Data on gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV) is essential for understanding the phenomenon, its causes, consequences, needs, and obstacles, and thus develop and implement effective, appropriate, and high-quality policies.
After more than six months spent understanding how gender-based and sexual violence data collection systems work (GSV), the Ivorian, Beninese, and Nigerien Leagues took action to begin changing the existing dynamics and thus enable associations and activists to find responses to gender-based and sexual violence using reliable data.
- A coalition of feminist associations has formed around the communication campaign #COMPTERPOURTOUTES to raise awareness of the need to collect quantitative and qualitative data on GBV. This continuity, which is relevant to the Young Feminists in West Africa (JFAO) project campaign, has made it possible to continue social mobilization and keep the debate on these issues open in the media.
- Action-packed days featuring obstacle courses, Q&A sessions, confession boxes, art therapy, and songwriting were offered to participants to encourage discussion, listen to survivors, and work together to combat GBV.
- Advocacy meetings to remind authorities of the difficulties faced by survivors and those involved in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence, and to mobilize them to ensure systematic and reliable access to data on SGBV. For example, in Benin, the League worked with OFFE (Observatory for Families, Women, and Children), the organization that manages Sidoffe (Integrated Data System on Families, Women, and Children), to collectively consider which indicators to modify and which to add. Thanks to this work, the category of gynecological and obstetric violence was added to the system. In Côte d'Ivoire, discussions were held to adjust the GBVIMS (Gender-Based Violence Information Management System). However, the Ministry of Women, Family, and Children has not committed to reforming the GBVIMS. This shows that, as in Niger, where the political context was not favorable to advocacy, the struggle is long and the needs are enormous for feminist CSOs campaigning against VSS.
The Feminists in Action Fund (FEA)provides feminist organizations with financial, human, and material resources to support them in their fight for women's and girls' rights. As part of Channel 3, assessments have been carried out and the conclusions require concrete commitments and actions from States.
