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16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2024: November 25–December 10

By Karen Castellon (FAWCO co-UN Liaison, FAUSA, AWC Berlin, AWAquitane), Mary Adams (AWC The Hague, Human Rights co-chair), Marelie Manders (Heidelberg IWC and Human Rights co-chair), and Laurie Richardson (AWA Vienna)

 

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence was launched in 1991 by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. The Center...

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Women Affected by War: A personal encounter

by Jody McBrien, AWG and AAWE Paris

 

Five or six years ago, I came across the organization NaTakallam, founded by Aline Sara, a young Lebanese woman who had just completed her master’s in International Affairs at Columbia University. NaTakallam means “we speak” in Arabic. It began as an online language exchange/learning program hiring refugees and asylum seekers to teach...

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Ascend and the FAWCO Foundation Grant: Resilience and Progress Amidst Challenges

By Marina LeGree, Founder and Executive Director, Ascend

Edited by Karen Castellon, FAWCO co-UN Liaison

 

Ascend, an NGO dedicated to empowering Afghan girls through education and community engagement, received a $4,000 grant from the FAWCO Foundation in 2021 to support its Sports for Health Teaching Curriculum. This project was aimed at promoting health, leadership, and life skills among Afghan...

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Ascend Update (October 2024) from Kabul: Empowering Afghan Girls Through Education and Community Engagement

by Karen Castellon, FAWCO co-UN Liaison, Stephanie Biery, FAUSA, and Marina LeGree, Founder and Executive Director of Ascend

 

Graduation and New Cohorts

September 18 and 19 marked a significant milestone for Ascend, as we celebrated the graduation of 49 girls from the program. Their hard work and dedication have culminated in this moment, where they received certificates acknowledging their...

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Climate Refugees, Awesome Blossoms and “Harambee”

by Loretta A. Simon Helms, M.S.Ed., AWC Amsterdam 

 

Introduction from the Human Rights Team: We are proud to present this article from Loretta Simon Helms, a long-time supporter of Safe Spaces. In Kenya, drought forced rural people to migrate to the urban city of Nairobi seeking a better life. However, with climate change patterns, the same people are displaced...

Unseen Survivors: Violence Against Older Women

by Mary Adams, AWC The Hague and Human Rights Team Co-Chair

 

“Violence against older persons is a global phenomenon ... such violence and abuse often go unnoticed and remain a taboo in many societies.” – UN independent expert Claudia Mahler

The United Nations defines an older person as aged 60 years and older, recognizing that ageing definitions vary depending on...

Subcategories

Ending Violence Against Women is a Committee of the Human Rights Team, addressing issues of domestic violence and sex trafficking, as well as other forms of violence against women. The Ending Violence Team was created in April 2008 to address issues of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation in order to increase awareness and empower those women and children affected. Over the years, the Team has put a spotlight on the issues to get people talking about them. We also promote tangible actions that we can all take to help eradicate these forms of violence. When you look at the facts you see that we still have a long way to go.

1 in 3 women has been sexually assaulted in her lifetime;

Rape continues to be used as a weapon during war and conflict;

Globalization and climate change are having the most profound impacts on women and children who are disproportionately displaced and left without options;

Gender-based violence is an affliction that millions of women and children suffer in silence and shame. Many become victimized by those who are supposed to love and protect them. 

Please share these three one-page information sheets on issues of Domestic Violence, how you can help victims of Domestic Violence, and global issues of Violence Against Women with your club members. 

For a worldwide listing of domestic violence agencies, see the Hot Peaches website

You'll find a link to the Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center (AODVC) website on our homepage under Domestic Violence. 

For more information or to get involved, contact the Committee Co-Chairs.

Co-Chair, Global Issues, Tonya Teichert at 

Teichert_T
Tonya Teichert (AWC The Taunus)

Co-Chair, Global Issues


Co-Chair, Domestic Violence and AODVC Liaison, Karen Lewis at aodvc@fawco.org.

Karen
Karen Lewis (FAUSA)

Co-Chair, Domestic Violence and AODVC Liaison

Women Peace and Security is a committee within the Human Rights Team. Its goal is to raise awareness about violence against women in conflict zones and the role of women in the peace-keeping process.

The theme of women and conflict resonates with the very origins of FAWCO. According to The Red Book, FAWCO: A History 1931-2011:
 
Caroline Curtis Brown founded FAWCO on the belief that "enlightened women, working cooperatively throughout the world, could do much to help achieve permanent international peace; and that this was especially true of American women living abroad who had acquired special experience in living in foreign lands among foreign people and foreign customs. Their American clubs not only provided a home away from home, she felt, but also served to promote sympathetic awareness of the needs and problems in countries other than the United States."  Our founder's words are perhaps even more relevant today than in her own time. In our globally connected world, wars have a real impact on the lives of all of us, even when they occur in a distant land. A peaceful world benefits everyone.
 

 

 

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