Empowering victims of gender-based violence
Anandi*, a 23-year-old homemaker from Ramu, faced gender-based violence as soon as her in-laws learned that she was pregnant with a girl child.
"My in-laws see girls as a huge burden, so I was sent back home to live with my poor parents," she said.
Tahmina*, a 25-year-old from the same village, was also subjected to GBV. "My in-laws were extremely conservative and my husband often verbally abused me as soon as I wanted to go outside," she said.
Anandi and Tahmina are among many such victims of GBV. Their struggles are further elevated due to a lack of a steady income source.
According to a World Bank study, the number of women who lost jobs during the pandemic is 42 percent higher than men in Ramu.
Aiming to ensure sustainable income for women in Cox's Bazar, the International Rescue Committee initiated Economic and Social Empowerment (EA$E), a year-long project, in July last year.
Under the initiative, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), a local organisation, with aid from USAID, from the American people , is working to mitigate mistreatment against women, by empowering them to become self-reliant in 14 unions of Ramu and Chakaria.
So far, it has empowered 57,360 people in the past year, by providing them with skill-based training.
Participants attended 16 free training sessions and men from selected families also benefited, said Saptarshi Barua, upazila manager of YPSA.
Nusrat*, team leader of Nakshi Kantha training group, said, "We now dream of opening our own sales centre following the training."
Shamsher Uddin Mustafa, project coordinator of YPSA, said, "Society cannot move forward leaving women vulnerable. We are working to make them self-reliant."
"Clients of EA$E are now more skilled, empowered, conscious, and resilient," said Rebecca Oketcho, programme deputy director at IRC.
*Identities are protected with pseudonyms.
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