Tweet
LACK OF FUNDS JEOPARDIZES ONE OF ARMENIA'S TWO BATTERED WOMEN'S SHELTERS
http://asbarez.com/108853/lack-of-funds-jeopardizes-one-of-armenias-two-battered-womens-shelters/
Monday, March 18th, 2013
ONEArmenia's campaign to save bettered women's shelter
On the heels of a successful October 2012 campaign to renovate
a kindergarten in northern Nagorno-Karabakh, non-profit funding
platform ONEArmenia has announced a new $21,000 campaign to close
the 2013-2014 budget gap of a safe house run by the Women's Support
Center in Yerevan.
According to a study conducted by Amnesty International, nearly 60%
of Armenian women experience physical abuse on a regular basis. Only
half-29%, to be exact-of these women seek out help, only to return
later-at a rate of 88%-to the very homes and families that abused
them. UNICEF has reported that 31% of Armenian males and 22% of
Armenian females justify this violence.â~@¨ "We started the safe house
in 2012 because the need was so great," said Women's Support Center
director Maro Matosian. "Every time we would refer someone to the
existing shelter, they were turned away because there was no space."
The WSC has provided services to victims of domestic violence since
2009. The Center has also engaged in the training of Yerevan's
municipal social workers and conducted round table discussions
in Armenia's regions with youth to raise awareness about healthy
relationships and the negative impact of gender stereotypes and
patriarchal values on Armenian society.
The WSC's safe house is only one of two such spaces currently operating
in Armenia. Because of the potential for pursuit by perpetrators, the
safe house's precise location is kept confidential and is not revealed
to the pubic. It has the capacity to house and nurture up to 5 women
and their children at any given time, with an average yearly impact
on 30 women and about 60 children. In addition to providing a safe
space where women can seek solace and reprieve from their harrowing
experiences, the safe house employs social workers, legal counselors
and psychologists who work with the women to slowly build up a sense
of independence, potential and eventual self-actualization. Group
therapy sessions, individual legal counseling and activities designed
specifically for rehabilitation guide the women toward setting goals
(for employment, divorce, housing, education, etc) and working toward
realizing them. Their children are enrolled in school and monitored
by the shelter's staff.
By the end of a maximum 60-day stay at the safe house, women are
prepared to begin new lives with newfound self-reliance and confidence.
"That process is the first time in their lives when they take their
destiny into their own hands," said Matosian. "It is a very empowering
thing. They have dreams of their own. They have goals of their own.
And they start thinking of themselves for the first time."
The funds raised throughout ONEArmenia's campaign would cover rent,
purchase of medical and infant supplies, and transportation and food
costs for the next year.
Visit the IndieGoGo campaign page to learn more and make your
contribution:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-a-safe-house-in-armenia
http://asbarez.com/108853/lack-of-funds-jeopardizes-one-of-armenias-two-battered-womens-shelters/
Monday, March 18th, 2013
ONEArmenia's campaign to save bettered women's shelter
On the heels of a successful October 2012 campaign to renovate
a kindergarten in northern Nagorno-Karabakh, non-profit funding
platform ONEArmenia has announced a new $21,000 campaign to close
the 2013-2014 budget gap of a safe house run by the Women's Support
Center in Yerevan.
According to a study conducted by Amnesty International, nearly 60%
of Armenian women experience physical abuse on a regular basis. Only
half-29%, to be exact-of these women seek out help, only to return
later-at a rate of 88%-to the very homes and families that abused
them. UNICEF has reported that 31% of Armenian males and 22% of
Armenian females justify this violence.â~@¨ "We started the safe house
in 2012 because the need was so great," said Women's Support Center
director Maro Matosian. "Every time we would refer someone to the
existing shelter, they were turned away because there was no space."
The WSC has provided services to victims of domestic violence since
2009. The Center has also engaged in the training of Yerevan's
municipal social workers and conducted round table discussions
in Armenia's regions with youth to raise awareness about healthy
relationships and the negative impact of gender stereotypes and
patriarchal values on Armenian society.
The WSC's safe house is only one of two such spaces currently operating
in Armenia. Because of the potential for pursuit by perpetrators, the
safe house's precise location is kept confidential and is not revealed
to the pubic. It has the capacity to house and nurture up to 5 women
and their children at any given time, with an average yearly impact
on 30 women and about 60 children. In addition to providing a safe
space where women can seek solace and reprieve from their harrowing
experiences, the safe house employs social workers, legal counselors
and psychologists who work with the women to slowly build up a sense
of independence, potential and eventual self-actualization. Group
therapy sessions, individual legal counseling and activities designed
specifically for rehabilitation guide the women toward setting goals
(for employment, divorce, housing, education, etc) and working toward
realizing them. Their children are enrolled in school and monitored
by the shelter's staff.
By the end of a maximum 60-day stay at the safe house, women are
prepared to begin new lives with newfound self-reliance and confidence.
"That process is the first time in their lives when they take their
destiny into their own hands," said Matosian. "It is a very empowering
thing. They have dreams of their own. They have goals of their own.
And they start thinking of themselves for the first time."
The funds raised throughout ONEArmenia's campaign would cover rent,
purchase of medical and infant supplies, and transportation and food
costs for the next year.
Visit the IndieGoGo campaign page to learn more and make your
contribution:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-a-safe-house-in-armenia