Every day, women around the world are subjected to serious physical and psychological exploitation because of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual violence, and other forms of violence against women.  Vital Voices Global Partnership aims to expose violations of women’s rights through research and fact-finding field studies; raise issues of concern through intensive international public awareness campaigns; employ a multi-stakeholder approach to effectively integrate civil society, government, and business in a collaborative effort combating violence against women; and promote better policies through connecting practitioners and policymakers to ensure the full protection of women’s rights.

Vital Voices Global Partnership is committed to promoting and protecting women’s human rights worldwide.  Some of our human rights programs include:

Raising the Vital Voices of Women’s Rights Defenders

Vital Voices makes it a priority to honor outstanding social entrepreneurs who are working courageously to empower women both politically and economically as well as to defend human rights in their respective countries.   Each year, Vital Voices presents Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center. These awards are presented to extraordinary women leaders from different countries around the globe for their tireless efforts to promote women’s active and equal engagement in society and human rights.  Among Vital Voices’ 2009 recipients are three pioneers of human rights from Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo: Somaly Mam, Marceline Kongolo-Bice, and ChouChou Namegabe Nabintu. Somaly Mam, who at twelve years old was sold into sexual slavery, received the Human Rights Award. In 1996, three years after fleeing captivity in a brothel, Somaly created the non-profit AFESIP (otherwise known as Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire or Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances). The organization has since helped thousands of women break free from sexual slavery.

After refusing to marry an army commander in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Marceline Kongolo-Bice, was forced to bear the brutal murder of her father and brother. Upon fleeing her home for fear of her and her mother’s safety, Marceline witnessed the mass rapes of women across the DRC as well as its resulting eradication of the family unit. Marceline, at eighteen years old, founded SOS Femmes en Dangers. The NGO was created as an avenue for rape victims to heal and restore their rightful places as vital members of  society. As a result of their mission to empower victims SOS takes part in a broad range of activities including literacy training and micro-credit programming.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, ChouChou Namegabe Nabintu has established herself as a voice to be reckoned with. As a student, ChouChou was passionate about journalism and understood its power to reach millions of people in her country. Throughout the latter half of the 1990s, ChouChou used her platform as a tool to inform the masses of the constant violations of women’s human rights in the community. In 2003, she established the South Kivu Association of Women Journalists, otherwise known as “Association des Femmes de Médias du Sud Kivu” or “AFEM”. Along with her work at “AFEM”, ChouChou has brought the trials of Congolese women to the international stage through her 2007 visit to the International Court of Justice.

Building Capacity in Emerging Women Leaders to Protect Women’s Rights

Vital Voices is committed to building capacity in emerging women leaders around the globe. Capacity building programs provide training to enhance women’s leadership as well as effective strategies for combating forms of violence against women. In December of this year Vital Voices will sponsor The Courage to Lead, a women’s leadership and human rights summit. The summit will bring together fifty distinguished women leaders from around the world who have made tremendous efforts in the fight for human rights in their respective communities. By bringing together twenty-five established women leaders along with twenty-five young women leaders, Vital Voices hopes to create partnerships to enable the sharing of best practices across borders.

Innovative Programs to Shine the Light on True Champions of Women’s Rights

Vital Voices also uses the arts as an effective awareness raising tool. Vital Voices partnered with seven playwrights to create Seven, a play documenting the lives of seven Vital Voices Global Leadership Network members: Hafsat Abiola, Farida Azizi, Anabella De Leon, Marina Pisklakova-Parker, Mukhtar Mai, Inez McCormack, and Mu Sochua (as seen on the left). These women represent a range of cultures and hail from Nigeria, Afghanistan, Guatemala, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, Cambodia, and Russia, respectively. Based on personal interviews of the women, the play follows their journeys to make inroads in their communities by being the voice for those who often do not have one, especially women. Their efforts range from creating domestic violence centers, founding non-profit organizations, and leading political reforms, representing the need for a multi-dimensional approach to produce effective change in the quest for women’s human rights. Through creative programs like theatre productions, Vital Voices has been able to bring attention to challenges facing women worldwide to encourage greater action.

Public-Private Partnerships to Mobilize Resources and to Encourage Citizen Participation

Vital Voices believes that public-private partnerships are an essential mechanism for protecting women’s rights.  Vital Voices cooperates with a range of corporations, NGOs, and government offices to create comprehensive and effective strategies for ending women’s rights violations.  In 2010, Vital Voices will launch a two-part initiative with the Avon Foundation. The initiative will include a summit in Washington, DC to highlight the innovative solutions to end violence against women and a anti-violence against women advocacy campaign launch in Brazil and the Czech Republic.

For more information about our Human Rights Programs, please contact Cindy Dyer at: cindydyer@vitalvoices.org or (202) 861-4142