Emthonjeni Women's Forum
 | |
| Abbreviation | EWF |
|---|---|
| Formation | May 2010 |
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose | Activism |
| Headquarters | 32 George Silundika St |
| Location | |
| Website | http://emthonjeniwf.org.zw/ |
| Remarks | Phone: +263(029) 882429 |
| Email: hello@emthonjeniwf.org.zw | |
Emthonjeni Women’s Forum (EWF) is a Zimbabwean organisation that advocates against gender based violence (GBV).
Philosophy
They believe that women’s empowerment can only be achieved through a combination of factors that include economic strengthening for women, increasing knowledge of women’s rights and GBV at an individual level whilst changing harmful gender norms through engaging men and communities to understand the nexus between power and gender equitable attitudes and behaviours.
Background
Emthonjeni Women’s Forum (EWF) was established in May of 2010 and is registered as a trust CF54/2010 whose mandate is to assist in preventive and responsive measures of Gender Based Violence and in addressing behaviour change gaps for survivors and perpetrators of domestic violence in Zimbabwe.
Emthonjeni Women’s Forum was founded specifically to assist women overcome domestic violence and realise their economic potential as well as creating a platform where they can share and exchange information on various issues brought about by inequalities between men and women.[1]
Mission
To provide an opportunity and platform for targeted communities to challenge the behaviours, beliefs, customs that promote gender-based violence, inequity and gender injustice.
Vision
To see a society that is gender-based violence-free seeks gender justice and equity offers equal access to positions of responsibility and full participation in economic development.
Values
Justice, Respect, Passion, Integrity, Responsibility, Accountability, Confidentiality, Accounatbility, and Professionalism
Partners
Team
- Thobekile Matimbe - Board Chairperson
- Sibusiso Sialumba - Board Treasurer
- Sichasisile Ndlovu - Board Secretary
- Nomalanga Nkala Zulu - Board Member
- Nothabo Nyathi - Communications
Services
Legal Advice
They offer legal advice on issues that affect women and their families.
Counselling of Victims
They assist victims/survivors of domestic violence to make informed decisions about their situations by providing counselling.
Survivor Groups
They offer support to survivors to formulate survivor groups for psycho-social support.
Economic Empowerment
They assist women with information to set up small business enterprises.
Advocacy
EWF is engaged in empowering women through equipping them with advocacy skills and creating platforms for women to engage in dialogue with state actors so that they provide rights aligned services to the communities. These platforms will lead to communities, especially women engaging and fully participating in the development of their communities. It is also built on the premise that the women’s voices are pivotal in creating the demand pressure needed on government and service providers. This is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government, administration and sustainable development.
Male Engagement
EWF works with men towards addressing gender-based violence and Women Empowerment. It is through the realisation that men can play a key role in transforming cultural, religious and social norms that EWF engages men as change agents towards the elimination of gender-based violence through creating champions of change dubbed “ Male Champions”.
Community Engagement
Focuses on enhancing open dialogue at community level that contributes to the understanding and protection from human rights violations and the consequences. Community engagement provides a platform for self-introspection and challenging of social, religious and cultural norms that perpetuate GBV. Community engagement targets women as primary beneficiaries and men and duty bearers as secondary targets. This is done to reduce GBV and achieve gender equality through the use of a rights based approach which highlights and challenges the unequal power relations that perpetuate GBV.
SASA Faith!
SASA! Faith is an initiative in which leaders, community members and allies of a religion come together to prevent the twin pandemics of Violence Against Women (VAW) and HIV. EWF is implementing this approach with faith communities. It is a 4 phased intervention based on the natural change process. The Start, Awareness, Support & Action phases all engage community members using various materials so as to address issues of power within, power over, power with and power to respectively. Each phase guides a faith community through a different stage of power and each phase introduces a different kind of power. SASA! Faith is based on three key values of justice, peace and dignity, which are key in any faith and are fundamental to the health and happiness of individuals and families.
Psycho-Social Support
Empowering women to make informed decisions about their situation through court support services, basic counselling and rehabilitative counselling for perpetrators.
Court Support Services
Many women are intimidated by the courts atmosphere and tend to shy away or are unable to articulate issues in front to f the magistrate. EWF therefore prepares women for the court session.
Counselling of survivors of GBV
They provide counselling to survivors of Domestic Violence and this empowers them to cope with their lives and to make independent decisions pertaining to their future.
Couple Counselling
They also offer couple counselling to clients who are referred from the court.
Rehabilitative counselling of perpetrators
On realising that women, who statistically are the majority survivors of gender based violence do not want to leave their abusive relationships, there is therefore need to rehabilitate perpetrators of GBV so that they realise the folly of their behaviour.
Publications
http://emthonjeniwf.org.zw/our-publications/
