director, at (305) 450-2561 or b.stevens@beyondborders.net.

Links:

• Watch the full Power To Girls Webinar here.
• Like us on Facebook for the latest from Haiti.
• We are committed to financial transparency and accountability.

You Are Building a Movement to Prevent Violence Against Women & Girls With Disabilities

Thank you for your faithful support for Beyond Borders’ ‘Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti’ project on GlobalGiving. I am grateful for your generosity and solidarity!

You Make the Work of 500 Volunteer Activists Reaching 20,000 Community Members Possible

You are helping to build a movement led by more than 500 volunteer activists who have already reached 20,000 community members in the last year with messages about dignity and equality for all -- including women and girls living with disabilities.

As in-person, community-level programming resumed in full after a pause due to COVID-19 -- with personal protective practices in place -- Beyond Borders’ staff -- supported by your generosity -- worked with activism network members to achieve several mobilization campaigns.

As in-person activities resumed, the team conducted refresher trainings and in-person technical support with activism network members as they restarted in-person work to mobilize communities. More than 20 workshops were held with activists. Girls’ groups resumed regular programming, implementing more than 300 activities, and mentors conducted special outreach with parents to strengthen their engagement.  

Using Safe and Capable* posters and quick chats, the team engaged more than 3,000 local residents this past quarter in conversations to promote community support for women and girls living with disabilities and actions to prevent and respond to acts of violence against them. When adding community gatherings, local radio broadcasts, door-to-door visits, parent outreach and other girls’ group activities, and the popular theatre performances held by a partner organization, an estimated 8,000 people were reached through Safe and Capable programming during the period. 

Communities Act to Include Women & Girls Living with Disabilities in Local Activities

Community residents observed during community mobilization activities demonstrated increased knowledge and transformed beliefs about the inclusion of women and girls living with disabilities and the violence they face, and locals are taking steps to facilitate the participation of women and girls living with disabilities at community activities. 

In addition, recent advocacy efforts conducted by a local women’s leadership group and community activists are evidence of both their capacity and the effectiveness of Safe and Capable at instigating local initiatives to drive relevant, sustainable change. These activists are urging local governments to ensure accessibility to public spaces for women and girls living with disabilities.

Your Support is Training People From All Walks of Life to Prevent Violence

Your gift is also supporting work with 166 community leaders, professionals, and service providers, equipping them with new skills, tools, and strategies to increase the inclusion of women and girls living with disabilities in socio-professional circles and in communities too. Here’s a look at who your generosity has helped to train:

- 16 Health Workers

- 30 Religious Leaders

- 25 Community Leaders

- 27 Domestic Violence Response Organization Members

- 16 Radio Personnel

- 27 Model Couples (54 individuals)

- 25 Advocacy Committee Members

Your Generosity is Helping to Train Teachers to Use Safe and Capable

Your generosity is also helping to organize workshops during monthly School Focal Point meetings to continue building the capacity of educators to use Safe and Capable materials within their ongoing Power to Girls implementation. Workshop sessions provided strategies for educators to promote Safe and Capable themes both in school and in their communities.

These workshops were also supportive in addressing the challenges caused by turnover in school personnel as well as this year’s unorthodox school calendar due to COVID-19. Project staff were able to repeat many sessions covered earlier in the project period to reinforce Safe and Capable concepts. At future monthly meetings with School Focal Points, additional sessions will be held to strengthen capacity through facilitation practice.

*Safe and Capable seeks to prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities, and to promote the rights and autonomy of women and girls with disabilities. Safe and Capable is supported by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund), the only global grant-making mechanism dedicated exclusively to addressing all forms of violence against women and girls at the local and national levels. The funds raised support initiatives that have a specific and sustainable impact.

Your Support is Expanding the Network of Girls Clubs, Adding 18 New Clubs

You are also helping to expand Beyond Borders’ network of Girls Clubs, with plans to add 18 new clubs this year. Each Girls Club is a place where girls know they belong, where they are respected, and can be heard. Your generosity also mobilizes the community to protect girls from abuse and exploitation. That’s because the Girls Clubs are at the center of a broader community-wide initiative to transform how girls are seen and to end the violence and discrimination they face. 

You Are Equipping Girls To Be a Force for Positive Change in Their Communities

So, inside and outside Girls Glubs, you are helping girls discover that they are of equal value and you are equipping girls to be a force for positive change in their communities. Your support surrounds girls with mentors who are working tirelessly to end violence against women and girls and create a more equal path for them to walk. Too few people see the critical role girls can play in transforming Haiti. Your generosity shows that you realize what a powerful force for positive change that girls can be in Haiti -- and that you are committed to helping them tear down the barriers they face. Thank you!

The George Washington University’s Global Women's Institute Releases a Baseline Report on the Work You Make Possible

Thanks to you and so many supporters like you who have invested deeply in this movement-building work, our team is continuing its multi-year collaboration with the Global Women's Institute (GWI) at the George Washington University -- first launched in 2016 -- to measure the impact and effectiveness of Beyond Borders' programs to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Beyond Borders is proud to share one product of this collaboration: a just-released baseline report from the GWI that presents "an in-depth diagnosis of the situation of different types of VAWG in this part of Haiti," and " ... attempts to be the most comprehensive diagnosis done on VAWG in this area."

While the GWI final report won't be complete until next year, this baseline study will be useful in both improving Beyond Borders’ current programs to prevent VAWG and will contribute to the evidence base for future programs and policies to prevent gender-based violence throughout Haiti. You can find the link to the full report in the links section at the end of this report.

What Girls Are Saying About Girls Clubs

One of the best ways to share the impact of your support is for you to hear directly from those whose lives you’ve touched. Here are testimonials from three girls who are members of Girls Clubs that you help make possible though your generosity:

“Long ago when I had a little money, I would buy things with it, more than I needed. Because of the girls’ group, now I’ve learned how to manage my money. During the period of Coronavirus, schools were closed. I stayed at home, and I asked my mother to help me create a small business baking bread. I started out with a tin can of flour, but thanks to the education I received at my girls’ group about how to manage money, today my business has grown, and I purchase a sack of flour and other ingredients, as well as other products that I re-sell for profit.”

- Sherly, girls’ group participant with an intellectual disability

“Before coming to the girls’ group, I really lacked confidence. Sometimes I was ashamed to ask for support because I didn’t want other people to judge me. Now, thanks to the education I’ve received at my girls’ group, I’ve come to understand that I am a person just like everyone else, and the disability doesn’t remove any of my value as a human being. I’m no longer ashamed to request support.”

- Uclide, girls’ group participant with a physical disability

“My Power to Girls girls’ group has a lot of importance in my life. The Safe and Capable module has helped me have so much more confidence in myself, because I have learned so much. I learned that I am living with a health condition rather than a disability. I have the same power as everyone else, and I can do all the same things others can do, it’s just I do it with a physical health condition. I’ve accepted how I am. Now, it’s the people in my community and the people in my home who need to adjust around me in a way so that [my health condition doesn’t become a disability].”

- Yveline, girls group participant

Thank You Again

Thank you again for all that you are making possible through your generous support for Beyond Borders' ‘Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti’ project on GlobalGiving. We are deeply grateful for your solidarity in these challenging times.

You are building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls and ensure that every day more and more girls and women in Haiti are living free from violence, discrimination, and inequality. If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please contact Brian Stevens, Beyond Borders’ Donor Engagement Director, at (305) 450-2561 or b.stevens@beyondborders.net.

Links:

• Check out this video of a Girls Club in Haiti.
• Read the Global Women's Institute baseline report on our work.
• Like us on Facebook for the latest from Haiti!

Thank You for Your Generous Support and Your Continued Solidarity

I am grateful for your generous support for the ‘Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti’ project on GlobalGiving!

Your solidarity with women and men and girls and boys in Haiti who are building the movement to end gender-based violence and balance power is creating lasting change in communities.

"I never felt I could have so much worth ... thanks to the Girls’ Group ... I feel stronger!"

One of the best ways we can communicate the impact you are having through your generous support for this project and the movement to prevent violence against women and girls is by inviting those whose lives are transformed by this work to share their experiences with you.

“I never felt I could have so much worth ... thanks to the Girls Group ... I feel stronger! I know more things, especially how people can live with others without violence.” ~Iclide, a member of a Beyond Borders-sponsored Girls’ Group who is living with a disability

“I have a younger sister living with a disability. Even though I’m a Girls’ Group Mentor, I was never interested in inviting her to my Girls’ Group. I thought she couldn’t walk very far. Thanks to the [Safe and Capable] training, I’ve learned to let her decide what she wants to do. This way, she doesn’t have to depend on others in her environment, and she will develop confidence in herself.” ~ Morette, a Girls’ Group Mentor

“I love my Girls’ Group. What I really like is the crafts, because it allows me to make some beautiful things. I never thought I could create such things like macrame and crochet.”

~ Chelda, a Girls’ Group participant living with an intellectual disability

“I am happy, and I’m very proud because I had this opportunity to contribute to a huge change like this in my community. This is an extraordinary thing for me, when I hear how people’s language and attitudes about women and girls with disabilities are starting to change. I believe that, with the support of everyone who has started collaborating on this work, one day we truly will have a United Community Without Violence (translation of Haitian Creole name for Safe and Capable).” ~ Adonis, Beyond Borders Local Activist

Safe and Capable: Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls with Disabilities

Your generous support helps make initiatives like the Safe and Capable program that Morette and Adonis mentioned possible. Safe and Capable seeks to prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities, and to promote the rights and autonomy of women and girls with disabilities.

Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power team that is working to prevent violence against women and girls and balance power between women and men and girls and boys explains why an initiative like Safe and Capable is so critically important:

“Women and girls with disabilities face discrimination on two levels: because of their gender and because of their disability. This is a result of the higher social standing of men and boys in general and negative societal perceptions of disability. Global evidence shows that women and girls living with disabilities are much more likely to experience violence than other community members. Violence against women and girls with disabilities is rooted in the same power imbalance between sexes, but further fueled by community social norms related to disability that perpetuate misconceptions and prejudice. This violence deprives women and girls with disabilities of their human rights and dignity and limits the development of families and communities.”

Safe and Capable is supported by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund), the only global grant-making mechanism dedicated exclusively to addressing all forms of violence against women and girls at the local and national levels. The funds raised support initiatives that have a specific and sustainable impact.

Ensuring Greater Social inclusion and Improved Protection From Violence

Creating social norms change in Haiti so that women and girls living with disabilities begin to experience greater social inclusion and improved protection from violence is one of the goals of this project -- a project that your generosity is making possible.

To ensure that this work creates real, lasting change, it is critical to know what current social norms and beliefs are in the communities where this work will take place. The Rethinking Power team conducted a baseline survey that revealed important information about women and girls living with disabilities that was previously missing in Haiti

The team’s baseline survey revealed: “Women and girls living with disabilities had experienced a statistically significant higher prevalence of lifetime physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence than those without disabilities. All types of intimate partner violence measured (emotional, physical, sexual) were found to be higher in those with mental health disorders than those without. In intervention communities, women and girls living with disabilities are more at risk for non-partner sexual violence as well. The baseline also revealed community social norms that discriminate against, stigmatize and negatively stereotype women and girls living with disabilities . . . and perpetuate violence against [them].”

The Rethinking Power team then used this baseline data to inform the types of interventions planned in communities. Now, through the Safe and Capable resource pack, work with residents is raising their awareness and mobilizing people to change their communities so that women and girls living with disabilities experience social inclusion and support from their communities. Thank you again for your generous support for this team and their work!

Communities Demonstrate New Knowledge, Skills and Change in Attitudes and Behaviors

The Rethinking Power team found -- through observations of community activities and reports from activists -- anecdotal evidence that community members are experiencing transformation in beliefs and knowledge, and in how they engage with women and girls living with disabilities in their families and neighborhoods.

Now, community members talk about overcoming shame about women and girls living with disabilities in their own families. Program participants talk about making the decision to treat women and girls living with disabilities differently because of what they have learned through Safe and Capable, and that women and girls living with disabilities have the same power and rights as all persons, and that other people -- particularly men -- do not have the right to treat them with disrespect.

Grassroots leaders are promoting inclusion of women and girls living with disabilities in their communities, and visiting local institutions to encourage improved access for and inclusion of women and girls living with disabilities.

Engaging Local Government in the Movement to Prevent Violence Against Women & Girls

The work conducted through Safe and Capable to engage local government, regional and national entities like the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and community leaders can change the way institutions function over time. Great headway has been made in these relationships, and requests by local authorities to speak at engagements, provide opinions, and be a general resource on issues of violence against women and girls and violence against women and girls living with disabilities has increased. As a result, a protocol with the local office of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs was drafted and signed.

“Long Live Power To Girls!”

Your generosity also continues to support Power To Girls, a complete, three-year methodology to integrate lessons on equality and preventing gender-based violence into the school curriculum, including sample lesson plans for social science, biology and language teachers.

Power To Girls also includes a guide to help schools and communities create and support local girls’ groups, and a set of community organizing tools designed to create deep and lasting change among adults too. By equipping girls and boys and school and civic leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to influence attitudes and behaviors related to girls’ safety and voice, schools and communities can address the root cause of violence against women and girls: gender-power imbalances.

Fifteen-year-old Emmanuella, a member of a Girls’ Club, wrote this poem in praise of Power To Girls for her club’s new year celebration:

Long Live Power To Girls

Power To Girls is fighting against Violence

Against women while giving importance to all girls;

Society we must not be silent

When we see a woman who is suffering.

If today I stand in front without trembling

That means my talent is unveiling;

And I'm proud of all the girls watching me

To see how I am extending myself.

I don't want to talk in parables

For a long time I had no right to speak;

If violence ends in my family

That means Power To Girls bears a lot of fruit.

Today thanks to Power To Girls,

I shine like the noontime sun

And every girl who is hearing me must say:

Long live Power To Girls!

Thank You Again

Thank you again for all that you do and all that you are making possible through your generous support for Beyond Borders' Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti project on GlobalGiving. We are deeply grateful for your solidarity in these challenging times.

You are building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls and ensure that every day more and more girls and women in Haiti are living free from violence, discrimination, and inequality. If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please contact Brian Stevens, Beyond Borders’ Donor Engagement Director, at (305) 450-2561 or b.stevens@beyondborders.net.

Links:

• Follow us on Instagram for the latest from Haiti.
• Visit our Rethinking Power website to see all our resources.
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You are Mobilizing Communities to Prevent Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG)

Thank you for your generous support for Beyond Borders’ Free, Educate, and Empower Girls project on GlobalGiving. I am grateful for your generosity and solidarity -- especially as you navigate the uncertainty of this global pandemic.

Creating lasting change to prevent gender-based violence requires a broad social movement that transforms the way people think about and react to violence, discrimination, and inequality. Your generous support means that you are part of this movement too.

582 Activists and 35 Organizations Trained to Prevent VAWG

Thanks to you, more than 35 Haitian organizations and 582 newly minted activists are part of this movement too, benefitting from technical support training conducted by Beyond Borders' Rethinking Power team -- the team that is leading this movement-building effort.

These activists are from all walks of life -- grassroots community leaders, religious leaders, health workers, women’s response organizations, Girls’ Group mentors, journalists, women leaders, and school personnel are just some of those trained.

Your generous support is also making it possible for the Rethinking Power team to continue with the combined implementation of three programs to prevent VAWG: SASA!, Power to Girls, and the all-new Safe and Capable* resource pack to prevent VAWG living with disabilities.

The implementation entered the third of four phases, engaging residents living in eight communities in Haiti’s Southeast Department. Through competency-based training and ongoing mentoring support, staff accompanied a network of 582 activists to facilitate social norms change to prevent VAWG.

*Created by our friends at Raising Voices, SASA! (Start, Awareness, Support, Action) is a ground-breaking, internationally-recognized model of community-mobilization to stop violence against women and the spread of HIV. Engaging all actors in the community — women, men, cultural and religious leaders, local officials, police, health-care providers — SASA! fosters critical reflection on gender and power and instigates local-level activism.

Created by Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power Team, Power To Girls includes a complete, three-year methodology to integrate lessons on equality and preventing gender-based violence into the school curriculum, including sample lesson plans for social science, biology and language teachers. Power To Girls also includes a guide to help schools and communities create and support local girls’ groups, and a set of community organizing tools designed to create deep and lasting change among adults too.

Also created by the Rethinking Power Team, ‘Safe and Capable: Haitian Communities Preventing Violence Against Girls and Women with Disabilities’ is designed to change how people see women and girls living with disabilities and to increase their social inclusion and better protect them from violence. Created with funding from the UN Trust Fund/UN Women, the program is being integrated in communities alongside our SASA! and Power to Girls programming. Safe and Capable includes a five-part introductory guide, training curriculum, theater plays, dialogue-based posters, “quick chat” sessions, and learning and evaluation guides.

Encouraging Communities to Change How They Think About Emotional Violence and Victim Blame

Based on research and evaluation, BB's Rethinking Power team is also focusing on working towards improved community knowledge on emotional violence, attitudes around victim blame, and domestic roles of girls versus boys.

Activism networks are receiving targeted support to strengthen their capacity to lead and organize community-driven advocacy efforts on these topics.

Implementation was delayed due to political unrest, and then further due to COVID-19. After a gap period, during which support for community activism is being delivered primarily at a distance due to COVID-19, the team will complete the full implementation cycle, leading communities to complete phase four by June 2021. Your continued support will make this goal a reality!

Girls Are Creating Change in Their Communities and Schools

The Power to Girls and Safe and Capable programming that your support makes possible is already generating many positive outcomes within Girls’ Groups:

• Six girls living with disabilities have been integrated into existing Girls’ Groups,
• The startup of at least three new girls groups is underway, with efforts being led by graduates of existing Girls’ Groups; these motivated girls were trained as mentors; they have secured financial support from their own connections and have requested materials from BB to start new groups. BB will continue to support and mentor these young women in their initiative to bring Power to Girls programming to more girls in their communities;
• One Girls’ Group (ages 10-14) participant took the initiative to facilitate Power to Girls activities in her school. She used Power to Girls communications materials and reported back to her Girls’ Group Mentor every month;
• Older Girls’ Group participants are acquiring crafting and livelihoods skills and are beginning to sell their products;
• Girls’ Groups created six soccer teams, and a girls’ soccer tournament was held in 2019; and,
• Girls’ Group participants have mastered the game of Chess and were planning a Chess tournament for Summer 2020, but have postponed this until public health conditions allow.

One of the Greatest Successes So Far: the Haiti VAWG Prevention Coalition

One of the greatest successes so far has been the launch of the Haiti VAWG Prevention Coalition. This nonhierarchical cohort model engages six organizations who are receiving training and technical support as well as funding to implement SASA! (three organizations) or Power to Girls (three organizations).

The coalition launched programming in July 2019 and is composed of eight partner Haitian organizations, including Beyond Borders. Pwojè GEM, Centre d'Orientation et de Soutien à La Famille Haïtienne, and Fondasyon Toya are receiving training and technical support to implement Power to Girls over three years. Three other organizations – Association Femmes Soleil d'Haiti, Mouvman Peyizan Papay, and Initiative pour un développement equitable en Haiti – are receiving training and technical support to implement SASA! over three years. 

While Beyond Borders provides training and technical support on the methodologies, the Haiti Development Institute is evaluating and designing needs-specific organizational development training to strengthen each organization’s capacity to manage projects and financial accountability.

We are very excited about how this cohort-based technical support model will contribute to BB’s successful scaling of VAWG prevention methodologies in Haiti while also providing a funding model for other grant makers to support effective scaling through non-hierarchical technical support provision.

Building Strategic Connections with Haitian and Regional Feminist Movements

Your generosity is also supporting Beyond Borders’ efforts at cultivating strategic alliances within Haiti to network with and influence the feminist movement -- and their is significant progress to report!

A protocol was established and signed with Haiti’s Ministry for Women’s Affairs, and a protocol for collaboration with Haiti's Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities was drafted and is pending signature for collaboration on preventing violence against women and girls living with disabilities.

The Rethinking Power team also began developing plans to rollout use of the Movement Capacity Assessment Tool with other organizations when funding and public health conditions allow. Plans have also been made for BB's participation in upcoming regional activities organized by the Coalition of Feminists for Social Action.

All of these advances are strengthening the movement to prevent violence against women and girls -- and they are made possible by you!

Positive Shifts in Community Members’ Beliefs and Knowledge about VAWG and Power

A Rapid Assessment Survey conducted by local researchers found positive shifts in beliefs and knowledge. Data was collected via a quantitative survey involving 209 community members (108 women/ 101 men) and eight focus group discussions were conducted with 66 women and girls and 39 men and boys.

Results revealed several positive shifts in community members’ beliefs and knowledge about VAWG and power, and their capacity to support community actions to prevent and respond to violence.

• 97.6% of community members do not believe a husband has a right to slap his wife.
• 97.6% of community members understand that if a man has multiple partners, he has an increased risk of contracting HIV.
• 98.1% of community members believe it is equally important for girls and boys to go to school.
• 96.6% of community members believe a man does not have a right to beat, humiliate or refuse economic support to his partner if they have an argument.

Thank You Again

Thank you again for all that you do and all that you are making possible through your generous support for Beyond Borders' Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti project on GlobalGiving. We are deeply grateful for your solidarity in these challenging times.

You are building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls and ensure that every day more and more girls and women in Haiti are living free from violence, discrimination, and inequality. If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please contact Brian Stevens, Beyond Borders’ Donor Engagement Director, at (305) 450-2561 or b.stevens@beyondborders.net.

Links:

• Follow us on Twitter for the latest from Haiti.
• We are committed to financial transparency and accountability.
• Watch a video about Power To Girls!