A Tale of Two Shelters, Mozambique

 

24 February 2012

Maria was just a teenager when her family forced to her to marry, and to accept a life of violence at the hands of her husband. Following an attempt to end her life, she was connected with LeMuSiCa, an organization that provides shelter and support for women survivors of violence in the city of Chimoio, Mozambique. Maria gradually regained her health, her smile and her self-esteem, and today is one of the group’s most active and inspirational members.

Another young woman, Betinha, was being beaten by her husband, who blamed her for their HIV-positive status. She found hope and recovery with Nhamai, a non-profit organization in Maputo Province that provides shelter and other support services. Nhamai was able to provide the couple with counseling and psychosocial support, and both are now receiving assistance together.

Women and girls are among the most disadvantaged groups in Mozambique, and are extremely vulnerable to violence. Girls are often expected to marry, bear children and take on domestic and agricultural duties while still very young. Meanwhile, as less educated and with more limited access to services and support, they remain largely dependent on men. According to data from a national survey in 2004, more than 50% of women in Mozambique experience intimate partner violence. Organizations like LeMuSiCa and Nhamai provide critically-needed services to help them escape this abuse. In Maputo Province and Chimoio, which together have a population of nearly 1.5 million people, these are the only organizations of their kind.

Nhamai was started by Cecilia Tembe, a woman who had experienced violence herself and recognized that community houses were critical in helping women leave and address abusive relationships. The NGO provides emergency shelter, and legal and psychosocial support to women and children who have survived violence. It also engages local traditional leaders in resolving violent cases and provides women with human rights training. More recently, with support from the Men to Men Network, it initiated a project that helps men to prevent and respond to violence against women.

LeMuSiCa also offers shelter, psychosocial and medical support, with more than 400 women in its counseling programme. It serves HIV orphans, as well as women and children survivors of violence, and provides access to legal advice. Its staff also focus on promoting dialogue between men and women, believing that engaging men is critical for violence prevention.

Both organizations work to give women access and training for micro-projects at the community level, such as small business management training. Economic dependency, says Tembe, is a major obstacle for women trying to leave abusive relationships. “We want to teach these women a profession, give them the tools to plan their own lives and support themselves economically,” she explains.

The two organizations have been supported by UN Women since 2009. With capacity building a priority, the projects have allowed staff to participate in exchanges and study tours to similar centers in developed and developing countries. These included South Africa’s Cape Town in 2009 and Differenza Donna in Italy, in 2010. Staff from both Nhamai and LeMusSiCa participated in the 2010 trip, where they learned about other mechanisms for delivering services to survivors, along with new techniques, such as those to assist child victims of violence. For many participants, these trips were their first exposure to the operation of other shelters.

Cecilia Tembe and Achia Camal Mulima Anaíva, who direct Nhamai and LeMuSiCa’s shelter programmes respectively, will join nearly 1,500 advocates and service providers at the 2^nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters in Washington DC, hosted by the National Network to End Violence against Women (NNEDV), from 27 February to 1 March. The conference will be an unparalleled opportunity to hear the voices of women like them, who are working to make a lasting difference, for individual women and their communities.

Join the conversation on Twitter (@SayNO_UNiTE and @NNEDV) starting 27 February using the hashtags #nnedv and #wcws and post your comments and questions on Facebook.