During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence,discover seven Equipop partner organizations committed to combating gender-based and sexual violence in West Africa. Voix des femmes(Women's Voices) is a Mauritanian feminist organization born out of a desire to unify Mauritanian feminist movements. Voix des Femmes reflects the diversity of the feminists who make up the organization. The organization's goal is clear: to dismantle patriarchy. To achieve this, the members of Voix des Femmes favor a single-sex approach. The association creates spaces for free expression, debate, reflection, listening, exchange, and sisterhood exclusively reserved for Mauritanian women or women living in Mauritania. At Voix des femmes, deconstructing patriarchy also involves producing feminist audiovisual content, advocacy actions, and awareness-raising and training activities.
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To carry out its mission, Voix des femmes is structured around nine coordinators, who form the decision-making committee, and volunteers who participate in awareness-raising activities in the field.
"The challenge is to raise awareness about gender-based violence and feminist issues in our different national languages, so that every Mauritanian woman can say 'feminist' in her own language." Dieynaba Ndiom, member of Voix des femmes (Women's Voices)
MOBILIZED FOR LEGISLATION TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS IN MAURITANIA Faced with growing opposition and obstacles to the Mauritanian government's 2016 bill on combating violence against women and girls (a bill that includes tougher penalties for rape and the criminalization of sexual harassment), Voix des femmes decided to take action! The association has launched a broad social and political mobilization campaign to call on parliamentarians and authorities to recognize the importance of adopting the bill, which represents a significant step forward in the fight against violence against women and girls. A broad awareness campaign (notably through the production of video content) was conducted to make the content of the bill accessible to as many people as possible, using all national languages, in order to counteract the misinformation that obscures the real content of the bill.
Extending thedebate The women-only spaces created by Voix des femmes are essential for women living in Mauritania on their journey to empowerment. The association therefore wishes to continue providing these spaces for debate, which form the foundation of Voix des femmes. Structural reinforcement With the support of Equipop, Voix des femmes has chosen to strengthen its structure to make its actions more efficient. The association has adopted a procedures manual to establish codes of conduct for all activities and expenses. In order to make its voice heard more widely, the association has also acquired the necessary equipment to produce podcasts.
