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According to World Health Organization, on average, 35% of women have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence by someone who is an intimate partner or sexual violence by someone who is not a partner. Furthermore, as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate male partners. Violence against women is a global pandemic affecting all countries, from low- to middle- and high-income countries (Ki-Moon, B., 2014). Violence against women is a fundamental violation of the most basic of human rights and the consequences are devastating for families. According to research, violence has negative health consequences that include physical injury, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicide, among others. According to the Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017, women and girls in Bolivia remain at high risk of gender-based violence, despite a 2013 law that sets forth comprehensive measures to prevent and prosecute offenders who commit violence against women. The law created the crime of "femicide" (the killing of a woman in certain circumstances, including of domestic violence) and called for the establishment of shelters for women, as well as special prosecutors and courts for gender-based crimes. The Attorney General's Office reported 74 "femicides" in Bolivia from January-September 2016. This only reflects the "tip of the iceberg" relative to this problem - that which is formally reported. According the World Health Organization, men are more likely to perpetrate violence if they are under-educated, experienced maltreatment as children, were exposed to domestic violence against their mothers, engage in harmful use of alcohol, subscribe to unequal gender norms including attitudes accepting of violence, and/or harbor a sense of possessiveness over women. By 2017, reported national cases of domestic violence reached 7,794 in Bolivia. Santa Cruz ranked first in violence with 2,690 cases. La Paz, the seat of government and national capital of Bolivia (with an estimated 789,541 residents as of 2015), is the second largest city in Bolivia with the highest rate of reported incidents of domestic violence. With seven (7) urban districts and fiftynine (59) neighborhoods, there were between 377 and 439 cases reported to the police in some of these low-income neighborhoods. Between January-March 2018 alone, there were 8 femicides in La Paz and 964 number of cases reported of domestic violence.
Despite a law issued in 2013 that sets forth comprehensive measures to prevent and prosecute violence against women, especially women and girls in Bolivia remain at high risk of gender-based violence. The law created the crime of "femicide" (the killing of a woman in certain circumstances, including of domestic violence) and called for the establishment of shelters for women, as well as special prosecutors and courts for gender-based crimes. However, the rates of violence still in increase. As of 2018, from a total of 757,408 single women (51.9%) older than 15 years old have suffered some kind of violence. 1/ The most common type of violence is physiological when the aggressor (boyfriend or ex-boyfriend) controls his partner in the way she dresses, friends, schedules, among others. 46.5% from this sample of single women, 46.5% have suffered sexual violence; 16.8$ physical violence and 12.2% economic violence.
Based on a bottom-up approach, this project focuses on preventing domestic violence by addressing underlying root and structural causes of such violence within families, especially in low-income urban areas of La Paz, where there are significantly high incidents of domestic violence. The goal is to create a network of 'Peace Weavers', citizen (young and parents) leaders from low-income urban neighborhoods of La Paz, who will be trained in conflict prevention/resolution, relevant principles of psychology, existing public policies and legal issues related to domestic violence. After completing intensive training, they will serve as local leaders in community-based activities and campaigns to foster greater public dialogue, respect, tolerance and awareness in schools, families and other local groups with the goal of preventing domestic violence. The goal is to recruit and train 100 'Peace Weavers' and reach at least 1,300 community members, providing them with pertinent information regarding attitudes and practices that individuals and families need put into practice in preventing conflicts from occurring, and skills to remediate episodes of emergent conflict/violence and to effect fundamental change with respect to cultural related to machismo dominance and discrimination against women.
The project will be implemented in one year (12 months) and will include four (4) phases. The first phase will consist of an in-depth analysis of the current community response to domestic violence in general and specifically to violence against women and girls. This analysis will include a root analysis of domestic violence in each one of the 59 neighborhoods in La Paz city.
The second phase of the program will be to recruit citizens (young and parent) leaders from low-income urban neighborhoods of La Paz to become 'Peace Weavers' and then train them about domestic violence issues from legal, health and socio-economic perspectives; principles of phycology, conflict resolution/prevention, among others.
During the third phase, the Peace Weavers will develop a prevention framework based on the community's culture and values and will create a collaborative and comprehensive prevention program. This phase will allow local leaders to analyze the root causes of domestic violence and opportunities for change in their communities. This phase will also include workshops delivered to a group of parents from schools with a high number of violence cases, on how to protect and prevent violence within their families, learning about the negative impact and the long-term effects of violence in their children.
The fourth phase will involve the diffusion of information and the coordination of creative activities and campaigns targeted to community members in order to prevent domestic violence. During this phase, the project will launch a competition for the creation of audiovisuals, documentaries, publicity spots, theater performances coordinated by the 'Peace Weavers'. The winners will be presented in the mass media, social media and other local ways of dissemination.
The implementation of the project will be carried out in coordination with all the stakeholders mentioned above as well as other local authorities who would have influence on the implementation process. In order to assure the project's sustainability, U4C has maintained a good relationship with local and regional authorities in rural and low-income areas in La Paz, Bolivia; as well as with the Institutions of both volunteers and Higher Education.
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